America by Train

And it's over

2010-09-01T10:51:00.002-05:00

I should have written an entry letting everyone know my trip has come to an end. This does not mean, however, I will stop writing a few entries here and there, reflecting on my travels. Classes at school have started, and the heat is unbearable (since we have no AC in these old Harvard houses). That means I will spend a lot of time in the library trying to cool off. As it often happens when I study, my mind will venture off in some tangent, and I will end up writing a blog entry. So please please keep posted.

Love,
Pierre~

What does the train look like from the inside?

2010-08-31T03:46:00.000-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few pics!

A typical dinning car.

Dining in the train

The following pictures are those of a parlor car from the 1950s. It turns out that the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, according to some staff members, is the most lucrative route for Amtrak. As a result, the company has added a parlor car from the 1950s for first class passengers only.

This movie theater (below) is also from the 1950's (it is located beneath the parlor). I heard an announcer say that passengers could go to the theater to watch a movie. It turns out the invitation was only for first class.

The Arcade, another feature that is only found in the Surfliner

Coach (above)

The observatory (above) where people congregate to watch the scenery go by

Another lounge/dinning area

A typical bathroom (looks much cleaner in this picture)

Chicago

2010-08-28T13:08:00.001-05:00

Chicago was a definite blast. I spend half a day in the library doing some work for school. I asked the security guard which floors were the quiet ones, and he indicated that "the higher you go, the quieter it gets" (a little tip for future travelers to Chicago). Even on the fifth floor, however, a Christian group had the nerve to tap me, ask me to stop my timed assignment, and talked to me. I must say, though, the library is beautiful, and it is definitely worth some of a traveler's time.

I spent a good portion of my day walking around the city, especially around Navy Pier, which provides a wonderful view of Chicago (besides, I am fond of waterfronts). The Sears Tower was a nice building from the outside, but not my favorite building from among the many. Which are my favorites, then?

Cool Fountain:

I think this is a pretty cool landmark of Chicago. The fountain is located nest to a park, and it displays faces of people who pass by. I saw many families with children playing around

From Chicago to New York

2010-08-26T07:23:00.000-05:00

What an unpleasant ride! The staff was overall unfriendly and inefficient. Having being assigned four cars to take care of, the attendant was clearly overworked, and in no mood to provide a friendly service. As soon as passengers boarded the train in Chicago, he passed timetables. “Ladies and gentlemen, all the questions you got can be answered with the information in that pamphlet. Please read this before you ask me any questions. If I can’t answer a question, there’s a number you can call, or a map online you can check,” he instructed. A map online? Maybe he was riding a different train, but Amtrak doesn’t have Internet. As for the number we could call, that would be a wonderful idea if only we had service for more than segments of the trip. After talking to other passengers, I realized I was not the only one having a difficulty swallowing our attendant’s temperament. “This guy shouldn’t be working here,” one lady complained, “He has no understanding of customer service.”

As if the attitude of our attendant weren’t enough, the air conditioning kept the cars at a gelid temperature. Several people approached the staff to ask whether the AC could be turned down a bit. One of the assistant conductor was kind enough to explain that “these cars are so old that they only have an on and off switch. If it’s on, it’s on, and it gets cold, but I’ll see what I can do.” The previous time someone asked for the temperature to be turned down, our attendant just said, “No! There’s nothing I can do,” and continued walking.

Food and Alcohol on the Train

2010-08-26T04:09:00.001-05:00

Several people have asked me what I think about the food on the train. Although most trains—if not all—have a lounge or snack bar, not all trains provide a full dining service. Therefore, I will rate the food and prices according to the venue through which they are served.

The trains with the dining cars provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One has to make reservations for lunch and dinner, though one attendant assured me that one never makes reservations for lunch. Dining dynamics, therefore, vary depending on the train. The dining car features community sitting, meaning the attendants will group strangers at the same table. And while most passengers welcome the excitement of meeting new people, a few others repudiate it by bringing a book to read, carrying an I-pad to send e-mails, or simply remaining quiet during the entire meal.

