America - Day 12
What a beautiful morning. We're just rolling into Denver at 8.26 and the sun is shining. I slept well in my bunk as the train passed through Nebraska, along the flat plains, rolling into small towns on the way. Occasionally I would be woken by the clunking of the cars as we came to a stop or by the driver pressing the hooter as we went over a crossing - but I didn't hear many. I awoke with a raging thirst, the heater in my roomette the culprit I think. After a quick trip to the bathroom I went upstairs to the dining car to find it half-full of travellers chatting and enjoying cooked breakfasts. The sun was just emerging over the Nebraska plains to the east, pushing an orange and red glow over the horizon. I was beckoned over to a table and sat down with three others. By the time our meals were finished we knew something of each others' life stories. I love this way of travelling, everyone I've met on the Californian Zephyr is on it because they want to be here. During last night's dinner - and by the way I had the best steak and cheesecake I've had in a long time - I sat with a couple from down south and a woman from LA, all travelling this way because they like it, visiting friends or just travelling. If you want to get from A to B then it's best to fly, but if you want to journey then go by Amtrak - people talk to each other.
Now the sun was rising and casting an orange glow across to the West on Colorado's Rocky Mountans. I could see the snow line clearly crossing across a line of mountains which stretched as far as I could see. The mountains rise off the Nebraska plain and this is where our next stop is situated - Denver the mile-high city. We're speeding along. I can see ranches and horses but no cowboys. The farms look ramshackle with white timber buildings and confusions of sheds with piles of junk outside - familiar, but bigger. I can see windmills, the steel fan-type ones and a donkey pump - maybe for oil. The lakes are frozen and the land looks pretty barren, dry and with a thin covering of snow. I'm glad for our heaters : )
What a beautiful morning. We're just rolling into Denver at 8.26 and the sun is shining. I slept well in my bunk as the train passed through Nebraska, along the flat plains, rolling into small towns on the way. Occasionally I would be woken by the clunking of the cars as we came to a stop or by the driver pressing the hooter as we went over a crossing - but I didn't hear many. I awoke with a raging thirst, the heater in my roomette the culprit I think. After a quick trip to the bathroom I went upstairs to the dining car to find it half-full of travellers chatting and enjoying cooked breakfasts. The sun was just emerging over the Nebraska plains to the east, pushing an orange and red glow over the horizon. I was beckoned over to a table and sat down with three others. By the time our meals were finished we knew something of each others' life stories. I love this way of travelling, everyone I've met on the Californian Zephyr is on it because they want to be here. During last night's dinner - and by the way I had the best steak and cheesecake I've had in a long time - I sat with a couple from down south and a woman from LA, all travelling this way because they like it, visiting friends or just travelling. If you want to get from A to B then it's best to fly, but if you want to journey then go by Amtrak - people talk to each other.
Now the sun was rising and casting an orange glow across to the West on Colorado's Rocky Mountans. I could see the snow line clearly crossing across a line of mountains which stretched as far as I could see. The mountains rise off the Nebraska plain and this is where our next stop is situated - Denver the mile-high city. We're speeding along. I can see ranches and horses but no cowboys. The farms look ramshackle with white timber buildings and confusions of sheds with piles of junk outside - familiar, but bigger. I can see windmills, the steel fan-type ones and a donkey pump - maybe for oil. The lakes are frozen and the land looks pretty barren, dry and with a thin covering of snow. I'm glad for our heaters : )