sunset limited

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Train Adventure – Day 3

Posted by Corbin Matlock on March 11, 2014
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Day 3

Today we arrived at 5:00 a.m. on time to find ourselves in Los Angeles Union station. Once we got off the train we went down to the baggage storage area to put our stuff up so we could go see the Hollywood sign. It did not exactly go as we had planned – just let me tell you about this little adventure. It went something like this: We wandered around the train station for about a half hour then finally figured out how to get on the subway. We did not know were to go so we just hopped on a train then waited till what we thought was our stop. When we approached the stop, we forgot to get off so at the next stop we got off then got on another subway which only stayed in a spot for about twenty seconds. We got on it, but not my grandma and her sister… they were just walking along peacefully when the doors shut! My mom instinctively put her arm through it, but it did not open and she was stuck! After a while they opened the door and my grandma and aunt got in. Then we just went back to the train station and said “we’re done.” After that we went and walked around for a bit and then went to wait for our train the (Coast Starlight). As we were leaving Los Angeles we saw all kinds of farms including giant fields of strawberries. All day long we traveled up the California coast seeing the Pacific ocean, beautiful beaches, going through mountains, and even a few caves! All was happy and good well for me anyway. That night we arrived in Emeryville California which is close to San Francisco. Our hotel was really awesome, and we were able to get a really good night of sleep.

Mountains in California
fields of yummy strawberries
Guys in a field picking ripe strawberries
Just the Pacific ocean by itself
A fishing boat on the Pacific ocean
On the subway after losing my grandma.
A different bloom than the original purple Bougainvillea
Union Station in Los Angeles
Awesome train overview of he Pacific Ocean
Conductor trying to get use there early at 104 miles an hour!

2014 Train Adventure – Days 1&2

Posted by Corbin Matlock on March 10, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , .

Here’s an overview of our whole 15-day trip around America on my mom’s blog page.

Days 1 & 2 : The first day we hopped in my dad’s truck and headed off to the train station in Houston. My uncle, grandma, great, grandma, and my great aunt all met us there. We said goodbye and me, my mom, great-grandma, and great-great-aunt all boarded the train. When the conductor called “All Aboard!” I helped my grandma get her things into the train so we could sit down. We sat in there for about an hour until the train moved. During that time I enjoyed figuring out how to use all the buttons, and learned all the tricks of the train. Next after that we headed to the dining car for some food. The food was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

These two days we will travel from Houston to Los Angeles. We are sleeping in the sleeper car in roomettes on the Amtrak Sunset Limited. So far it has been a good trip, but you never know what lies ahead. Who knows we could run into a blizzard, or a train delay. So far it is great and I’m having a bunch of fun! The roomette we are staying in has seats which turn into bunk beds at night. The beds look good, and are really actually kind-of comfortable. I think this is going to be an awesome trip. (I might be a little crazy with anticipation.) The train was more than I expected. It is a two-story train, and has up to about ten cars each train. I cant wait till we get to New York. It is going to be awesome, along with Washington DC.

We learned a lot about the history of the towns we passed from the Amtrak Sunset Limited podcasts. We loaded them up before we left so we could listen to them as we passed through the towns. They are full of information about history, geography, animals, and a lot of other stuff. Here’s where you can download them. 

The first two days we went through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Tomorrow morning we will wake up in California! Here are some pictures from the first two days.

Alpine, Texas
Our Train
Our Train’s Luggage Car
Our View of Mexico as we rode along the Texas/Mexico border.
Mountains near El Paso
This is the vestibule between the rail cars. You have to push a button to open them to get from car to car. It’s very neat, but you have to hold on to the handles because it shakes around a lot!
Observation Car Early in the morning
One of El Paso’s many pecan tree orchards
Pretty mesquite tree in Alpine, Texas