We finished packing, putting enough for two nights in the tiny suitcases. We invited F & D to lunch but Duane didn't feel up to it. Fran drove to Duke's on Lake Union where we had a nice seafood lunch. She took us back to the guest suite, we picked up luggage and gave her the keys. She then drove us to King Street Station. Then hugs, etc, and bye-byes.
We were scheduled to depart at 1640 in Coach 831, Bedroom C. HOWEVER, the inbound train was seven hours late because it got caught behind a freight train derailment.
So we waited and waited. Had a glass of wine at 13 Coins next door. Returned and were supplied with Subway sandwiches while the train was off being turned around and cleaned for our use. The station staff tried very hard to keep us informed and were great at getting us finally boarded.
We found our "bedroom" and had the car attendant make up the couch for sleeping in upper/lower bunks. Gawd, it was cold in the room. We requested and got extra blankets and still shivered most of the night.
O woke up around 0600 and got dressed, D followed, and we made the dining car just after opening at sunrise at 0630 in the Spokane depot. We are now five hours late after leaving Seattle four hours and fifty-seven minutes late. Unable to make up any time during the night due to mountains and freight trains. But the breakfast was quite good - O had scrambled, sausage & hash browns with OJ and coffee, D had an omelet w/potatoes OJ & coffee.
We returned to the bedroom briefly, had Ken make it up for day use, but then decided to move to the observation part of the lounge car. We sat on the port side (away from the sun) to watch scenery go past. Saw several deer along with the beautiful rugged scenery in Idaho and western Montana.
in Sandpoint, ID we saw the little campground we used many years ago while RVing. Into Montana we ran next to the Kootenai River (railroads in mountains follow rivers as much as possible) with great scenery. The stop at Whitefish MT was for ten minutes, as scheduled, but we were then eight minutes less than five hours late - not much progress.
The stop at West Glacier MT let us see a glimpse of the Park entry area that we remember from the same RV trip. We'll see several things from that trip since we were traveling east on US-2 and the railroad parallels US-2.
Between East & West Glacier stops we went through an area of sharp curves and short straightaways and running on ledges high above the road & river that restricted our trains speed. Near East Glacier we saw an obelisk, later finding it to be a memorial to Teddy Roosevelt for saving the Flathead National Forest and to Wm Morrison for donating the land on which it stands.
Several miles later, approaching East Glacier (Glacier Park), the hills began to level and you could imagine the transition to the plains in the distance.
Rather frustrating that there is no Wifi on the train. It's also hard to connect to anything when speeding through towns.
BNSF owns the tracks we're on and controls all movements on them. They seem to like us today, we've only been held up for one freight train. Perhaps they're trying to help Amtrak get back into regular train rotation.
Amtrak uses five train sets to cover two directions and parts of three days. As a set reaches its destination it is cleaned, turned around and sent out in the other direction.
It's hard to believe how dry the land looks. The grain crops are nowhere near normal height. Farmers are reaping what little there is.
As we got into evening, the animals came out. Several antelope and some deer. We went to dinner at 1900 which turned out ok. D liked her steak, O's chicken was tough. Desserts were good. Got our free drink on Amtrak.
Chatting with dining car staff showed that they are extremely stretched. They lost one waiter at a change point. Plus, they can't have two couples at one table due to spacing requirements which lengthens the dinner hour.
Now we're back in the freeze box doing our computer things and getting ready for bed. It's a few minutes to ten. It might be better tonight when I arrange the blankets better.
We're now more than five hours late.
Link to Empire Builder photos
We awakened in Fargo ND and quickly crossed the river into Minnesota at 0745 CDT. Still about five hours behind schedule. Last night we slept better in the icebox but it was still cold. Bedroom 0831 "C" at right.
We dressed and ran to the dining car for breakfast, again quite nice. While eating, the train did its stop at Detroit Lakes MN. O recited a few lines of "Hiawatha" in celebration of Minnesota. By the shores of Gitchee-Gumie, by the sparkling deep-sea waters, stood the wigwam of Nokomis…. etc.
After many miles of fields and swamps we came to the city of Staple MN. Brief stop, then onward. Five hours, twenty minutes late.
Onward we hastened. St Cloud MN at 1040. St Paul MN 1238.
Next station was Red Wing MN, which O has seen before. Then Winona, Lacrosse WI and on.
Somewhere in there we had our light lunch in the dining car - modest but good.
We came back to find the toilet waste removal system down, had to use restrooms in other cars henceforth.
We left Wisconsin Dells WI behind at 1650, some four & a half hours late. On through Milwaukee, then into Chicago at 2023 after sunset in thunderstorms. Still 4.5 hours late.
The baggage came out in a leisurely manner. We grabbed it and went to the cab stand. Took cab to Hilton at ORD for $50. Traffic at ORD horrible. Checkin line at 2200 was long but we got a room and went to bed.