July 2, 2025 [LINK / comment]
My Great Train Odyssey, June 2023
Two full years after the fact, I now present a fairly complete description of the amazing rail journey across the United States which I took in June 2023. I took advantage of a special Amtrak deal whereby you can book ten train trips of any length over a 30-day period for just $499. (I had used the "USA Rail Pass" once before, to travel to the Midwest via New York City in 2008.) It was motivated in part by news reports last April (later confirmed) that the Oakland Athletics intended to relocate to Las Vegas; I just had to see Oakland Coliseum before it was too late! (I'm on a lifetime quest to see all 30 MLB stadiums and all 50 state capitol buildings.)
NOTE: My last travel-oriented blog post, about the road trip to Canada that Jacqueline and I took, was on August 4, 2022. Since then, we have also traveled to the Outer Banks of Norther Carolina (in August of 2023) and to New York City (last August), and I took a solo road trip to South Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming one year ago. Obviously, I've got a lot of catching up to do!
Unfortunately, a few days after I bought the pass from Amtrak, I learned that a landslide had shut down rail service between Los Angeles and San Diego. Then, while considering alternative travel plans, I just couldn't get a straight answer from Amtrak [personnel] about the emergency bus connection between those cities. Anyway, here is a brief recapitulation of my lightning-paced itinerary, entirely by train except for one segment in California. The major urban destinations are in bold face, and the overnight stops (mostly the same) are underlined.
June 10-11 (Saturday-Sunday; 2.5 miles walked): I departed Charlottesville aboard Amtrak's "Crescent" train after dusk, and fell asleep by the time we reached Charlotte, North Carolina. I woke up as we entered Georgia, and I was disappointed that the train did not go to downtown Atlanta. Instead, we skirted the north edge of the city. In the early afternoon, we reached Birmingham, passing some of the steel mills that give the city its nickname "Pittsburgh of the South." Jacqueline and I had visited it briefly two years earlier, but did not see the downtown, where the buildings seem to be mostly from the early 20th Century. The next stop was Tuscaloosa, which features an attractive train station; it is the home of the University of Alabama. The bridge across the wide Tombigbee River provided an impressive view of white cliffs on the west side. We passed through southern Mississippi and crossed Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana after dusk, arriving in New Orleans just before 9:00 -- on time! I considered walking a few blocks to get lodging for the night, but I learned that the streets are dangerous at night, so after checking with the security guard, I simply sat down in the waiting area of Union Station and slept as well as I could.
June 12 (4 miles walked): Early in the morning I did some hasty sightseeing in New Orleans, getting a closeup view of the nearby Superdome and Smoothie King Arena next door. (When I was there in 2021, it was called "Mercedes Benz Superdome"; now it's called "Caesar's Superdome.") Breakfast at Hurt's Donuts (a new business) was very satisfying. Then I boarded Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" train, which traversed several towns in the low bayou country, passing above-ground cemeteries, industrial areas, and residential neighborhoods, including some very poor ones. We also passed quite a few sugar cane fields. In the mid-afternoon we crossed into Texas, and in the port city of Beaumont I saw a U.S. Navy "roll-on, roll-off" transport ship, the MV Cape Taylor.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: a sugar cane field near Thibodaux, Louisiana, New Orleans, Atlanta (north), and Birmingham, Alabama. (June 11-12)
We arrived in Houston at 6:40 PM, and I was surprised that the train station was so modest in size. The walls were adorned with photos of the old Grand Central Station, which was built in 1934 but replaced only 25 years later by a much smaller facility, reflecting the decline in passenger rail traffic. I had to walk several blocks to make a connection on a local bus, crossing the Buffalo Bayou (as lowland rivers are called in the Gulf region) into downtown Houston. In a riverside park is a monument honoring President George H.W. Bush (senior), who in retrospect is the last American president who truly deserved unqualified respect. After a long bus ride a few miles south I arrived at the Wanderstay Hostel, which caters mainly to young international travelers. I met several interesting folks during my two evenings there.
