On the California Zephyr

After a peaceful night at the Thompson Denver Hotel, I got up very early to walk to Union Station in time to check my one suitcase. On the way, I walked by the Oxford Hotel and asked the bellman if I could leave my bags there for a minute so I could cross the street to photograph the train station. He was happy to do so and even offered to come with me to take my photo. People are so nice!

The redevelopment of Union Station has been a major success, and it was such a pleasure to walk around and admire the architecture. Before long, however, it was time to board Amtrak’s California Zephyr and settle in for my two-day adventure.

Denver's Union Station

Once again, I booked a bedroom, which comes with a private bathroom. The room seemed more spacious than usual since the single seat across from the sofa was missing. I later found out from Gregory, my friendly sleeping car attendant, that the seat had been broken and not yet replaced. Although the seat would have been handy to place things on, I did appreciate the extra room so I could easily open my suitcase.

The California Zephyr, Gregory, and My Bedroom

We left Denver on time, and everyone immediately made their way to the dining car for breakfast. I was seated at a table with three other people, all of whom were delightful. Linda and Don were from Charlotte, North Carolina, and were on their way to Glenwood Springs today. Simon was from London and was headed to San Francisco. The French toast was very good, but the conversation was even better.

We soon began our climb through the Rocky Mountains. Although I’ve taken this trip before, the views never get old. The scenery is always spectacular, and I was delighted to see that some of the aspen trees had already turned golden.

Climbing through Colorado's Rocky Mountains

We passed through more than 40 tunnels today, including the Moffat Tunnel, which spans the Continental Divide. It is always so cool to travel in an area inaccessible to cars.

I joined Linda and Tom again for lunch, and I couldn’t get over how much we had in common. It was fun sharing travel stories.

During lunch, we followed the beautiful Fraser River toward its intersection with the Colorado River through more gorgeous scenery, especially the Red Canyon.  I even saw a herd of pronghorn on a nearby hill.

Following the Fraser and Colorado Rivers through Magnificent Canyons

We soon entered Glenwood Canyon and then the lovely town of Glenwood Springs.  The landscape after that was all new to me, and I enjoyed our ride through Palisade, which produces the best peaches I’ve ever eaten. Our view to the southwest was the Grand Mesa, the world’s largest flat-topped mountain.

Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs to Palisade and Grand Mesa

The train stopped in Grand Junction, and my eye caught sight of the former Union Depot, considered to be one of the finest railroad buildings west of the Rockies when constructed. From there, we traveled through Ruby Canyon, another area inaccessible to vehicles. The beautiful red rock formations are the eastern “gate” of the Utah desert.

I was at dinner when we passed through the desolate gateway to Utah’s magnificent national parks, and I happened to capture the enormous moon as it rose next to one of the rock formations.

From Grand Junction to Ruby Canyon to the Moon Over the Utah Desert

Throughout the day, I found it quite difficult to stop taking photos, and I wasn’t the only one. Unfortunately, the windows weren’t especially clean this time, so the quality of the photos is not quite as good as I had hoped.

Dinner was another delightful affair. This time I sat with Janet and Calvin, as well as a different Tom, and we had a wonderful conversation. Meeting people and enjoying conversations like these is one of my favorite parts of traveling by train.

I soon retired to my room and tried to start working on the blog. I don’t need a cellphone signal to compose the text, but I learned that I do need one to sync the photos on my phone to the computer. I usually let the photos prompt the text, so I didn’t get very far. In fact, I never finished this post until September 29, since I decided to fully experience the trip, rather than taking the time to write about it.