Mind the Gap

The Southwest Chief was still in Kansas when the sun rose on day 2 of our journey, but we entered Colorado soon after making our way to the dining car for a hearty breakfast of an omelet, croissant, sausage and fruit.  Admittedly neither myself or my dad slept particularly well last night, as the engineer blew the horn frequently during the night, and the ride was rather bumpy on the Kansas stretch. I also noticed that we had a considerably lengthy stop in Kansas City, in which the BNSF private cars were removed from the train, as I later discovered.  This morning was particularly grey and rainy in southeastern Colorado, as we made our way into the first stop of the day of Lamar.  This portion of Colorado is mostly flat plains, with virtually no civilization in sight for miles. It is quite a contrast to the Rockies, which are in western Colorado and are perhaps the geographic feature most people associate with the state.  Our next stop was the town of La Junta, which...

Most east-west long distance trains from Chicago depart in the afternoon. This afforded my dad and I several hours to enjoy the mild May weather and take in the city a bit before getting on our next train. After a brief stroll along Lake Michigan in the morning, we checked out of our hotel and rideshared our way back the Union Station. For the second leg of this trip to Los Angeles on Amtrak's Southwest Chief, we were staying in a roomette sleeping compartment. Amtrak allows sleeping car passengers to wait in its special Metropolitan Lounges, which is in several large cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington, etc... Those lounges are typically in one section of the station that is set off from the main waiting area. They feature comfortable chairs and couches, TVs, and free snacks and beverages. Chicago's lounge gets an A+. It had multiple rooms with comfy chairs and spacious areas for reading or working. This lounge had two floors with free snacks and sodas on one floor, a...