Two views of the Houston skyline, the old Harris County Courthouse, and the Buffalo Bayou, which is what they call the river that flows through the center of the city. (June 12)
June 13 (5.7 miles walked): I spent all morning trying in the hostel to finalize Amtrak train reservations in California and the return leg of my trip, having had to change my plans due to the aforementioned landslide south of Los Angeles. [I should give credit to the helpful and understanding Amtrak agent who assisted me in making those reservations.] Given the uncertainties and my tight time constraints, I decided that the idea of trying to see a Padres game in San Diego was just too risky. Even worse, my hopes of stopping in Denver and/or Kansas City on the way back east were foiled when I found out that all trains going that way from Los Angeles were sold out at least ten days in advance. So much for my plans to see family members! Instead, I had to go "East by Northwest." (More on that later.) In the afternoon, I took a light rail train to see the Astrodome for the first time. That historic indoor stadium closed in 1999, but it served a vital role in housing refugees during and after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. The city of Houston is still trying to figure out what to do with the aging structure. Then I boarded another commuter train to downtown Houston, and walked a few blocks to see the Nationals vs. Astros game at Minute Maid Park. (See my June 28, 2023 blog post about my baseball experiences during that trip.) The following composite "montage" photo shows all the MLB stadiums I saw during my trip out west, along with the dates.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Oracle Park (June 19), T-Mobile Park (June 21), Oakland Coliseum (June 18), Minute Maid Park, which has since been renamed "Daikin Park" and the Astrodome (both on June 13), and Dodger Stadium (June 16).
June 14 (3.5 miles walked): On Wednesday I rented a car and, at the recommendation of my brother John, I drove to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (about 25 miles east) to watch birds! Once again, it was very hot, probably over 100 degrees! (See my August 1, 2023 blog post about the birds I saw there.) In the evening I had a very good Mexican dinner in downtown Houston before returning to the train station to board Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" train. During the middle of the night we stopped for over three hours in San Antonio, and I got off to stretch my legs and take photos of the area, including the nearby Alamodome. (I wish I could have walked a few blocks to see the Alamo itself.) I was awake a couple hours later when we briefly stopped in the town of Uvalde, scene of a terrible elementary school massacre that had happened about a year earlier.
Scenes at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Some reptiles are more dangerous than others! (June 14)
June 15 (1 mile walked): Dawn broke on Thursday soon after our train crossed the the Amistad Reservoir (part of the Pecos River) near the border town of Del Rio. About an hour later we passed over a canyon that I later determined (after returning home and consulting my maps) was within a mile or so of the village of Langtry, Texas, made famous by the eccentric Judge Roy Bean, who was actually a real person. (Paul Newman played him in that 1972 movie.) The terrain in west Texas is rocky and not much grows other than cactus and scrub brush. A couple hours later the train stopped in the town of Alpine, which features some impressive artistic murals on some buildings. Three hours later the landscape became greener, as we approached the Rio Grande valley once again. Finally, we pulled into Old El Paso and stopped for a while, so I got out and stretched my legs. The up-close views of the Mexican border as we left town were quite dramatic! After we crossed the Rio Grande into New Mexico, I was amused to see a section of the imposing steel wall abruptly stop where it reaches a steep, barren hillside, with some folks on the Mexican side peering across. (Were they planning to cross?) We passed saguaro cacti around dusk and reached Tucson as night fell. I was sound asleep as we passed Yuma (around 3:10 AM, perhaps?) and crossed the Colorado River into California -- the "Golden State"! Likewise, I entirely missed seeing the Salton Sea or Palm Springs, both of which we passed.
