USA Here We Come

/ Garrulous Gwendoline

Despite applying my mind to planning a USA trip months ago (see Touring in the Good ‘ol US of A.) in the end it all turned into a last-minute rush of bookings before Christmas. It seems people are travelling again all over the place. For example, we got the last two seats on our outbound flight, when we are not even leaving until April!

It’s going to be one heck of a ride … and all this because my girlfriend wants me to be her bridesmaid in San Francisco. It didn’t seem worthwhile to fly in-fly out; and it seemed too complicated to tack the United Kingdom on at the end; so that ultimately we decided that since we were in the States – then let’s go for it, babe! Let’s join the “spend the kids’ inheritance” brigade.

We’ll fly Qantas directly from Sydney to San Francisco, on their Dreamliner (not sure if it will live up to its name), and because it is not a daily service will arrive four nights before the wedding and have one recovery day afterwards. In other words, six nights in San Francisco with no accommodation sorted yet. In fact, I’m not exactly sure where the wedding is. Nor what I’m supposed to be wearing. Details, schmetails.

Then we’ll take a short flight to Eugene, Oregon to visit with a fellow blogger.

After that, we are in Amtrak’s hands, starting with a Bedroom on the Coast Starlight from Eugene to Los Angeles. Three nights hotel accommodation in LA, and then into a Bedroom on the Sunset Limited for the long haul to San Antonio. At which we will spend another three nights in a hotel, before re-boarding the Sunset Limited for the “hop” to New Orleans. After some indecision we settled on a Roomette rather than a coach seat for that leg.

Back on the train after four nights at a hotel in New Orleans, we then find ourselves on the 20 Crescent where we have again chosen a Roomette to get to Atlanta. Only two hotel nights in Atlanta, but as our next train does not leave until almost midnight, we should have two full days to see the city sights, such as we can fit in.

The train continues to be named 20 Crescent as we rail on to Washington. Even though by then it is the middle of May, all the Bedrooms are booked, so we have a Roomette for that leg. A five-night hotel stop in Washington is then followed by a short trip in a First-Class Seat to New York.

These big-city stopovers are a huge investment – but what the heck – “we may never pass this way again”. So! It is seven nights in New York (phew!). And for our final Amtrak experience, we’ll take a business class seat on the Acela to Boston.

It gets a bit fuzzy here, as we really want to see Niagara Falls; and also our Boston accommodation is not yet booked. There is a tour company who does a 2 day/1 night trip out to the falls from Boston (I looked at NY and eventually ruled that out). I haven’t put any energy into it yet, but we might take an AirBnb for a week in Boston so we can leave our things behind while we do that side-trip.

What is certain is that we fly from Boston – Honolulu via Los Angeles on Wednesday 4th June. Ticketed by Qantas, both legs are really American Airlines flights. Four nights in Honolulu just to wind down, before the eleven-hour flight to Sydney, plus a couple more hours for the train to home. We’ll sleep in our own bed on June 9th – just in time for our dental check-ups the next day!

I hope to have the energy to blog along the way … but I’m not getting any younger … and it is always a decision between recording the trip and being in the moment. All the same, I hope Amtrak see this post, LOL.

Don’t forget to wave as we click-clack past…

And all suggestions for what we must see and do are gratefully accepted. Except bungee-jumping … I won’t do bungee jumping. And I won’t eat snails. Nor oysters – but Bill can have my share. And I’m not sure what grits are – but I’d give them a try. And yeah — well you guys do the suggesting, and I’ll take it from there.

And a Happy New Year to all x Gwen

41 thoughts on “USA Here We Come”

  2. clearly I am one of the ones who thought you were winging off already 😝🤣

    that’s what happens when reading in a rush 🤣🤣

    sounds quite the adventure, and living in the moment is the way to go – in my opinion.

    good news is you have plenty of time to learn where the wedding is taking place AND your duties, apparel etc!

    xx

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    • Someone told me they didn’t read past the title and train cartoon. Clearly, my writing lacks some inspiration!
      Thanks for commenting and your reassurance. It’s come through as “someone” so I can’t address you by name. But I sure appreciate you took the time to give me feedback 🙂
      xg

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  3. Pingback: Travel Tales: From Skydiving to Amtrak | The Reluctant Retiree

  6. Wow, that is some serious planning that already went into your trip, Gwen. Sound like it is going to be an epic one. At this point in my life, I definitely vote for the ‘being in the moment’ option. Whatever you decide in the end, I know I will enjoy reading about it. Hope you are having a good start to the new year. May it be a good one for you and Bill. It certainly sounds like you are going to make sure it is an adventurous one!

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    • Amtrak offer Vacation Packages, so we were guided by one of their standard versions and then extended or clipped on bits.
      We toyed with returning West-East coast by rail as well, and then decided that was expecting a bit too much of our attention span and resilience.
      Let’s see how much I do manage to record…
      And a Happy New Year to you and Michael, and the kitty-kats too of course.

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      • Ah, thank you, Gwen. How interesting about the Vacation Packages. I hope it is everything you wish it to be. I love trains, and am fascinated by train journeys, so I am looking forward to hearing about this specific experience.

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        • I don’t have high, high expectations of Amtrak. My gut feel is that as the USA is such a car dependent nation, funds for public transport will be limited. So, I don’t expect it to be of the standard of European trains, for example.
          However, Australian trains are not all that flash either. So nothing ventured, nothing gained 🙂
          But I do love train travel also and am delighted to give airports a wide berth.

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          • It is always a good thing to keep expectations in check when travelling, so I hope you are surprised and delighted in the end. I would also give airports a skip if I have a choice, but so often one doesn’t have the luxury of time. There is a lot being done at the moment in Europe to improve train travel between countries, but it seems to be a bit of a slow and complicated process. So many people would ditch aeroplanes for trains if they could.

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  8. Hi Gwen

    I left a comment on your blog but not sure it came through.

    I love Niagara Falls. I’ve been there twice. Just want to make sure you plan to go to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, not American side.

    Happy New Year. Hope to catch up in 2025.

    Virginia

    >

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  10. Hi Gwen. Sounds like a fantastic trip. My daughter in law and family flew in the dream liner to San Francisco. She put in $50 more than the minimum for an upgrade to business and got it for the whole family (4). Good climbing up into the carriages on the Amtrak. Gary Roberts.

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