Sometimes only an 'American' word will do. Awesome. This is an awesome journey. Deserving of the descriptor, 'one of the great rail journeys of the world'. On the Californian Zephyr from Chicago, we left Illinois and passed through 5 other states - Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada - before arriving in California. We passed through 95 stations, many of them started as railroad towns, such as Helper which had 'Helper Engines' for the trains. 33 of the stations are where we stopped as these are Amtrak stations, with up to a dozen of which you could get off at, to stand on solid ground for 10 minutes or so. And we passed through 3 time zones - Central Time in Chicago, moving to Mountain Time during the first night as we crossed the Colorado/Nebraska State Line, and to Pacific Time as we crossed the Nevada/Utah State Line during the second night.
On this journey we passed through the Rocky Mountains, Colorado's Gore, Byers and Glenwood Canyons, California's Donner Pass and High Sierra. We looked across the Prairies, into the Big Skies, and up at towering rock faces, as we wound our way over deserts and rivers. We passed 'Dotzero' in Colorado, mid point from Chicago.
I think it's the first time I've been without wifi for so long, 'kinda ever'. I did a bit of reading, and some listening to music (American), but mostly it's just looking out on an ever-changing scene.
As seems to be the way of the railroad, and this journey, you get to chatting, and making new friends as the announcement says. There was the father and two sons who'd just driven around Yellowstone; the two semi-retired guys going on an annual raft trip; the Australian woman and daughter doing their own Thelma & Louise; the UK couple who were finishing 6 months at Berkeley, he studying one of my favourite theologians. And the 2 chaps who I had my meals with, as Andrew the lounge car attendant from Tennessee, would call for us to be seated, in a soft, southern drawl, 'Angela, party of 3'. 1 chap from California taking a much-repeated treat of a train trip home instead of flying, and a Dutch actor making 'an iPad Mini movie' and traveling around. With all those I met we swopped tales of where we'd embarked on this Californian Zephyr, what the trip was for us, and other places we'd visited or that were on our list.
I was left thinking of those early pioneers who'd taken wagons west, built a telegraph line across the continent, and then an iron track. It was in 1869 that the first journey on this Transcontinental line was made and I'm happy that I was able to do it some 144 years later. It's all about the journey.