The Action-Packed Adventure Part 1

On May 14, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition set out from Camp River Dubois on their famous expedition.

On May 15, 2017, 213 years and one day later, I set out on a journey myself, on a path that would parallel portions of the expedition’s route, as I rode Amtrak’s Empire Builder route out west for a vacation in the Pacific Northwest.

My great friend Roy from Valparaiso University days moved out to Oregon about three years ago to work at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, a little more than an hour south of Portland, OR.  Aware that of his plans to soon move to Spain to serve there as a missionary, I felt it was a good time to go out to visit him and visit the Pacific Northwest before his move.

Before I left for my trip, I typed up an itinerary so that family could be aware of where I would be and my modes of travel.  Mom looked at it, and remarked that I was quite adventurous to be going on such a trip.  Before that moment, all through the process of planning this trip, I never quite thought of myself as being adventurous, or that this trip would be an adventure.  But as I thought about it, I sensed that in many respects, this trip could, indeed, invoke a sense of adventure, especially given that I was headed out right after returning from South Carolina.

I began my journey of adventure to the Northwest on the afternoon of Monday, May 15, with a 2:15 departure from Chicago's Union Station.

As we pulled out and headed northward, I caught glimpses of the Chicago skyline (please see picture above), and then, a little bit later, we passed through Forest Glen, where my grandparents used to live, before heading into the northern suburbs of Chicago.

This trip was reminiscent of a journey I took during August 1997.  My family rode the Empire Builder to Whitefish, MT, where we spent a few days visiting Glacier National Park.  We then reboarded the Empire Builder and rode it to Portland where we transferred to the Coast Starlight for a trip to Sacramento.  It was great reconnecting with that experience and reliving it 20 years later.

I say this especially because of all the amazing scenery along the route, which I was able to take stock of more fully this time around.  There was lots of farmland outside of the Chicago suburbs and through much of Wisconsin, broken up by cities like Milwaukee and Wisconsin Dells, with scenic views of the Wisconsin River.  After LaCrosse, WI, we crossed the Mississippi River, entering Minnesota, and then mostly paralleled the path of the Mississippi River all the way to Minneapolis-St. Paul, with Wisconsin on the other side.  The views of the river in the time of sunset were totally spectacular (please see picture below).

When we reached St. Paul, I had the chance to step off the train to stretch my legs, during which time the car attendants and I observed lightning flashes from a storm off in the distance.

The next morning, I awoke to the wide open spaces of central North Dakota at Rugby, the geographical center of North America.  During our travels through North Dakota, two school groups boarded and rode for one stop.

The wide open landscape continued into eastern and central Montana (please see both pictures below).

I enjoyed the ride so much, and beholding all the amazing scenery passing by out the window and neat towns we passed through and stopped at as the miles rolled along and the hours ticked on--a wonderful throwback to a great vacation experience of years ago.

Here is a picture I found in a family photo album.  Above, Dad and I are enjoying the ride.

Here I am enjoying myself on the ride, in this photo taken by Rebecca, a Tulane student who sat in front of me while headed home for the first summer of her college years.

At Havre, a National Park Service Trails and Rails program volunteer named Stuart boarded, and in the sightseeing lounge, provided commentary of the places we passed along the train route.  It was especially nice to have him on hand when we reached Glacier National Park, which had some totally gorgeous scenery.  He pointed out many landmarks, including the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, as well as sharing lore about the places.

The obelisk pillar, a monument to Theodore Roosevelt, near the center of the picture marks Marias Pass and the crossing of the Continental Divide.

Amazing scenery of mountains and forests at Glacier National Park/Flathead National Forest

Most likely this is the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, just a short distance before we stopped at Essex, MT, near the Izaak Walton Inn.

There was so much scenery to behold as the day drew toward twilight, all the way up to the stop at Whitefish.

The pictures above and below were taken past Glacier National Park, but before Whitefish.

Here are some more photos from the same family photo album.  Above, as the caption states, the Empire Builder is arriving at Whitefish, MT.  Below is me at the Whitefish Amtrak station while our family foursome awaited the train to arrive.

Above and below are pictures of me at the Whitefish Amtrak station in 2017, taken by a fellow passenger, while we took advantage of a longer stop to get off the train and walk around, during which time I relived a piece of the 1997 experience.

I took this picture somewhere on the route west of Whitefish, at 9:25 PM MDT.

After it, I bedded down for the night, even as the sky still had plenty of light in it until at least 10 PM.  In the early morning hours, the train reached Spokane and split into two sections, bound for Seattle and Portland.  I got off the train to walk around on the platform, admiring what I saw--even at that hour of night--as a very prominent eastern Washington city, where Blase Cupich was Bishop before becoming Archbishop of Chicago.

I awoke to some stunning scenery in central Washington, which was an amazingly scenic ride all the way to Seattle.  This was my first time riding this leg of the Empire Builder, as in that August 1997 trip, my family rode from Whitefish to Spokane and then southwest to Portland.  Stuart was on hand, and started up his commentary around 7 AM over the train’s PA system--the sightseer lounge car went with the portion of the train bound for Portland--pointing out natural features, fruit fields, landmarks, and narration about the towns we passed through.

Here's a view from the train of the Cascade mountains and forests between Stevens Pass and Everett, most likely along the South Fork of the Skykomish River.

We even passed through the nearly 7-mile long Cascades Tunnel (please see picture below).

In this picture, the train has just exited the west end of the Cascades Tunnel.

As an added bonus, because the dining car, the only food service available between Spokane and Seattle, had no running water, the train attendants distributed free continental-style breakfast to everyone.

We had been following US Federal Route 2 (please see picture below) for much of the ride ever since North Dakota.

Upon reaching Everett, we came to the western terminus of the Route 2 corridor, and then the train headed south, with amazing views of Puget Sound not too far away from the tracks, all the way to Seattle.  (These tracks are used by Sounder commuter trains, and I can only imagine what it would be like for commuters to have this view on a daily basis.)

Above is a view of the tracks running alongside Puget Sound, which is to the left.  I took this picture from the window at the end of the last car, facing north as the train headed south.  Below is a picture of Puget Sound I got from a window on the side of the train.  In this picture, the camera was facing west.

As we neared our final destination of Seattle's King Street Station, I got this picture of the Space Needle, which appears near the center.

We arrived a few minutes before 10 AM, about 34 minutes early, marking the end of my longest continuous ride on a single Amtrak route, nearly 45 hours.  I bid farewell to fellow passengers, including some other long-haulers, who started their journeys beyond Chicago.

Someone on the platform kindly capture my arrival in Seattle after a delightful long-haul train ride.

My two-night westbound Empire Builder journey was long and wonderful, but it was only the start of my grand adventure as I left the King Street Station and headed out into Seattle for the first time ever.  And you can read about my experiences in Seattle and beyond in part 2 of my Action-Packed Adventure.

By the way, I really like the idea of "long-hauler" as a term to describe Amtrak passengers who ride the entirety of a long-distance route that is more than 600 miles and are scheduled for a ride of more than 12 hours.  Perhaps it's a term that will catch on.  So please feel free to use it.