Looking across the Rio Grande toward Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from El Paso; and various scrubland scenes in southern Texas. (June 12)
June 16 (10.8 miles walked): I gradually woke up as our train passed Pomona and the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles in the predawn hours of Friday morning. We crossed the Los Angeles River (fully "paved" and with very little water) just before arriving at historic Union Station. For many years I had studied L.A. geography, marveling at how close the train station was to downtown. As I emerged from the station I could see the iconic City Hall building only a few blocks away. The large presence of homeless people was immediately evident, and I tried to exercise due caution. I walked about a half mile to the "modest price" (relatively speaking!) hotel where I had made reservations in the Little Tokyo district, on the east edge of downtown. After a brief nap, I headed out for a busy day of touristing. Even in mid-morning it was still cool and overcast, to my surprise. I walked uphill past L.A.P.D. headquarters, which is located near City Hall, boarded the L.A. Metro subway, and headed west. In sharp contrast to the old days, Los Angeles now has a modern and comprehensive mass transit system. After the train emerged from the tunnels I could recognize Baldwin Hills, which are visible in the background of several Hogan's Heroes episodes. (The former "Stalag 13" set in the Culver City area has long since been replaced by new building developments, however.) After a half-hour ride, I got off and reached the Pacific Ocean at the Santa Monica pier, which is a major center of entertainment and commerce. There is a sign noting that it is the terminal point of the historic "Route 66," from Chicago to L.A. The clouds had lifted by noon, and the temperatures finally climbed into the 80s. The view of the coastline was spectacular, with the palm trees and lush flowering shrubs atop the palisades overlooking the sandy beaches. Little did I know that 15 months later that whole area to the north (known as Pacific Palisades) would be consumed by a massive wildfire that destroyed thousands of houses.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: L.A. City Hall (seen from Dodger Stadium) at night, Union Station, Santa Monica beach & palisades, and the Los Angeles River. (June 16 & 17)
After lunch at the "1986 Taco" restaurant I headed back east and got off at the University of Southern California, about two miles southwest of downtown. There I walked around Memorial Coliseum, home of the USC Trojans and former home of the L.A. Rams and the L.A. Dodgers, who played from 1958 to 1961, before Dodger Stadium was built. Then I walked for nearly two miles through a mostly middle-class neighborhood, passing a homeless encampment on the overpass over the Harbor Freeway. Finally I arrived at a park named for benefactors Kirk and Anne Douglas where the L.A. version of Wrigley Field once stood. (The L.A. Angels played there during their first year, in 1961.) Some of the houses had nice gardens, and the area seemed to be relatively safe. I couldn't find the historical marker (which I later learned is located 100+ yards from where the old stadium actually stood), so I got on a bus and returned to my hotel and then to Union Station, from whence a shuttle to Dodger Stadium departs. The Dodgers and Giants were playing that evening, but I missed the first three innings because of traffic jam delays caused a protest by certain religious activists against Pride Night. The Giants won that game, and in fact they swept the weekend series.
June 17 (9.3 miles walked): On my second day in Los Angeles (a Saturday), I did my laundry, checked out of the hotel, checked my backpack at Union Station, and then took the Metro subway to the Hollywood and Vine station. (I had considered going to see Angel Stadium, but just getting to Anaheim and back would have taken nearly two hours, and I figured it wouldn't have been worth my precious time just seeing the outside of the stadium.) I saw some of the stars embedded in the Hollywood Walk of Fame (such as Doris Day, James Dean, Katherine Hepburn, Boris Karloff), took note of some eccentric characters and tourists, and marveled at the famous cylindrical Capitol Records building. Then I walked a few blocks past some very posh houses toward Griffith Park, where the trail leading up to the famous Griffith Observatory begins. (I previously described my birding adventures in Los Angeles on October 28, 2023.)
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The hillside Hollywood letters, Griffith Observatory, palm trees at the corner of Hollywood & Vine, a mural of Sidney Poitier and Judy Garland, and the Capitol Records tower. (June 17)
Late in the afternoon I strolled along the historic Olvera Street district, only a few blocks from Union Station, and bought a few souvenirs. That is the historic heart of Los Angeles, from back when it was a part of Mexico, and there are numerous plaques displaying the city's Hispanic cultural heritage. A mariachi singer was entertaining the local folks in a park, and it was just delightful. As dusk fell, I settled in to wait for the 1:00 AM Amtrak bus to Bakersfield. (There hasn't been any train service from L.A. to the San Joaquin valley since the 1970s, which is a major and annoying gap in their national rail network.) I was barely awake as the weary passengers got on the "Pacific Surfliner" train in Bakersfield.
June 18 (4.3 miles walked): As the sun rose over the San Joaquin Valley on Sunday morning, I could see the intensively irrigated fields for which California is famous. (But is it environmentally sustainable??!) I was surprised that the train didn't go directly toward the San Francisco Bay, but instead detoured around the east side of the mountain range, going north through Modesto and Stockton, and then looping back south along the Sacramento River.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Mount Diablo, Benicia-Martinez Bridges, palm trees, and irrigated fields in the San Joaquin Valley. (June 18)
Just before 11:00 AM our train arrived in Emeryville, on the north side of Oakland, and after checking in at a nice hotel (Four Points, by Sheraton) I quickly headed back to the train station to go see the Phillies vs. Athletics game. Unfortunately, there was a long delay (again!), so I didn't get inside Oakland Coliseum until the third inning. After the game I took the train back to Emeryville, and grabbed dinner (a veggie bean wrap) at a trendy grocery store called Trader Joe's.
