Turning 37 on a Train

It’s 5:15 a.m. Lucas, Paul and I are climbing into our pre-scheduled Lyft on our way to the San Diego train station the day before my 37-birthday. This is the start of our multi-day, multi-modal-3,500 mile trip to Alaska. 

Our first priority upon arriving to the station was, of course, coffee and some breakfast. Our next priority: getting on the right train. Luckily, San Diego is the southernmost point for Amtrak in the state, so we only had one train to choose from – the Pacific Surfliner. We grabbed seats together and settled in for the first leg.

We arrived in Los Angeles about an hour later, having enjoyed our first of two train sunrises. In LA, we had to switch to our long-distance train – the California Zephyr. LA was a chaotic train station. Eventually, we were shepherded to the right area by some very helpful Amtrak employees. We boarded between platforms 9 and 10 (yes, my little Harry Potter-loving heart was very happy). 

We were assigned the last car in the train because we were riding the entire route – all the way to Seattle. There were six other cars ahead of us – two more for coach passengers like us, the observation car, a dining car and two for the sleeper cabins. We settled into our seats as the train started north. About 30 minutes into our ride, I went to scope out the observation car. It was already packed! Uh oh, we were going to have to fight for a good spot. And when I say fight, I mean patiently wait for a table to open up while trying not to stare too hard at the people sitting there. Eventually, our awkward stares were rewarded and we scored a table. 

How does one pass the time on a 36-hour train ride? Lucas and Paul spent about 28 of the 36 hours of their ride playing an epic game of Factorio, a factory simulation game on their laptops. Their game was so impressive that multiple people walked by our table inquiring on their progress while cheering them on. I spent my time in a few different ways, working some and reading some. We all spent a lot of time simply looking at the scenery. This train route was insane, at times we were feet from sandy beaches on the Pacific Ocean, other times we were racing through lush green hilly farmland or zooming through historic tunnels. 

What does one eat on a 36-hour train ride? Learning from our first train ride, we stocked up on good snacks the night before – pringles, lunchables, uncrustables, fruit, nuts, etc. We had also hoped to replicate our Southwest Chief steak dinner with Paul in the dining car for meals.

Best laid plans though: we mowed through our snacks by 5 p.m. on the first day and the dining car was completely booked for dinner service. They give preference to sleeper car passengers and since we were in coach, we never had a shot on this busy train.

So, a new plan was in order! We dined at the cafe car instead. I chose the gourmet microwave mac and cheese while Lucas and Paul chose the decadent microwave cheeseburger. They were tolerable at best but better than nothing. The next day, Paul and I opted for the safe bet of microwave noodles while Lucas gambled on two microwave hot dogs. He survived the ordeal unscathed.

After dinner, I retired to our sleeping cabin aka our seats in coach as the train approached Oakland. Lucas and Paul stayed up gaming for a few more hours. They joined me in coach around midnight and soon shared my pain. We had the misfortune of sitting, and therefore attempting to sleep, next to a passenger with what had to be undiagnosed sleep apnea. It was a very noisy night for all of us. 

I gave up my attempted sleep around 6 a.m. As I peered my head under the curtain to see our progress, I was greeted with snow! We had traveled into the mountains of northern California and were approaching the Oregon border. I watched out the window, my head under the window curtain to shield Lucas from the quickly lightening skyline. Lucas gave up on sleep around 7 a.m. and we made our way to the observation car to find Paul, who had also been up for a while.

Once seated (there were plenty of empty tables that early in the morning), we compared notes on our night. Lucas and Paul’s smart watches told them they had 0 minutes of REM sleep the entire night. Ouch. After a pick-me-up of coffee and hot chocolate, we all decided it was just part of the train adventure! 

Some space opened up in the dining car for breakfast, so we decided to abandon the microwave life and go for a hot breakfast. Breakfast was delicious and mostly not microwaved (we think). By the time we made it back to the observation car, we had to wait for another table to open up, so we camped out in some of the outward-facing seats to enjoy the show. The views throughout the morning were just incredible – we were zooming through a winter wonderland of forests, rivers, mountains and lakes.

We pulled into Seattle on time that evening. After collecting our luggage, we navigated through the very busy train station and found a ride to our hotel. While I truly enjoyed spending my birthday on a train. I had requested a nice hotel with our own room in Seattle. No regrets on that decision. That Hampton Inn king-size bed and a hot shower felt so good, especially after our run-in with Mr. Sleep Apnea that night before. The last activity of my unconventional birthday celebration was walking to the nearest restaurant, which ended up being a taco truck parked outside of a one-room casino, for dinner. Oh well, we dined like kings and queens and then hit the hay before 10 p.m. 

And just like that, I was another year older (and as always, older than Lucas) and our train leg was complete. It was time to fly to Anchorage.