Friday May 31 - Charleston to Toronto
Afternoon flight to Toronto. What a treat - a direct flight out of Charleston!
Saturday June 1 - Toronto
Two nights in a high rise apartment building in Toronto, and a surprise visitor
Sunday June 2 - Wednesday June 5 - On the Train
The train departed on time. We were a bit disappointed with our "cabin" - it was rather small, quite old fashioned, the window seemed small and the chairs were lumpy.
Fifty miles out of Toronto we were into the Lawrentian Shield - rocks, trees and shallow lakes. It was impressive, but essentially the same for 2 whole days.
We tried out the "Observation lounge". Also old fashioned, a bit like riding in a bus, and the trees, rocks and lakes looked the same.
Lunch and dinner were fun. We were seated with different people for every meal. The majority were English-Canadians or English-English and that was fun as they "understand" us a bit better. Enough with the Convict Jokes. The food was quite good, but not as good as Deidre's.
The train stopped a lot. I had wondered why it would take 4 whole days to go 4,300 kms/2,700 miles, and now I new. Our Express Train gave way to all the freight trains and there were quite a lot of them. Occasionally the train stopped at a railway station and they let us get of and walk around. Such a treat.
Monday afternoon we were still on the Shield. We were called to dinner (third seating) and in between the time we left our cell and arrived in the dining car, the train had left the shield and arrived in the Canadian Prairie. The trees, rocks and lakes were instantly replaced by wheat fields and roads and houses.
Wednesday morning we woke up in the mountains, and we were in the mountains the rest of the way. The route followed the rivers, so we saw plenty of rivers, rocks, forest and mountains.
Thursday June 6 thru Tuesday June 11 - The Canadian Rockies by car
The train arrived "a bit early" in Vancouver and were were fed breakfast before we dismounted. It would be the last "free food" for some time so I ate well. The Enterprise car place was a mile or so away so I left Deidre at the coffee shop and walked.
Once we loaded the car we headed out of town towards Kamloops where we had booked a hotel. The train had been fun but it was good to be independent and the car windscreen provided way more visibility. The minute I stepped off the train I had a cold.
Kung Pau Chicken for dinner.
From Kamloops we had planned a circle route including Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Clearwater and the Glacier Parkway. Our eventual mileage was a bit more because the accommodations were so expensive that I searched for beds that were a bit further on the main tourist track. So Friday night we slept in Radium Springs and Saturday night at a "place" that was about 50 miles further north alongside the Cline River. It was OK and the atmosphere in the associated cafe was fun. We only really bombed out at the place I chose on the way back in Valemounte - it was pretty basic. (But we did find a really nice place for dinner.)
Overall, we were very impressed with the scenery.
We had a night to spare, so from Valemounte to Harrison Hot Springs. It is a very cute little town located on the southerly tip of Harrison Lake. We wanted to try the hot springs but it was a bit primitive for us. Plus Deidre had caught my cold and was feeling rather low.
Wednesday June 12 - Amtrak to Seattle
The train to Seattle did not leave until late afternoon so we spent most of the day looking around downtown Vancouver. A busy and impressive city, except for the homeless problem which seems rather severe.
Thursday June 13 and Friday June 14 Amtrak to LA
The train departed on time at 10:00 AM. The overall trip was scheduled to take two full days. We had booked a sleeper. It was far from new, but was in better shape than the Canadian facilities.
We arrived at LA Union Station on Friday night a few minutes early. Our hotel was only a couple of blocks away.
Saturday June 15 - SWA to Charleston
We saved $40 by taking the bus from Union Station to LAX! Home in bed by about midnight.
