Day two - travel to OR - July 24

Well, the bunk arrangement wasn’t bad and true to reports, sleeping on a train was actually pretty good. Occasionally the rocking or noise woke me up, but generally it was great.
Train travel is different, the tracks of course run through very different parts of communities than the roads we use most often. Generally these are the more industrial and often the more run down areas of towns. I was awake for awhile at around 4:00 am (no surprise to those who know me) and watched out my window as went thru Cleveland. I know Cleveland pretty well from past travel but it was fascinating to watch it from a perspective I don’t know and stranger still to be horizontal watching out a train window.
Dinner was about what you would expect considering that some poor folks are trying to prep your food while rocking (sometimes violently) down the tracks at 60 miles an hour. Our waitress Mary is a classic. I asked about how they do this, where they start and finish, etc and how long she’s been doing this? “Too long, honey. Thirteen years. My legs are shot, my knees, my legs and my back are shot.” They use paper order forms at the table which you sign and note your room number on. Judith also went ahead and checked off her own selection for dinner. Mary was quick to start her all over again, no, no honey, that won’t work, these go thru a computer, I have to do that part.
Entertainment is where you find it.
We arrived in Chicago and had a couple hours layover which allowed us to get outside, get some lunch along the river and enjoy a beautiful midday. Next segment, the “Empire Builder”, train 27 to Portland. This is a double deck train called a Viewliner and we have a roomette for two again, this time upstairs. Guess what? This one is even smaller and we’re in it for 2 nights. Oh well. We departed on time and make great progress across IL and WI, though the Wisconsin Dells area which was pretty scenic and into MN. Maybe compensating for the view tighter quarters, the food on this train is not bad at all. Have to keep loading for the upcoming ride.
We go to sleep in MN and will wake up in ND.
Michael