Our AMTRAK Adventure!

OK folks, we left home on September 16 and made our leisurely way driving to the Denver area by Friday afternoon……not much to see between here and there, so let’s move on……

Our mission was to ride from Denver to Grand Junction, CO on Saturday and return to Denver on Sunday. We hoped to catch the Rocky Mountain Aspens displaying their bright fall colors…..they exceeded our expectations and we were treated to a beautiful display! Lots of pictures  to follow here……

The California Zephyr was scheduled to leave Denver around 8AM, so I was up at 5 and jumped on the information highway to check the status……it was 5 hours late! ……..Wait, that’s OK…..I can jump back in bed and catch some more Z”s…..which  I promptly did…..
About 10AM Mark drove us to the Union Station in Denver, where we all patiently waited for our departure….I will have to admit, I was getting quite excited about this adventure, and I think Marcy and Mark were also…..

 

We easily found a parking spot in the Depot parking lot, just a few feet from the door…..

 

We had about an hour and a half wait yet, but the anticipation builds!

 

John, our Conductor was a real character, but very, very good at his job…..he was whistling the theme from “Bridge Over the River Kwai” and after discussing that movie and who starred in it, he challenged us to give him the real name of the song…..Mark (the techie) quickly googled it on his Blackberry and found it was the “River Kwai March”……as the train crew began chattering on the Conductors hand-held radio, Conductor John began singing “I hear the train a’coming, it’s coming ‘round the bend…..” and prompted the crowd around him to finish the lyrics, which we did….at least for a line or two….fun time! Here’s a pic of Conductor John, Marcy and me…..

 

Finally! Train time! This is so cool!

We were assigned to Car 510……they even washed the windows for us! After boarding, we claimed our coach seats and immediately went to the observation/sightseeing car……in which we spent most of our time…..

And away we go……..

Climbing out of Denver, we get our first glimpse of the head end of our train…..this is in the observation/sightseeing car……note the window/seat configuration….

Foothills…..

Rocky Mountains, here we come……

Marcy is mesmerized!

 

 

Well, I guess we both were! (Can you find the reflection of Mark taking this picture?)

Starting to see some rough country…..

Now we”re gettin’ there!

 

Our first glimpse of a little color! Standby for more!

a little more color…..teasers…..

 

people were ooohin and aahhin’!

Hold on….. it gets better…..

 

 

 

Sorry for the picture quality on these…..a combination of sun glare and the moving train made it challenging……

 

 

 

Going through Moffat tunnel….6.2 miles long, right on the Continental divide…..highest elevation of the trip…….

 

Coming into Winter Park Ski Resort….

Water is now flowing West toward the Pacific…..

For now, the topography is a little different….

but we soon get in to some more Aspens….

   

Suppertime and the romance of a meal in the dining car on the California Zephyr! Marcy had a pasta dish, and I had Bison meatloaf with a baked potato……

Mark decided to have the New York Strip steak! We all enjoyed the novelty of dining on board the train, however the food was mediocre…..oh well….

At Glenwood Springs, Conductor John announced that we would have enough time to step out on the platform and stretch our legs…..good news! There were stops at Winter Park and Grandby also, but too short to detrain….

A peek at the train…..

Marcy enjoying the break…..

I hate this next picture!

A little better view of the depot…..

Next stop was Grand Junction…..we arrived about 9PM, and being quite pooped out, we went directly to our motel and enjoyed a good nights sleep……We were scheduled to leave at 11AM Sunday, so we ate a leisurely breakfast at a Denny’s next to the motel, and made our way back to the depot…..

And away we go again……ALL ABOOOAAARD!!!!

Leaving Grand Junction, the terrain was quite barren…..we got up to about 80mph quite quickly, but then a air hose broke and the train went into an emergency stop…..but Conductor John was right on it and had it fixed in a matter of minutes and we were on our way again…..

Enough of this rock stuff, let’s find some more mountain scenes……I hear the river rafters like to “moon” the train as it goes by…..we shall see….

 

I think this was the town of Kremmling, CO.

We were malongside Interstate 70 for quite a ways….interesting how they were able to build it on the side of the mountains, and of course there are numerous tunnels also….You can see a bunch of kayakers and rafters in the water here………hmmmm….

 

I found I could step to the back of the car and see where we had been…..got some really good pictures from here later…..

These guys were fly fishing….

I think this the one where we were getting mooned……let me crop it and we’ll see…..

Yup….

This area was pretty cool….this looking nearly straight up through the upper windows on the sightseeing car…..some of these cuts were over a 1000’ high!

Back in the rear of the train….coming into some beautiful Aspen displays…..

 

Grandby, CO…..short stop here…..

 

On the Western slope, there was extensive damage from Pine beetles…..sad….

The damage covers perhaps millions of acres, and apparently is very very hard to contain……..

Fraser-Winter Park area…….another short stop……many very nice homes, townhomes, and cabins around here……

 

Still some beautiful scenery, but we’re getting tired…….

Ooops, my finger got in the picture….sorry…..told ya I was getting tired…..

Our first glimpse of Denver again……..way in the distance…….we’re at least an hour out yet……they say this is a beautiful ride at night when you can see all the city lights……

Going thru the last of numerous tunnels…..

 

Descending rapidly now……last stretch…..some very sharp curves here……

 

 

One of numerous freight trains we met……

Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team…..this is very near the train station…..Mark has went to quite a few games here….I’ve been to one…..

Backing in to the station at Denver….it’s right downtown, very near the 16th Street Mall area……

And we’re back!

 

This was one of the most enjoyable things we’ve done for a long time!  If you ever get the chance, do it………Or do  whatever else you have wanted to do for a long rime…..you only go around once……

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!!!!