Trains and Timetables

 Song - Stop This Train by John Mayer

 

 Early in February my friend Jill and I decided to check off a bucket list item which was traveling up to Truckee on a train in the snow.  We had both had knee replacements several months ago and the photo above is what Truckee looked like the day before we were heading up there.  I was ready to cancel and split our losses as I wasn't too keen on walking in the snow and ice with my new knee!  But if you know my friend Jill.....she was having none of it!  We were going!!!

 

 

I purchased a ice tip for my cane and Mr. B was kind enough to attach it for me. He discovered that it flips up when you are indoors so you don't ruin any hardwood floors and flips down for outside use. The photo above is my new tip taking care of me in the snow!

We hopped (more like hobbled) onto the California Zephyr train on a bright Monday morning. And off we went on our snow adventure......except the train had other plans!

Stuck in a field in central California waiting for the crew to fix our brakes with the Sierra in the background.  We had several of these stops until finally they called a repair crew from Sacramento to come fix it permanently.  With each stop there was no electricity, no bathroom, no food and no air.

As we approach Donner Lake we enjoy the snow outside of our windows.

More and more snow as we approach the summit.....

We check into the old Truckee Hotel with Moody's Bistro awaiting us for dinner that night.

We forgot to tell them at reception that I still was not climbing stairs real well and they put us on the third floor!

Gilian from reception walked us up the steep stairs and even carried my backpack.  She was very kind and kept apologizing saying that the hotel was booked an she didn't have another room available. Our room was great with everything we needed.

That evening we had an incredible steak dinner at Moody's Bistro along with some excellent Frank Family wine.  Our waiter was fun as were the people sitting near us. It was surprising that it was a full house on a random Monday night but the food and service spoke for itself.  BTW it also is the place where Paul McCartney played several surprise gigs while his wife was up there skiing.

The following morning we get a text from Amtrak that our train was delayed by an hour or so.  We were content as it gave us time to get breakfast and go shopping in town.

However we kept getting messages about further delays and so we bought lunch to take onboard. The train didn't arrive until about 1:30pm about 4 hours late.

Above is a view of some of the tunnels we went though up on the summit.

We arrived home just as night was falling.  It was a fun time and a whirlwind 36 hour trip!

Thanks Jill for your adventurous spirit that I hope you never lose....J