Breakfast and lunch are rationally priced, with meals costing between $7 and $12. For the price, the food is actually really good, though some passengers have commented that the quality of food vacillates with the party that is in office—“if Republicans are in the White House,” one passenger joked, “we get microwave food. With the Democrats, we get more gourmet.” Dinner seems to me a bit overpriced, with meals costing between fourteen and twenty-two dollars. I do not suggest the steak, which happens to be the most highly priced.

The food in the lounge car is definitely overpriced. A Snickers bar costs two dollars, and a personal microwaved pizza $5.50! If the ride is long, I suggest bringing your own food in a cooler. Amtrak allows the consumption of alcoholic beverages, but you must buy the drinks from the lounge, which can become rather costly. Although it is illegal to bring your own alcohol, many passengers do it anyway. What happens if you get caught? It depends on the conductor—some may throw you out, but most will just take it up. I have come across some passengers who have devised a clever way not to get caught. One gal had bought mini orange juice bottles, and mixed the juice with Vodka. Another guy simply replaced Vodka for water, and drank it straight.

Bottom line: food, for the most part, is overpriced. However, you pay for the experience of dining with others on the train.

Interesting Characters

2010-08-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick entry about the interesting people I meet along my trips. On one segment, I spoke to a retired lady who was afraid of clouds. “you see that one right there?” she asked as she pointed to a medium-size cloud in the distance. “See? That’s scary; that’s a big cloud, and it’s too close. I wouldn’t want to be near it on a plane.” At first I thought she was pulling my chain, but as our conversation unfolded, I realized she was entirely serious! Another woman bonded with us because she was afraid of rocks. “I like the rocks to stay down there where I can see them. I just don’t like rocks.” Every time we passed some big rocks, she’d shake her head and look away. These people were perfectly normal—mentally competent, that is—and their fear, though perhaps unfounded, was compelling. “I would never fly; I’ve never even been to the airport. Airports scare me,” the lady afraid of clouds confessed.

As I have mentioned briefly on a previous entry, I saw a woman who had taken off her wig and placed it next to her on a little stand (not a head, but a little red box). She slept comfortably while the wig greeted the passengers who passed by her seat and looked twice before moving on. By now I have been on some crowded trains, and I have even been woken up so that a person could sit next to me. I wonder how one asks the wig lady to move her wig so that another passenger may take a seat.

Other "interesting" people? Two days ago, a mother let her child go to the bathroom barefooted. That's correct; the kid had no shoes or socks, and he simply strolled to the filthy car bathroom. Note to parents: the train isn't the cleanest place...

Border Patrol

2010-08-25T01:54:00.001-05:00

Thus far, the US Border Patrol has come on board twice. I know of other times when Border Patrol has chosen to inspect trains in search of undocumented migrants, but to my knowledge, these instances occur mainly in the US-Mexico border, and not so much in the North. The first time I encountered them somewhere between East Glacier National Park and St.Paul/Minneapolis (to be more specific, I think it was somewhere around Fargo). The two officers entered the car, and went around repeating, "We are with the US Border Patrol." They mainly looked at people, and it seemed to me that if the passenger did not look the part, the agents did not bother--in other words, here we had racial profiling at its best.

The second time, Border Patrol boarded the train in Buffalo, and one by one asked the passengers, "Are you a citizen?" If the person said 'yes', the agents moved on; if the person said 'no' the agents asked for documentation. The method seemed inefficient. Why would any person living in the US illegally say, "No, I am not a citizen"? An undocumented migrant could answer 'yes' without fear of lying because the question is vague. One lady who was asked whether she was a citizen responded, "You mean of this country? I better be a citizen!" Sure, this response caused laughter, but it points to the need for officers to ask whether people are citizens of the United States, and not just citizens in general.

Are trains noisy?

