Hike Info:
Type: Train
Description:
We got up at 6:45 and had our hotel
breakfast. It has been a good stay. My basic assessment is that this
is a hotel which once was up there, but it has not been updated in
several years. You can tell from the carpeting which is pretty worn
or the bathroom fixtures which are about 10 years old. But for us,
this hotel has served us well. The rooms are clean, the bed is
comfortable, breakfasts have variety, and the staff is helpful. For
us, it was a good place to stay. While we stay here again? We would
give it good consideration and see how it fits our needs. (Management said that updating the hotel is this Winter's project.)
At 8:15, we have our first Uber
experience. I guess this trip is a bunch of stepping out for us. The
driver is a female who has been in this country for nine years from Eritrea. They are part of the ethnic unit which includes Ethiopia.
She gets us to the King Street Train Station by 8:30, plenty of time
for our 9:35am train.
 |
| "Hill", maybe Mt Hood |
We pile aboard with my backpack,
Sherri's suitcase and a couple other bags, ready for the trip back to
San Jose. Should take until 10am tomorrow. But in the meantime, the
trip through Washington is really beautiful. When we came through
last Saturday, it was dark. But now we are seeing all kinds of inlets
and water, trees in fall foilage and birds flying around. A few
mountains show snow.
 |
| Hill and Farmland |
On the other hand, when not
mesmerized by the sights, I start to document our pictures from the
last week in Seattle. That would be about 570 picture in all. But the
train gives me time to go through them all.
 |
| Trestle and Bridge |
Then we cross the Columbia River into
Oregon, around 1:30 or 2:00pm. While still beautiful, it has more
population, at least the part going from Portland to Eugene. We spot
Mt Hood while playing a round of cribbage-Sherri wins rather handily.
There are fields belonging to good size farms with fresh cut alfalfa.
Then that is followed by a creek and forest setting. Then the cycle
repeats itself. Lots of things to relax the eyes with.
 |
| Bridge Across the Columbia |
After Eugene, we turn into the
mountains, but darkness also starts to fall. So not much to see out
the windows. So we have dinner: left overs from last night. Could be
a lot worse. Mine is the stromboli, wile Sherri has a sausage
linguine and an apple. Afterwards we continue to make progress on
some fudge we bought several nights OK. After that, both of us read a
book: Sherri The
Martian and I Dreamland.
Also I continue to work on describing our time in Seattle
Before going to bed, we watched the
movie, 13 Days on my phone.
Interesting movie. In the middle of it, we arrive in Klamath Falls
and I go for a walk. By the time we finish the movie, it is 11:15pm.
Time to go to sleep.
 |
| Columbia River |
November 5, 2016
Sleep is not one
of the things we did very well last night. Being in coach, we sleep
in our seats, which is OK. But having sat in those seats all day, our
rears were tired of being there. So slept off and on, never really
comfortable. Judging from the tossing and turning Sherri was doing,
she also did not sleep well. The conductor came around rousing people
for Sacramento at 5:40am. At that point the car is awake and
jabbering and almost impossible to go to sleep again.
Breakfast is
granola for me and a sandwich for Sherri. Still is black outside when
we do get to Sacramento. I walk for awhile and enjoy the freedom of
movement-except for the smokers who are everywhere.
When the sun does
start to rise, the sight is wonderful. Pinks and oranges through the
fog and the fog above and in the reeds along the marshes. A good
sight. We pass by Richmond and I message Andrea to wave. After stops
in Emeryville and Oakland, it is on to our destination: San Jose.
David and Mom is
waiting there to pick us up when the train pulls in a few minutes
early. It has been a good trip, but both Sherri and I are tired. I
nap with Mom a bit on the couch until Andrea and Lawrence comes. Then
we go out to dinner at Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi. A good way to end
the trip: family and and food.
Background
My Trip Advisor ratings and comments:
- Travelodge: 3.5 stars. Despite the comments below, our stay at this Travelodge was positive. It was booked through Hotel.com and was less expensive than most of the other hotels we looked at online. My basic assessment is that this is a hotel which once was up there, but it has not been updated in several years. You can tell from the carpeting which is pretty worn or the bathroom fixtures which are about 10 years old. But for us, this hotel has served us well. The rooms are clean, the bed is comfortable, breakfasts have variety, and the staff is helpful. For us, it was a good place to stay. While we stay here again? We would give it good consideration and see how it fits our needs.
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