June 19 (6.5 miles walked): I began the day by taking the BART subway to downtown San Francisco, my second time in that fabled city. (The first time was in 1987, when I had a pre-arranged rendevous with my friend Lanny Evans.) I soaked in the highly varied architectural styles of the buildings, and walked about a half mile downhill to Oracle Park (home of the Giants), taking a tour that lasted over two hours. Time well spent!
Then I walked back uphill and boarded a streetcar west from downtown through the historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. I was aware that this was the heartland of the 1960s hippie counterculture movement, but even so I was surprised to see a completely naked woman walking along the sidewalk! We then passed Kezar Stadium, which was the home of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s, but very little of the original structure remains. Finally we arrived at my main objective, Golden Gate Park, where I saw some interesting birds. I had a nice view of Mount Sutro, which is topped by a very sturdy (earthquake-proof?) communications tower. On the return trip I walked past the world headquarters of what was then called "Twitter," soon after Elon Musk acquired it in a highly leveraged buyout. (Now it's called just "X.")
Scenes from San Francisco (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): the downtown skyline, the Transamerica tower, an antique trolley car, the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets, and the Bay Bridge leading to Oakland. (June 19)
June 20 (7.5 miles walked): In the morning, I took a BART train to the Merritt Lake area south of downtown Oakland. It's not really a lake, but an inlet connected to the San Francisco Bay. I passed a museum with an exhibit about the radical activist Angela Davis, which happened to be located next to the courthouse where she once (allegedly) helped some prisoners escape. Then I walked down to the waterfront where the Athletics were hoping to build a new baseball stadium, but that scheme fell apart. That's why the Athletics are playing in Sacramento for the next few years, pending the construction of a new stadium in Las Vegas. It's all a terrible tragedy.
Scenes from Oakland (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): downtown buildings and a new housing development, cranes handling port cargo, the Alameda County Courthouse, and Lake Merritt. (June 20)
In the afternoon, I took a bus northeast from Emeryville through the city of Berkeley, getting off at the campus of the University of California. From there I walked uphill to the Strawberry Canyon Natural Area, where I hiked and watched birds for about an hour. Then I toured the U.C. campus, famed as a center of the antiwar protest movement in the 1960s, seeing California Memorial Stadium, Sather Tower, and other landmarks. I had not previously realized that the entire campus is situated on a broad slope, with downtown below and the foothills above. From the top you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance! It's extremely picturesque, and it was nice to see Redwood trees, even if they weren't as big as the ones that I saw at Redwood National Park in 1987.
Scenes from Berkeley (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): Redwood trees, Strawberry Canyon Natural Area, and the Sather Tower on the campus of the University of California. (June 20)
June 21 (1.2 miles walked): My train (the "Coast Starlight") left after midnight, and I was half asleep as we passed through the state capital of Sacramento toward the north. As morning broke we were entering the Cascade Mountains, with an excellent view of Mount Shasta. Then we crossed into Oregon and stopped at the Klamath Falls station, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The train passed a large lake where I was surprised to see many pelicans, as well as a Bald Eagle. Then we turned west and began ascending the mountains, through some scenic but precarious passes, and then back down to the lush agricultural Willamette Valley. A couple hours later we entered the city of Portland, as the sun was setting in the west. Unfortunately, our train was delayed by nearly three hours, so I didn't arrive in Seattle until well after midnight. Fortunately, I had reserved a room within a couple blocks of the train station, and grabbed a few hours of precious horizontal sleep.