2010-08-21T17:15:00.004-05:00

This entry is in response to a comment I received from Delores. She asked whether "some trains are more noisy than others" since "they are in the outside world." Though I am not a train expert nor a train engineer, the answer to Delores's question is actually more complicated than a simple yes or no: it depends. We can think of a train on tracks as a car on the road. The "noise" or roughness of the train ride depends on the kind of car, the road, and, of course, the driver. In the same manner, how smooth a train runs depends on the engineer, the rails, and the cars themselves (how old they are, how well-maintained, etc). Unfortunately for train lovers, Amtrak operates cars from the 1970s (a conductor even told me some cars are remodeled from 1920s train cars!). No matter how remodeled, therefore, these cars will manifest some of the usual wear and tear that comes with age.

In addition, Amtrak has had a long history of government neglect. As a matter of fact, the Bush Administration virtually suffocated Amtrak, and often threatened to kill this mode of transportation system. With Obama and Biden, Amtrak has seen a few friends on Capitol Hill: the recent stimulus package allocates eight billion dollars for train transportation in the United States. Why is this significant? With more money, Amtrak can buy better and updated cars, fix and update the rails, and provide an overall improved service for passengers. In the meantime, the older rails and older trains might continue making squeaking sounds when the locomotive curves or goes at faster speeds. Although one might think such noises to be a huge disturbance, however, one quickly learns to ignore them, and pass them as part of the background and ambiance.

Delores, I hope this answers your question. If it doesn't, please ask away, and I will do my best to respond.

Seattle to St. Paul/Minneapolis Trip

2010-08-19T16:47:00.004-05:00

In contrast to what most people have told me, the ride from Seattle to St. Paul-Minneapolis was the most uneventful and uninteresting one of all the ones I have taken thus far. This ride was supposed to be always full, and the scenery was supposed to be something out of a movie (in fact, it's one of the most popular routes). I could not disagree more. Except for the first few hours, out of Seattle, the entire trip provided nothing but plains, trees, and an occasional pond. The route from Kansas to Los Angeles was more interesting than this route (perhaps the beautiful scenery passed by as I slept at night).

After so much boredom and so many antisocial people in the coach compartment, I moved to the observation car in hope to find more gregarious people. I did not see people mingling, as I have seen in other rides. Instead, people just stayed in the groups in which they were traveling. Young and old read in the observation car as the trees zoomed by, families played card games, and young couples cuddled together. Yet, no one made an effort to talk to the person sitting on the next seat. This was no family of strangers; it was families of strangers.

Back in the coach car, a college student sat next to me. He wanted to travel by train so that he could relax, but the train proved nothing but a terrible inconvenience for him: he had a four hour delay, and was tired from the trip. I asked him how he liked the food, and he confessed it was terrible. “The chicken’s a little old.” (he is not talking about the food served by Amtrak. He is criticizing the food Amtrak picked up from a restaurant at one of the stops: dry and cold roasted chicken). At least five times, he also complained about the lack of Wi-Fi; I suppose the train is not what he expected.

The only breathtaking moment was the sunset, but that lasted for a few minutes.

Right outside Seattle.

Yes, I know this is beautiful. Now, stare at this for ten hours, and tell me how you feel :)

Sunset, which lasted for a few minutes.

Seattle

2010-08-16T12:36:00.008-05:00

In Seattle, I stayed with some friends who attend the University of Washington, one of the most beautiful campuses I have been to. The fountains, architecture, and Mt. Rainer provide an unbelievable atmosphere and backdrop for the university, and the idyllic weather--considering it rains most of the year--just made my trip the perfect one.

And what is Seattle like? Eclectic, diverse, lively, and busy (at least the day I was there).

