Day 2 on the California Zephyr

I woke up this morning in Winnemucca, Nevada, to a rainy day. I can’t complain, however, because the rain is so desperately needed here. As we traveled across the desert, I made my way to the dining car for breakfast.

Before long, we were in the mountains again as we entered the Truckee Valley and followed the Truckee River on our way towards Reno. The rain had stopped, but the skies were cloudy.

Cloudy Skies Along the Truckee River

After passing into California, we began our climb of the Sierra Nevada Range, and soon passed what many on the train were anxious to see – Donner Lake. It was here that the Donner Party was stranded by a snowstorm, and all but47 of the 89 settlers died of starvation. Those that did survive had resorted to cannibalism.

Donner Lake

We continued our climb and caught fleeting views of beautiful rivers, canyons, and valleys. It was very cool to cross the Long Ravine Trestle, where we could glimpse the steepest slope on the route of the California Zephyr. People on the train joked that someone should cut down the trees along the tracks so we could have better views. Indeed, it was difficult to see the “breathtaking vistas” that were described to us, but the ride was still amazing.

Starting Our Climb into the Sierras

Beautiful Views

Fleeting Views into Spectacular Canyons and Valleys

Since most of the people I had met earlier had already disembarked the train, I suggested to Simon, the gentleman from London, that we should have a final lunch together. I arrived at the dining room on time and joined an interesting man and woman, but there was no sight of Simon. Finally, our server got impatient and paged Simon on the intercom. As it turns out, he had been napping and sheepishly arrived and took his seat. The funny, elderly Aussie woman at our table teased him mercilessly, and we had a fun time at lunch.

I returned to my room and began to repack for our arrival in Emeryville this afternoon. I then decided to head to the Observation Car and ran into Simon again, who offered to buy me a drink, probably as a peace offering! We joined others watching the scenery go by as we traveled through the Great Central Valley of California.

We stopped for a few minutes at Davis and saw its 1913 adobe train station, and then continued past field after field. Once again, I tried to identify the fruit and nut trees and other crops, but I was largely unsuccessful. The backdrop of the Sierras, however, was lovely.

Simon, Davis, and Views of the Great Central Valley

I knew we were getting close to our destination when I saw Suisun Bay, and then the Benicia-Martinez Bridge. We learned that there are three parallel bridges here and that the central railroad drawbridge is the second-longest railway bridge in North America, and the longest one west of the Mississippi River. We followed the bay for quite some time before arriving on time at Emeryville, the terminus for Amtrak trains serving San Francisco. What a wonderful journey it had been!

The End of Another Spectacular Train Journey

After retrieving my bag, my next task was walking to the nearby Hyatt Place, where I would be staying for two nights. Unfortunately, my Google Maps would not cooperate, and I couldn’t figure out which way to go. Two kind people helped me out and pointed me in the right direction. Again, there are nice people in the world.

The hotel was very nice, and a wonderful young man at the front desk offered to upgrade me to a bay view. His floor plan notes, however, turned out to be wrong, and my room was lovely, but without a view. I was fine with that, but when I mentioned it to him later, he apologized profusely and give me a gift card for the hotel restaurant. Since that’s where I had planned to eat, I gladly accepted it and ordered my food.