The Californian Zephyr

I hardly slept the last night in the YH. I was so paranoid I might miss the bus to the train station that I woke up every half hour all through the night. I had never been so happy when it was 6AM and I was allowed to get up and get moving. I got to the buss stop with 20 minutes to spare, better that than having to run with 20 kilos on your back.


On the train I was greeted by our attendant, Gwendolyn, the tallest and loveliest black lady I’ve ever seen in my life. She made me feel so welcome, it was like coming home. I was shown my little personal travelling capsule where I’d be spending the next 3 days and 2 nights and I loved it. I was lucky that my cocoon was on the south side of the train for the entire journey, meaning I had sunshine all day and as it turns out, also the best views! It turned out my sleeper was a lot bigger and more comfortable than I thought it would be, so I settled in and was ready for the ride. As we were leaving the station I had this weird feeling of sadness leaving SF. I’d been there for 7 days and I had really come to like it.

On the train we were joined by tour guides from the Amtrak History museum. They travelled with us for the first day and every now and again got on the intercom and told us about the history and different things we could see left, right and centre. They even announced great picture opportunities! Dear photographers, get your cameras ready, we’ll be approaching a magnificent view in 2 minutes. So everybody ran to the lounge area. The lounge area is a great place, on the top deck, and has windows from floor to ceiling allowing for great picture taking and admiring views.

The first day we mainly travelled through dessert. I must have taken about 150 pictures of the landscape that day. I spent half the day in my cocoon, which was snug and comfortable beyond belief, just reading or listening to my iPod watching the scenery go by. The other part of the day, I sat in the diner having breakfast, lunch or diner (all included in the price of my ticket) or in the lounge area. Everybody chats and has different stories to tell, it’s great. Not once have I felt I’ve been on my own. People travelling on Amtrak or mainly older people; those who have time to travel. I have yet to meet one backpacker.

The second day was even more spectacular than the first one. We’d left the dessert and hit the start of the Rocky Mountains. We’d left California and were now cruising through Utah and Colorado. We slid through canyons, mountains, prairie and followed the Colorado river for many miles. I had this overwhelming sense that you shouldn’t mess with Mother Nature here; it’s so massive and beautiful. It really felt that humans could try as hard as they like, they wouldn’t be able to win from Mother Nature in this place. I took another 150 pictures or so in between reading and dosing off because of the rhythmic movement of the train.

I’d slept fantastically the previous night, mainly because I hadn’t slept at all the night before. But still, lying in your bed, watching the landscape go by is amazing. I tried to watch a film on my laptop but it didn’t feel right. This trip takes you back to basic. Writing in your diary and reading books, playing cards and meeting strangers. Never mind the digital camera.

The next morning I read my complementary newspaper and had breakfast with a doctor from Manchester. At that point, I had started to smell rather. (I lost my deodorant – which is not a good place when you’re stuck on a train for 3 days!) So I decided to try out the showers. I’d never had a shower on a train (lovely memories about the sleeping train in Russia!) but it turned out this one was big, warm and powerful. I’d nearly say it was better than the one in the hotel in SF.

We stopped at various places on the way and at one of the stations, where we would stay for 40 minutes, I asked Gwendolyn, who by now had adopted me as her long lost daughter and called me sweety all the time, if they would let me in the drivers engine room. She told me that they only let people up there on very special occasions and because of security issues etc. it would be impossible. But I could give it a try she said. I walked all the way to the front, grabbed on the drivers (there are 3 of them I found out) and he said, sure, no problem! Ha. I climbed about 4 metres in the air and entered the driving cabin which is nearly as impressive as a cockpit. With the biggest smile on my face, I walked back to Gwendolyn who then had to tell everybody on the train that I managed to persuade the drivers with my flashing eyelashes and smouldering eyes.

Again, I had a great night sleep last night and managed to hang out in the lounge area until midnight together with 6 other guys. Great fun. The scenery today looks a lot like the English countryside and I guess it’s somewhat of a disappointment after the dessert and the Rocky Mountains. A lot of little villages have appeared next to the rail tracks and most of the trees have lost their leaves so it’s a bit of a bare and wintery landscape. The skies aren’t as blue anymore but I guess all that means I’m getting closer to Chicago where it’s about 0 degrees at the moment.

I’ve got about 5 more hours to go on the train and I’m sad that this one is coming to an end. I can see why people say that the Californian Zephyr is the most beautiful and scenic train journey you can take across the US… I’m so pleased with myself for having stuck to the idea of training it in America. It has been an incredible journey which will stay with me for the rest of my life.

It’s a shame Stu couldn’t travel with me, however he’s been phoning me twice a day on my American phone so it’s like he was here after all. I would need to pack a tailored children’s ‘fun bag’ for Stu just to keep him busy for 3 days I feel. However when I described this journey as 3 days of sitting in Café Nero, he was warming towards the idea. If there were Indians and Cowboys riding next to the train on horses, he assured me, he’d definitely come next time.

As I’m typing this, I’m ready for the next part of my adventure. Taking a 3 hour bus to go to yet another state, Wisconsin, to stay with Rose for 3 days. From then on, I’ll make my way even further east to see Darcy in Washington D.C. and then it will only be a few more days before I get to see Andrew and Carrie down south!!