The famous Space Needle

Seattle's International Fountain

Chief Seattle and me

Once the tallest building west of the Mississippi

The first Starbucks in America. Seattle is home to the headquarters of the coffee giant

View of Seattle at night

The Cascades

2010-08-16T09:48:00.001-05:00

The Portland-Seattle route featured a train I had not seen before--the Cascades. With the financial help of Oregon and Washington, Amtrak bought a few of these trains for the Northwestern route in 1998. The term "update" is somewhat of an understatement for the Cascades. The new cars feature leather seats, TV's, classy glass electric doors that separate cars, cleaner and nicer bathrooms, and a lounge/dining area that appears to be taken out of a city restaurant. Because of the dinning area, the Cascades stands somewhat as a hybrid of long-hauls--long distance trains, which have a dinning car-- and commuter trains--which do not have dinning facilities or lounges. Such commodities do make the ride more enjoyable, though I could not help but notice the distance among passengers. In the older Amtrak cars, passengers seem more apt to interact, and start a conversation. In these Cascades cars, passengers remain in their own world. As one passenger observed, "yeah! People are a little cold here. They don't really talk." Usually, people in the lounge car do not hesitate to strike up a conversation, join you at the table, and even share a couple of drinks. In The Cascades, however, people make use of the facilities, but they do not socialize. For example, in one of the couches in the lounge car, a woman read a book while the person sitting next to her listened to music, and at the bar, a guy sat next to an older man, both of whom had a drink, but neither of whom exchanged a single word. I'll leave for the blog the description of what occurred; I'll leave for my thesis the analysis of The Cascades. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the train.

Portland

2010-08-14T11:34:00.004-05:00

Downtown Portland offers plenty of distraction and entertainment for the tourist. Within the vicinity of Union Station, one can find a Chinatown, the picturesque waterfront, the Aerial Tram, the zoo, the Japanese and Chinese gardens, and an eclectic artsy environment. I wish I had stayed longer to enjoy the food, the weather, and the welcoming people.

Note: for those future travelers, downtown Portland has a "free" zone in which one can ride the public transportation at no charge. This little fact made it so much easier to navigate around.

Los Angeles

2010-08-13T18:36:00.004-05:00

I just realized I never wrote an entry for Los Angeles, and I am not sure how I forgot!! I had an absolutely awesome time with my friend from high school, Grace, who took me everywhere a tourist would want to go:

Grace's artwork

Perhaps one of my favorite moments was spending time with Grace at the beach

The view from the Griffith Observatory is spectacular

Could someone explain the drawing in the middle?

The Coach has all kinds of smells

2010-08-11T19:28:00.004-05:00

By now I have traveled enough on trains to not have noticed the motley of smells that sometimes engulf the coach cars. A number of passengers never fail to bring food on board, since it is much cheaper than the food from the dinning car. While this economical decision makes perfect sense, and I would strongly encourage passengers to bring their food, I would expect people would be more conscientious of the smell of their food. There is no need to bring a tuna sandwich, and if you do, then there really exists no reason to eat it in the coach cars instead of the lounge car or observatory.

Then there is basic hygiene. I know some travelers remain on board for two nights, but a general good rule is to shower before heading to the station, and taking an extra pair of socks (and maybe underwear). Dirty socks, the build-up of dead skin cells, and the sweaty bodies definitely do not make the ride a pleasant one, especially at night when people are trying to sleep. It is a good idea to bring baby wipes, cologne or perfume, and other basic hygiene products.

What other smells does one find in the train? Cigarette odor from passengers who just returned from their brief smoke break, gasses from passengers who don’t have the courtesy to head to the bathroom downstairs, and depending on the region of the country, the smell of humidity.

I do not mean to complain. No, no. How could I complain about the subtle smells, especially when compared to some trains in Peru and India. Yet, there’s just something not idyllic about going through gorgeous scenery while smelling less than pleasant odors.

San Francisco

2010-08-11T19:02:00.005-05:00

In San Francisco, I stayed with family I had not seen in close to fifteen years. I must confess, though, that their hospitality made me feel closer to them—and more comfortable—than I do with other aunts and uncles. A day is not enough to spend in any city, but specially in San Francisco where I was welcomed with warm hearts. Though pictures cannot do justice to the fun I had in this beautiful city, and though I cannot possibly upload the hundreds to memories I made, here are a few shots I think capture a speck of my experience.

