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I was able to store one of my bags overnight at the luggage center, free of charge, as the Metro lounge isn't secure overnight. From the station I walked to my hotel, The Mark Spencer (which was suggested to me through the archives here; plus I got a great rate on expedia). Along the way I began to get a feel for Portland. I was put off by the large amount of beggars and homeless folks. I passed a large protest (which judging by the large amount of F*** Bush posters, and that it was inauguration day, I am guessing it was an anti Bush rally). It was hard to tell if I was in a good or bad neighborhood. I did start to come to like this city, though. I checked in, took a long long shower, and then went out seeking dinner. It took about an hour of wandering the city looking for a place to eat. I was about to give up and get pizza when I stumbled across Manzana, in downtown Portland. I had the best chicken I have ever had. So good. I can still taste the spices and the sauce. Plus I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is no sales tax! On the way back to the hotel I stopped in Powells Books and instantly fell in love! The next morning I went to the library, walked around the city and spent about 5 hours in Powells. Eventually I made my way back to the metro lounge. This was my favorite one -- it was small, cozy and you can tell it was a recent addition to the building. They had more amenities here than they did in Chicago, plus, because of the size, better personal attention. I had lots of tea.
1/21-23 Portland --> Chicago 2206 miles Empire Builder Sleeper room # 5; attendant Bob (normally on the Zephyr run)
My sleeper pod was on the upper level this time and the car was obviously an older one. The inside design was slightly different, for the worst, than the SWC. Bob began to hand out the box dinners soon after we departed. I had beef. For a cold meal, it was pretty good, though no substitute for my beloved twin medallions! On this train they showed multiple movies throughout the trip. I watched a highly edited I, Robot that first night (i didn't like it). For some reason I didn't sleep as well on this leg of the trip. I still slept good but woke up a few times. The heat wasn't as good in my pod, in fact the 2nd night it was quite cold (I attempted to turn the heat knob up but quickly discovered that it just spun around completely -- oops) and I found that the rocking motion and various jerks were more pronounced on the upper level. From Portland to Spokane the train was about 90 min late, as there was very heavy freight congestion. I slept through the Spokane connection, however, so I can't say much about it. The scenary on this trip wasn't as nice as I had hoped. Glacier was pretty much a bust. Nothing spectacular. I did like the two people in front of the Izaak Walton Inn waving to the train as we sped by. I met a lot of people on this train, from all walks of life, which made up for the scenary. On this train I was given a local paper each morning, which was nice. I spent sunday morning relaxing in my pod, lying down and reading the multi sectioned paper. I got a little local color from reading the 10 pages of tax and mechanic liens (its amazing some of the repeat offenders! ). ALong the way, at the various smoke stops, the conductor threatened to leave people if they missed the All Aboard signal. I wondered how many times this actually happens. Needless to say, these smoke stops were cold. Very cold. As the last few hours on this train began to approach, I developed mix feelings: sad because my trip, and AMtrak vacation, was coming to an end, also happy to be heading home to share my experiences with friends and family. However, as fate would have it, I wouldn't be arriving home as soon as I planned. Posts: 50 | From: New Hyde Park, nY | Registered: Dec 2004
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Thank you so much for all your trip reports, Michael. They are not only helpful to my future Amtrak planning but they also make great reading! I esp like hearing about some of the characters you met on your trip, including the just-out-of-prison fellow (Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the ole Amtrak station), the very fat man sharing your seat and encroaching on your space (happened to me on the way back from Atlanta last fall; I had to change my seat or be squashed, and I tried to do it without hurting the man's feelings, but the conductor was less discreet!!!) and The Cough Up a Lung-er (I'm afraid I had one of those too on the way back from Jacksonville going coach; spent more time in the lounge and diner because of it, though I forgot to mention it in my trip report posted here). Oh, and I really enjoyed your suspense-building foreshadowing at the end of this post. You are a great writer, and I am now anxiously awaiting the next installment!!!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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My travelog will be coming once I complete my trip from San Jose-Stockton-Bakersfield-LA-Lamy NM and return. I will be sure to post on the main website.
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). ALong the way, at the various smoke stops, the conductor threatened to leave people if they missed the All Aboard signal. I wondered how many times this actually happens. Needless to say, these smoke stops were cold. Very cold. As the last few hours on this train began to approach, I developed mix feelings: sad because my trip, and AMtrak vacation, was coming to an end, also happy to be heading home to share my experiences with friends and family. However, as fate would have it, I wouldn't be arriving home as soon as I planned.
