The Rail Pass - Segment #3: California Zephyr

The scenery was fabulous but the staff made the trip even more memorable! Even if the trip was routine for them, they made it special for us. I was especially impressed by the kindness shown my seatmate when she had an issue with her ticket shortly before we departed. This segment was the highlight of the entire rail pass!

Prior to boarding the train, after Segment #2 I'd flown into San Francisco, CA to attend Microsoft's AI Tour marketing event. It was my first time in the Bay Area and the first time I'd stayed in Marriott's millennial focused Moxy brand. My hotel was just outside of the city in Oakland about halfway between the event site and the Amtrak station in Emeryville. The hotel was not quite what I expected from a Marriot brand but it was fun. I enjoyed watching the bartender who also served the front desk representative, create a new well beverage.

Collage from San Francisco Trip: Airport Welcome Sign, AI Tour Photo Booth, Bay Bridge, and Moxy Bar

After the AI Tour event, I took the commuter bus out to see the iconic Bay Bridge. The bridge itself and scenery along the route was amazing but I am not sure if it was worth the hour long wait sitting in the wind and cold at the bus before the bus returned.

Despite topping off my shiny new ORCA card, I decided to take Uber instead of trying to navigate the transit system with luggage and for my lack of effort, I was rewarded! I passed by Pixar Studios! I could not believe it, despite my collection of Pixar shorts, I had not realized it was in the area. I knew it was somewhere out west but if I'd had to guess, I would have assumed it was closer to Los Angeles. The Uber driver could not understand my excitement. This was just one of many examples I encountered along this trip that served as a reminder to appreciate the ordinary things in my life that other people find wonderful.

Once I arrived at the station, it was a couple hours wait and after many impassioned pleas from the ticketing agent, I eventually checked my luggage. The onboard storage on Amtrak trains is so generous, I've never felt the need. Even with the less generous airlines, I generally stick with a carry on and personal item, so that I don't need to worry about the possibility of lost luggage or wait for items at baggage claim.

We drove along the bay, north towards Sacramento. After learning that my former Agency's San Francisco office was actually located in Richmond, I was finally able to put a place to the name and understand why my coworkers were relieved by no longer completing the commute when they were reassigned to located field offices.

States visited: California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois

I decided to try to cafe car dinner and met a software engineer who'd just started a drone photography business while building out his idea for a new software application. Even before COVID, Amtrak sought to "reinvent" the dining experience on longer routes in a effort to appeal to younger passengers while also saving money. At $45 a pop, I learned that the new prices were much more steeper than I remembered from my trip on the Cascade in 2017. I'd reserved a sleeper car for my less than stellar Empire Builder trip in 2019. For my post-COVID 2023 trip on the Southwest Chief, there wasn't Dining Car service available for coach passengers.

My dinner companion didn't enjoy his meal as much as I did but initially I didn't think the meal justified the price tag but when I later put it in perspective it probably was not have been overpriced considering the quality of the food and the full service experience. The markup was a much better value than what you receive in other closed venues such as at sports venues and behind security at the airport. Although I was at least a decade or so older, we had a great dinner conversation and I even picked up a couple of book recommendations at least until I teased him about having an Apple watch. I quizzed my dinner companion about his Sleeper Car experience after my Empire Builder trip soured my opinion of Amtrak's first class experience. I was especially curious because he'd opted for coach for the return trip. I didn't see the value of paying triple the price to be treated worse plus I am perfectly happy to spend my entire trip, holed up in my room, reading or otherwise not partaking of the communal aspects for the train ride. For this particular trip, the sleeper car wasn't even an option. It was clearly written on any printed ticket: "COACH ONLY - NO UPGRADE AVAILABLE" I wonder if in the future Amtrak could offer a premium rail pass for maybe $1499 that includes sleeper accommodations on the longer routes. After our initial more experienced attendant left, we had more than our fair share of seat disputes. In order to have a less obstructed views and more room to stretch out, quite a few people spent most of their time in the Observation Car. The new attendant didn't assign seats upon boarding, so passengers would board and sit in the first available seat. Often these available seats were the seats of passengers who'd not left, but had gone to the observation car. We really ran into trouble when families boarded and passengers rearranged themselves into better seats and new seats after they found their previous seats were occupied. Before each stop, the attendant would count tags and identify the empty seats and we would start again. I was able to make it through the trip relatively unscathed, having a window seat, I remained in my seat a lot more or placed highly visible but not particularly valuable items in my seat while away.

There was such a variety of sights! We passed through forests, passed by mountain top lakes, and rode over snow capped mountains. On the second day, we passed through canyons and the desert. My phone was showing its age and didn't cooperate with my attempts to capture the beauty in photographs.

But this may have been a good thing. Research from a 2021 study out of Binghamton University, State University of New York has shown that photographs like other forms of external memory, may impair our ability to take in memories of the events or important moments of our lives. Highlighting the importance of making every moment count, we had a medical emergency as we passed through Colorado, so our train ride was delayed. Once we arrived in Chicago, I helped my seatmate navigate to the Chicago Orange Line to spare her the adventure I'd experienced the week before. She gifted me with authentic Chinese noodles. She had only arrived in the US for the first time on the day of our train departure!

Picture of the author holding gifted noodle package next to seatmate

In gratitude for my willingness to help out a stranger, when I arrived to retrieve my luggage, the crew gave me a tip about checked luggage that would help me that day and that I would use later in my adventure. After making sure my seatmate was well on her way, I set out for a second exploration of Chicago before embarking on the next leg of my trip to Boston.