The famous cable cars of San Francisco

We dined at the La Mar, which serves fine Peruvian cuisine

Overlooking from the entrance of Coit Tower

The famous sea lions that make Pier 39 their home

The (allegedly) most crooked street in the world

At Berkeley

No visit would be complete without a trip to Golden Gate Bridge

Mean People, Fun People

2010-08-08T22:19:00.005-05:00

Mean People
Let me begin this entry by saying that overall, my experience with Amtrak staff has been a more than positive one. In the trip from Kansas City to Los Angeles, however, some staff members were less than happy to be on board. They got the job done, but that’s about it. Now, I would not be writing about this had it not been for other passengers’ complaining about the inhospitable staff (it wouldn’t be polite to name individuals, so let’s keep the details aside). Several passengers complained about one ‘gentleman’ who was bossy, rude, and snide. One lady commented, “he was just rude. I just try to avoid him.” Another one confessed, “You know, the staff overall has been great, but that one guy is just a jerk.” Yet another passenger snapped, “he’s nasty. This is a customer service business; he needs to learn to be nice.” One lady rated the staff on her first trip as cordial and friendly, but on the return she complained “they’re just cold.”

The staff does have a full schedule, and maybe their efficiency just comes across as short-tempered. I do have to agree, though, if it weren’t for the people and the scenery, this trip would not have been pleasant.

Fun People
To entertain themselves, people do all sorts of things: a lot of the pass time by relaxing in the observatory and playing card games. Others listen to music, watch movies, play video games, and sleep. I came across a group of scouts who were traveling from Chicago to go hiking. What do they do to keep themselves entertained? “We play card games, pray, and do some writing games.” “What writing games?” I asked. “We write a story by writing one sentence and passing it around." My sister asked me to upload pictures of what people do, so here they are!

Kansas City to Los Angeles

2010-08-08T21:46:00.004-05:00

The following pictures are of the trip from Kansas City to Los Angeles. This scenery went on for hours: open land without a sight of a soul.

Why is train travel perceived as something so romantic?

2010-08-08T12:51:00.003-05:00

On the way from St. Louis to Kansas City and then from Kansas City to Los Angeles, I could not help but literally see the answer from the window. For almost the entire trip, the train traveled along rivers, and cut through the trees. Civilization has lacerated and penetrated nature, rendering it tamable. From the comforts of my seat, I could watch the trees go by, and the river flow opposite to the direction of the train. The vast and otherwise imposing fauna was not a threat, but a movie made possible by the constant movement of the locomotive. At one point, as the sun shone through my window, I saw a group of kids playing and swimming in the river, as if it were a scene taken out of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Every so often, we passed a town—it took us no longer than ten seconds to leave it behind—but aside from these, there existed no other signs of people.

For hours I did not have cell phone service, but as frustrating as it was not to be able to continue the conversation I was having, the train allowed me to divorce myself from the commotion and worries of the city. It is partly in this sense that the train embodies romanticism. We are stripped away from skyscrapers, and thrown in the middle of trees; we are sequestered from cell phone and radio towers, and forced to just have faith that our conductor knows the way; we are made to see a movie in which children play along the river instead of one in which cars cross bridges over rivers. In essence, the train is romantic. But only to one who looks for the romanticism. This ride is not romantic to the guy sitting next to me, trying to sleep, and who is obviously upset we were a bit late in our departure. The ride is not romantic to the mother sitting a few rows behind—she moves with the assistance of a walker, and has an epileptic child. The ride is not romantic to the group of teenagers playing video games on their computers. The ride isn’t romantic to the attendants hustling from car to car, and always engulfed in their duties. And the ride is definitely not romantic to half the passengers in the car—literally—knocked out from the rocking of the train.

Life continues just as it did in the city. Teenagers play video games as they do in their homes, mothers still worry about their children, and people sleep as they listen to music—just as they do in the city buses or subway trains. Perhaps, romanticism in life comes about only if one is a romantic by nature; if one is a Thoreau. But if one isn’t inclined to see romance in the seemingly banal, then no matter the scenery—cars or trees, buildings or river, planes or trains—one cannot call oneself a romantic.

