After relaxing in my bedroom for a while and watching the scenery, we arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is a long station stop known as a service stop. Here they refill the water tanks, refuel the engines, etc. Since we would be here for about 45 minutes, I detrained and headed into the station in search of a New York Times. Well, my search for the NYT continued to be futile as there were no purveyors of news or books in the station. I also wanted some ginger ale, but all of the soda machines had the standard coke/pepsi and not any ginger ale.
I headed back out to the platform, which was surprisingly cool, to peruse the tables set up with items for sale. Like at our earlier long stop, there were several entrepreneurial folks who had tables set up with a variety of items, but this time it was mostly jewelry and other Native American type goods. Much of the jewelry was turquoise or beads. I bought a pair of earrings for $5 that I think will match the necklace I bought in Santa Fe two years ago. The man I bought them from claimed that they were handmade and that he also cut the stone, but I don’t really believe that. In any case, I thought they were a great deal.
I got back on the train and made a quick call to Tim (while I had cell phone access), and then sat back to enjoy the scenery. I started to get a little antsy, so I pulled up the internet on my laptop, which luckily was working pretty well, and posted on a few message boards and twitter until my dinner reservation was called.
At 6:30 PM I headed to the dining car for dinner. To be honest, I wasn’t even that hungry, but it would give me something to do and some human interaction J. I was seated with the two people who were in the bedroom next to me, although they didn’t tell me their names. They had boarded in Colorado that morning and were on their way to Los Angeles for a business conference. I think they perhaps had a few cocktails in their room before dinner – and maybe something else – because we had some crazy conversations. The woman said she was my age (30), and also said she really liked my engagement ring. Thank you, Tim! Always nice to have a conversation piece of jewelry. The couple was also left-leaning, which was nice, and they take the train all the time so they recounted some of their favorite journeys to me.
For dinner I had the steak, which some folks on my train message board have claimed is pretty good. When asked how I wanted it cooked, I said, “As rare as possible.” It came back well-done. AWESOME. At least they gave me some A1 to douse it in. The meat was tough and fatty, and it was probably the worst steak I have had in recent memory. It was also accompanied by the very salty mashed potatoes, which I am still convinced started out the day in powder form. The beans and the salad were the highlight of the meal – and of course that delicious Amtrak bread. For dessert, I got a turtle brownie packaged up “to go.”
After dinner I headed back to my bedroom for a nightcap. When it was time to go to sleep, I couldn’t find my car attendant so I made the bed myself. I actually didn’t sleep very well at all – the ride was pretty rough and the mattresses aren’t that thick. My back and shoulders are starting to feel a little sore and tired and are craving a real bed. I also haven’t really made the adjustment to Pacific Time – which I am technically on right now – so I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go at 4:30 AM this morning.
When I woke up, I pulled back the curtains and looked out into the darkness. I could see lots of lights, and I pulled up the GPS which said we were in California. Woohoo! I have made it to the west coast! As we are supposed to arrive in Los Angeles at around 8:15 AM, the dining car came through the sleeper announcing breakfast at 5:30 AM. Since I was already up and dressed, I headed down for some more food. This time I sat at a table all by myself, which was great because then I could read the New York Times on my iPhone in peace J. It was still dark out, but we pulled into several commuter type stations with Metrolink trains sitting at them. I also saw full commuter lots and people running to the trains.
For breakfast, I ordered the French Toast and then Tom told me that all that was left was the continental breakfast or the scrambled eggs. I went with the scrambled eggs – which possibly started out the day in powdered form as well. The eggs came with a biscuit, two sausage patties & home fries, so I made a little biscuit sandwich which I covered in ketchup. It actually was better than a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich. I also had some coffee, which was brewed pretty strongly for the first time.
While I was eating they began to clean up all of the tables by removing the tablecloths, flowers, etc. The crew told me that they had to get everything cleaned up before the train stopped in Los Angeles. They also told me that they are based in LA, so they board the #4 heading East, then spend the night in Chicago, then board the #3 heading West, and then have anywhere between 3-5 days off. It sounds like a really hard life, living on the train, and definitely one that I would not want.
After breakfast I headed back to my room, and my car attendant had taken out all of the linen and made the room back into the daytime configuration. For some reason, however, the heat now seems to be on right by the window in my room and it is stifling. I can’t figure out how to turn the heat off, so I have opened the door to my compartment with the hopes that it will cool down. Outside, I can see some palm trees lining the roads. We are just about ready to pull into Fullerton, CA, one of our last stops before Los Angeles. The sun is also just starting to rise behind me, and the sky has a beautiful orange glow while the moon is still shining bright and high above me.
While I am in Los Angeles, I hope to walk around a little, and then with all luck my next train, the Coast Starlight, will leave at 12:15 PM. Thanks for reading, and I will have more to post after I board my next train! If I can find some wifi in LA, I will also post more pictures.
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