The Start

We have taken trains all over the world, across Egypt, through Europe, in South America, overnights in China, yet somehow we have never taken trips across the vast and beautiful United States. The more people I tell about our trip, the more common the response "there is a train that goes across the country" becomes. To answer, "Yes", there is a train cross country, four of them as a matter of fact. A northern route, to Seattle, a middle route to San Francisco, and little more southern route to Los Angeles, and finally one starting in New Orleans that goes to Los Angeles. Each route is unique, with different scenery, stops, and travel times. With the exception of the most southern route, all of these trains start in Chicago. We decided to do the middle route, but in reverse; Emeryville, Ca (just over the bridge from San Francisco) to Chicago, and then continue on to Baltimore from Chicago.

Our original plan was to take the train from Baltimore to Chicago, then Chicago on to Sacramento, then change again to a train to Klamath Falls to see Crater Lake, but my sick dog decided otherwise. Instead we flew to California and trained it back, which turned out to be better in the end anyway.