Ride to St. Louis

2010-08-06T11:14:00.019-05:00

The train ride to St. Louis promises to be long and full of surprises. As soon as I settle on my seat, my companion and I begin to share stories. Within thirty minutes, she’s explained her work before retirement, her travel plans, and some family stories. A mother puts her baby on the floor so that he can crawl, and my companion looks at me in disbelief, “oh my God. That’s filthy! Would you put your baby on the floor?” We laugh about parenting, make fun about the lady next to us listening to loud music, and drop our jaws when we see a woman who has taken off her wig and placed it next to her seat, on top of a little stand. If this isn't picturesque, I do not know what is.

“Why the train,” I ask her.

“Well, it cost me 22 dollars from Dallas to Shreveport. You can’t beat that. I can’t even fill up my tank for 22 dollars!” It only takes the first few minutes of my ride to make me realize that many others are traveling on Amtrak because, for them, Amtrak is the most inexpensive option. A high school student and I converse for a few minutes, and I find out he makes the inexpensive trip from Shreveport to Little Rock every other week. Towards the end of the night, I meet an eight-month pregnant mother whose only option is the train (doctors do not allow traveling by plane after the third trimester).

I go to bed around 1AM and wake up at 5:30--the seat was rather comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. Surprisingly, my train arrives in St. Louis thirty minutes earlier than planned (at some point, we were about 1.5 hours behind).

***
I am now in St. Louis, meandering around downtown. Below are some pictures:

Ride to the station

2010-08-06T10:51:00.005-05:00

This is already an experience. I thought I would leave my house with plenty of time to get to the station, take some photographs, and take care of some travel-related business. Instead, my friend picked me up at 3PM (my train was scheduled to leave at 3:40). My house is only 20 minutes from the Amtrak station, but we were stuck in traffic. 3:22PM and we were nowhere near the station. 3:28PM and we had only moved a few feet. 3:33, and we were stuck at a red light. 3:36 and we got lost for a bit. 3:40 we arrive at the station.

I am literally shaking in fear of missing my train. At the window, a lovely lady looks at me and placates my fears, “no worries…no worries. You’re all good. If I’m still here, the train’s gone nowhere. May I see your ID?” I wait for seconds that seem to turn into an eternity. “All right, the train will be here in about 15 minutes. Just go to Track Five.”

I know Amtrak has a reputation for not being on time, and unlike most passengers, I am thankful my train is late. Once the train arrives, I am assigned seat 17 (I did not know we were assigned seats; last time I traveled on Amtrak, I could sit anywhere I wanted…not this time. Thankfully, I am seated next to a lovely lady).

The Texas Eagle left at 5:02, heading to St. Louis.

Pictures of Dallas right before departure:

In Just a few Hours

2010-08-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

My train departs in a few hours, and I am frantically trying to pack everything I will need for the next month. Anyone who knows me also knows I do not travel light. Even for a weekend I pack an entire suitcase: three pairs of shoes, about fifteen pairs of socks, three or four pairs of jeans, shorts, at least five shirts, and all the products I could possibly need. How am I going to fit all of this in one duffel bag? I have resigned myself to seven pairs of underwear, and ten pairs of socks (I am going away for a month). To top it all off, I realized last night I did not have the proper suitcase, a problem I luckily fixed with a short visit to a 24 hour store.

Everyone says traveling on a train carries with it a certain feel of romance and adventure. I am really wondering, though, whether traveling with a few pairs of underwear and socks is romantic and adventurous. I also wonder what I will do without Internet, as Amtrak has not reached the era of full modernization. Well, here I go off to St. Louis, where I arrive at 7AM tomorrow; I have no idea what I am doing once I get there, as I know no one in that city. Unfortunately, I will not be able to meet a familiar face until I reach Los Angeles on Sunday, where I will be staying with my high school friend, Grace, and where I will be able to shower after two-and-a-half days. In the meantime, I will resort to baby wipes, hand sanitizer, and cologne.

