Coast Starlight Train Ride

I've been meaning to write about our New Year train trip since, well, the beginning of January and I started to write it but than completely forgot about it but oh well, writing now about it.

Anyway, Marijn and I both had two weeks off for the winter holiday, we knew that it was the perfect time to finally head off to Oregon to visit some of our friends and the best way to do it was by train!

We took the Coast Starlight train from San Jose to Salem, Oregon. Of course, we rolled in high style, taking the first class bedroom car. It was wonderful having our own room that included a chair and bathroom with shower but it still felt small. I think that on our next trip, we will take the roomette class, the extra space was nice but not needed. Although having the personal bathroom on the train was awesome, no need to hoover on a moving train!

•first class bedroom suite. it's huge!•

•mini-bathroom with shower right above toilet. at least we didn't have to share!•

One of the unfortunate aspects of our trip was that Amtrak's Parlor Car was out of service. It's a refurbished car that has wine tasting, real coffee bar, alternative meal options (train food is a step above airplane food but not as good as cruise food), lots of board games and HD TV's so we were a little bummed that we didn't get to enjoy in that luxury.

So we made our own luxury in our sleeping car because it provided the perfect opportunity for us to play games, take lots of photos with our fancy camera (and point and shoot) and just enjoy the scenery. I love the real relaxation that we finally got with traveling. No rush to catch the next flight or deal with airport security. We could have all of our focus on our environment, watching the world go by, take photos and just enjoy each other's company. This train ride got me really excited for our Trans-Siberian trip, can't wait for that (just a little over a year!) If one ever has time to take the train, it's highly suggested (although I would recommend paying the extra money so you don't have to travel in Coach).

•worth waking up early for these shots•

•electrifying sunrise•

•truly breathtaking•

•you can see the train coming out of the tunnel from the window•

•i'm a dork•