Cascade Mountains: Willamette Pass, and Mount Hood from the north (across the Columbia River, top right) and southwest (near Salem, bottom left). (June 21 & 22)
Scenes from Portland (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): Union Station, palm trees and high rises, the downtown skyline at dusk, and port facilities on the Willamette River. (June 21 & 22)
June 22 (3.8 miles walked): In the morning I did a rapid tour of Seattle, passing Lumen Field (home of the NFL Seahawks) and then T-Mobile Park (home of the MLB Mariners). Fortunately, they were both within a few blocks of the train station, so I was ready to board my next train, which departed at 9:50 AM. We headed straight south to Portland, which I had just passed the night before. Why the sudden round trip from Portland to Seattle and back? Well, I had some unused rides left on my Amtrak pass, and figured I might as well use one of them to see Seattle, but unfortunately all the trains eastbound from Seattle were booked, so I had to go back to Portland to catch the eastbound "Empire Builder" train! I had a three-hour layover in Portland, but decided to stay near the station rather than venture toward downtown. We left late in the afternoon, and began following the Columbia River through some deep, lush gorges into the arid countryside where apple orchards abound. As the sun set we left the Columbia River.
Scenes from Seattle (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): the downtown skyline, the Space Needles, the Chinese gate, and the historic Triangle building. (June 22)
Views of the Columbia River Valley from the northern side (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): Bridge of the Gods, "Lake" Bonneville (a reservoir), the Bonneville hydroelectric dam, and an apple orchard a hundred or more miles upstream. (June 22)
June 23 (1.2 miles walked): Around midnight the train stopped at the city of Spokane, Washington, where a male passenger boarded and sat down next to me. As dawn broke the next day he struck up a conversation about his evangelical mission. Eventually I decided to buy his book, Still Standing: a Testinmonial and a Warning, by "Prophet Roach." It tells the story of his harsh younger years growing up as a poor black boy in a small Louisiana town. He got involved in alcohol, drugs, and other vices, but eventually found God and got clean. Anyway, our train crossed the Rocky Mountains during the night, and passed through Glacier National Park during the morning. It was the first time I had been there, or indeed anywhere in northern Montana but unfortunately I couldn't see much. Then we headed straight east across the rolling plains of northern Montana, getting off for a while in the towns of Shelby and Havre, where there is a historical railroad monument with a steam locomotive. Later on the train tracks approached the Missouri River, following it for the next few hours. Just before crossing the state line, we passed the Fort Union Trading Post National Historical Site. As dusk approached we crossed northern North Dakota (another first time for me), where more and more oil wells and oil storage tanks were visible. After sunset we stopped for a while at the station in Minot, and I did some back-and-forth walking along the train platform to fulfill my daily exercise quota. After midnight we passed through Grand Forks and Fargo, my first time to either city, but I have only vague recollections of that.
Scenes from Montana (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): leaving Glacier National Park, the Whitefish train station, Fort Union historical site, and a marshy pond with some swimming grebes of some sort. (June 23)
June 24 (2.0 miles walked): As dawn broke on the last full day of my journey, our train stopped in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I was disappointed that we did not go through downtown Minneapolis, and likewise that our stop in the state capital of St. Paul did not afford any good views. After a while we crossed the Mighty Mississippi River into Wisconsin, where I was pleased to see American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, but more importantly, I had some good closeup views of downtown Milwaukee for the first time. (I had passed by there once before, in 2010.) Next came Chicago, Illinois, where I had a short layover before getting on board the "Cardinal" train back home.
Scenes from downtown Milwaukee (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): the Hilton Hotel, construction, and building along the Menomonee River. (June 24)
June 25 (1.2 miles walked): During the night we passed through Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and early in the morning we stopped in Charleston, West, Virginia. An hour or so later I was mildly amused to see the women's prison in the town of Alderson, where TV mogul Martha Stewart was incarcerated a few years ago. Then back into the Old Dominion of Virginia, arriving in Staunton at 2:38 in the afternoon, and Jacqueline was there to pick me up. After a brief rest, I went to play music as part of a Beatles commemorative event, leading in the finale "Hey Jude," and finally got a good night's sleep!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that! Thank you for taking interest in my long-distances sojourns. [UPDATE: I would be remiss not to emphasize how enjoyable traveling on a train is. Aside from a few delays (probably stemming from having to share tracks with freight trains), Amtrak is very efficient and well run. I saw many, many sights that I simply never could have seen from a jet airplane or from an automobile. If you have time, it's a very convenient, relaxing way to travel.] Larger-size versions of most of the above photos can be found (either now or in the near future) at Chronological Photo Gallery, 2023