Boston and Cambridge, MA

2010-08-04T01:41:00.009-05:00

This has nothing to do with traveling around the U.S. on rails, but this past weekend I went to Boston. I just wanted to share some cool pictures I was able to take:

Memorial Hall, where the freshmen eat

Wigglesworth--freshmen dorms

Harvard at night

Boston

Itinerary

2010-07-25T11:51:00.000-05:00

I have never written a blog before, and when I told my sister I would blog about my travel adventures, she stared at me and admonished, "wtf? you're not a blogger." She insists my writing is "too academic", "not fun", and "just not blog-like." I told her I would do it anyway, to which she pretty much said, "oookay, well good luck getting your first reader." Then, she just walked away with a sarcastic smile.

In all honesty, I am not a blogger, and she's probably right in implying that I'm not "blogger-material." Still, I'm hoping I won't have to make the adventures sound exciting and engaging; I am sure they'll do that all by themselves... Who wouldn't want to travel throughout America on a train, anyway?

For this first post, I just wanted to post my itinerary, and ask for a favor. If any readers have any suggestions as to what I should do in each city, PLEASE let me know. I am visiting places to which I have never been before, so I would REALLY appreciate any recommendations for dinning out, site seeing, holes-in-the-wall, etc.

So! Here it is:

Departure: Dallas, Texas
Thursday August 5, 2010 afternoon
Arrival: St. Louis, Missouri
Friday August 6, 2010 early morning

(I am in St. Louis for about eight hours)

Departure: St. Louis, Missouri
Friday August 6, 2010 late afternoon
Arrival: Kansas City, Missouri
Friday August 6, 2010 late night

(I stay in Kansas for virtually no time--one hour)

Departure: Kansas City, Missouri
Friday August 6, 2010 late night
Arrival: Los Angeles, California
Sunday August 8, 2010 early morning

Departure: Los Angeles, California
Monday August 9, 2010 morning
Arrival: San Francisco, California
Monday August 9, 2010 night

Departure: San Francisco, California
Tuesday August 10, 2010 night
Arrival: Portland, Oregon
Wednesday August 11, 2010 afternoon

Departure: Portland, Oregon
Thursday August 12, 2010 early afternoon
Arrival: Seattle (Amtrak), Washington
Thursday August 12, 2010 late afternoon

Departure: Seattle (Amtrak), Washington
Saturday August 14, 2010 afternoon
Arrival: East Glacier Park, Montana
Sunday August 15, 2010 morning

Departure: East Glacier Park, Montana
Monday August 16, 2010 morning
Arrival: St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tuesday August 17, 2010 early morning

Departure: St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota
Wednesday August 18, 2010 early morning
Arrival: Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Wednesday August 18, 2010 afternoon

Departure: Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Thursday August 19, 2010 late afternoon
Arrival: Cleveland, Ohio
Friday August 20, 2010 past midnight

Departure: Cleveland, Ohio
Saturday August 21, 2010 early morning
Arrival: New York (Penn Station), New York
Saturday August 21, 2010 late afternoon

Departure: New York (Penn Station), New York
Sunday August 22, 2010 late afternoon
Arrival: Washington, District Of Columbia
Sunday August 22, 2010 night

Departure: Washington, District Of Columbia
Monday August 23, 2010 morning
Arrival: Charlotte, North Carolina
Monday August 23, 2010 night

Departure: Charlotte, North Carolina
Tuesday August 24, 2010 past midnight
Arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday August 24, 2010 night

Departure: New Orleans, Louisiana
Wednesday August 25, 2010 late morning
Arrival: Houston, Texas
Wednesday August 25, 2010 night

Departure: Houston, Texas
Friday August 27, 2010 night
Arrival: Tucson, Arizona
Saturday August 28, 2010 night
11:57 AM