Jeremy and I have been on trains before, so we had an idea what to expect. Leave at 3:55pm on Tuesday and arrive at 10:25am on Thursday - easy. The train ride was basically what we expected, except it took a lot longer. But that being said, it was an enjoyable trip. We followed Route 2 most of the way (which is the route we will be biking along) and it was absolutely beautiful: rolling hills, grassy plains, lime stone formations, mountains, cattle ranches and small towns. Out of the seven states the Empire Builder took us through, it's safe to say that our favorite was Montana! It's going to be incredible to see it again on our bicycles and really get to take in the beauty.
I think my favorite part of the train ride were the people we met along the way. We had lower level seating, so almost everyone was much older or had a physical handicap. I had requested lower level seating since I get motion sickness. It was fun listening to them talk among themselves. It surprised me a bit that almost every conversation was about their families and telling stories about how things were growing up in northern Michigan or how much things have changed in the last ten years in North Dakota.
We got into Seattle at 1:30pm on Thursday, put our bikes back together and made our way south to Tacoma, WA to meet up with our long time friend, Jake. Downtown Seattle was treacherous, but once we were outside of the city the ride was quite pleasant. It's going to be great to hangout with Jake and see at bit of the West Coast.
More updates to come!!
1 comment:
Jeremy looks rather menacing in this photo.
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