The Train Trip

Having arrived fairly early at the station, you have about half an hour to 45 minutes to board the Amtrak Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle. The waiting area is scattered with all sorts of people, older, younger, single travellers, foreigners a number of Amish families. 

We left our large suitcases at the bottom of the double decker train and took backpacks up. Luckily I was super sorted and had a packing cube with the clothes and toiletries I needed for two days. We humans need surprisingly little to get by comfortably. Top of that list is a bed that you can lie down flat on, and a shower with sweet Mary Jesus soap.

We were so comfortable tucked into our little pod which had a space for everything; chargers, lights, luggage, coat hangers, face clothes and drinks holders. The windows cannot be opened, only in the case of an emergency could the panels be pulled out. Having found out there’s no wi-fi, we considered this an emergency, but refrained from defacing the train before it even pulled out of Chicago. 

Roomette on The Empire Builder

On schedule, we departed from East to West on what proved to be a spectacular display from vast Montana fields to the pine trees in Glacier Park. Every American town has a claim to fame, some notably so, being the largest state in the U.S. which is Alaska, or the centre of the Northern continent which is Rugby in North Dakota. Other towns, well, it’s a bit of a stretch and they have to be creative. The sixth friendliest town in the South East, that has three consecutive traffic circles and is home to the world famous banana jelly pork chip. Or something like that.

North Dakota

From Chicago to Minneapolis, the scenery scrolled by our window like a gallery of screen savers. 
Huge silos and old school barns.
Railroad crossings, large fields, houses with no fences.
Postboxes, all grouped together in a line at the edge of the town. 
Landscapes from the Walking Dead, basketball courts, pick up trucks outside diners and camper vans outside houses. 
Expanses of cemetries and even larger expanses of car cemetries. 
Bridges and rivers. Industry and simplicity.

In the midst of the hypnotising display of the US, dinner reservations needed to be made with the squeaky voiced hostess who gave us options of 5.00pm, 5.30pm, 6.45pm, 7.15pm and 8.30pm. Having shared a cold turkey sandwich for brunch, we opted for 6.45pm and made our way through the train passages, bumping left and right, tripping over our flip flops and getting our train legs broken in. 

Dinner was arranged in a way that you sit with different passengers on the train at each meal time. It was actually great to meet various people, all of whom were American and all of whom were on their first train trip of this kind. Dinner was surprisingly good, salmon with baked potato. 

Our first dinner partners were an older couple from Portland; George and Lucy, who had taken the train to spend three days in Chicago to have a look around and were returning to home in Oregon. They chatted to us about Mennonites who are a derivative of the Amish family, but less strict. Mennonites are apparently not permitted telephones, televisions etc. in the home (anything with a wire), but on the more relaxed side they are able to go to the laundromat if the weather is bad. Their children are also not permitted bicycles. When I asked George why, he said because they don’t want their children running away from home. Now there’s a thought. At eighteen, the boys are allowed a year away from home if they wish, but apparently most of them return to their way of life. Not surprising. At the age of eighteen the world must seem a frightful place if you haven’t been exposed to it. 

Montana

Our breakfast people were Rachel and Rachel's Mom, they were travelling with Rachel's Dad and Rachel's Brother as well but father and brother were at a different table because they were quicker off the mark for breakfast. We were interested to hear how much traveling they had done, especially Rachel, who was also fairly upset about the lack of wi-fi. She told us that she was a teacher for religious studies and seemed to be very knowledgeable. I'm guessing half my age, double my intellect. Friendly, and quirky. Rachel's Mom could barely walk and Rachel's Dad, who we met briefly, zoomed around with his wrist held video camera and wore glasses which were stuck together with sticky tape. Rachel's brother was a big fella, a possible fondness for frosty flakes (who can blame him) and judging by the beard and the cap, he looked a little like he worked in a dvd store. video games or adult videos, not sure which. I drastically underestimated the rest of the family so he could well be a lawyer who has a side interest in brewing craft beer on a Sunday afternoon, who knows. 

We told our tale of two South Africans having crossed the stormy water to take on a summer-chasing, world-wide, trip of a lifetime. We told the story a few times, each time we met someone new, and each time our listeners seemed to enjoy it. A woman overheard us one morning and, delighted to hear South African’s, burst out in a short clip of dutch. She met with two very confused faces, and then we caught on. She was trying to speak Afrikaans, but was speaking dutch in a non Afrikaans way. She had been to South Africa on some agricultural tour and had spent a fair amount of time in Afrikaans towns. We asked where she was from and in her thick American accent she answered “America”. Helpful.

After each meal, we would pop back into our little cubicle of wonder. Feet up, laptops out, watching the world go by, writing a little, reading a little, watching a tv show or two, listening to music, falling asleep to the rocking train cars. No wi-fi may have been a blessing.

Wind Farm

It was really good to meet Suzanne and her partner over lunch. They were a couple around our age, one in marketing and the other IT, so we had more in common than most of the mid westerners we came across on the train. Being from Seattle, they gave us some tips and pointers about the destination, as well as their contact details in case we got into a spot of trouble. We hadn’t booked any accommodation, thinking we would do it on the train, but alas, no connectivity. 

I’m a big fan of train travel. The 48 hours was good, but I'm not sure if I would be as complimentary after a longer stretch, unless it were a luxury train with free drinks and bubble baths. We were well looked after, our beds turned down every night and up in the morning. Cookies and ice delivered daily. A weird combination yes, but if you don't think about it too much and just munch the cookie and toss the ice into the wine you bought on board, it's great. Showering was a real challenge, as was walking down the bumpy train corridors with boiling hot coffee. And to think some people travel without health insurance.

Fir Tree Country

I’m struggling to recall if I’ve come across anyone who has been anything less than friendly and helpful these past two weeks in the States. The train occupants, staff and travellers, were so decent to one another, so kind, respectful and gratuitous. The small towns we passed through must raise some good to honest, god fearing individuals. When I say small towns, I mean small. There’s a main road, a gas station, a bar called “Bar” and sometimes a casino called “Casino”. These less than popular outlets are clearly placed near the train lines to keep them far from the reach of the good Christian families and closer to the passers by.

Glacier Park

By the end of the trip, breakfast had run down to bread rolls instead of pastries, two egg omelettes instead of three and only one form of fruit juice. One of the game park rangers was running through the geographical information of the area over the speaker phones and we were glaring out of our windows at the beauty surrounding us. "In this area, there are 16 active volcanic mountains" he said.

Great. May not need to worry about that accommodation in Seattle after all.