WEDNESDAY 30TH APRIL 2025

What I’d hoped was a scratchy throat from too much talking now presented as the beginning of a chest cold. Help was available through Lavinia’s ministrations of Echinacea and Vitamin C. She sent me off with further supplies of the echinacea. This may have accounted for my subsequent quick recovery.

Silkie ventured to check us out but it was all too late to make a cat friend. The time had come to load the suitcases and take a scenic drive back into Eugene, admiring the Oregon Ranges known as The Cascades on the way.

In Eugene we four shared lunch and final chats before the restaurant owner took our memento photos. We parted ways after a delightful 48 hours together. Lavinia and I don’t remember when we first started following each other, but it is a rare treat to turn a virtual friend into reality. Bloggers are a community – or a tribe, as Lavinia mentioned. Kind of reminiscent of the penpals I had in younger days.

Our next travel leg was to be the Coast Starlight train from Eugene, Oregon to Los Angeles, California. Our first adventure on the Amtrak rail network which we will use to cross the country from west to east via the southern border.

I’d not expected much of a small station such as Eugene but the attendant was super helpful. We decided to check our suitcases through to Los Angeles. The alternative is to carry them on board and store them in a luggage rack on the lower level of the double-decker Superliner train. That means you can access your gear en route.

We’d packed soft-sided carry ons – a backpack in Bill’s case – which had all we needed for the trip. Luckily, we were able to leave these at the station while we went off for a walk.

I wish I could say I strode the streets energetically and enthusiastically but I was really feeling quite blaaahh. Eugene is a pretty university town and dope is legal in California so the combination made for some interesting sights.

Before too long the marijuana and tattoo shops increased and the vibe was a bit off so we began to head back. Then one of us had the brilliant idea to find the library. After dodging a guy who tagged along with us “making conversation” on the hunt for money (soliciting they call it here), and then misreading the Google map, we finally found it basically right under our noses. Another architecturally pleasant and well resourced public building like the one in Dublin, San Francisco. We had a couple of hours free access to the computers and WiFi. I used the time for a bit of blogging. Keeping up is going to be a big challenge. As you can see by this story being published two weeks after the event.

There was a lot of public street art as well. This photo depicts The Storyteller. Don’t the children look attentive?

Our train was due to depart at 5pm but it is difficult for Amtrak to stay on schedule when sharing the track with freight trains. The Coast Starlight had started further north at Seattle and was about half hour late into Eugene.

On arrival we were welcomed on the platform by our room attendant, Santee, who directed us to our upstairs bedroom.

The room is equipped with a long bench seat which converts to a small double bed. A part of the backing headrest pulls down to create an overhead single bed if needed. There is also a single chair. Bedrooms have their own toilet and shower,  plus a washbasin and cabinet.

Santee had made us dinner reservations and she converted our cabin into the bedroom while we were in the dining car. Dinner was cooked on board and was very good. I had a prawn starter. Bill had brie cheese and salad. We both had the steak although I’d started eating mine before I remembered a photo.

The dining car provides an opportunity to meet other travellers. We sat with an older American lady travelling solo. Rather than drive, she’d chosen to take the train to visit friends for a couple of weeks.

We enjoyed more of the green Oregon forests before night fell. Then we settled for our first night’s on board sleep, cuddled together on the lower bunk.