Around Natchez MS

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It rained last night, but stopped by this morning. So we took advantage of the break in the rain and went to explore the town. This is our third time visiting Natchez, so we are getting rather familiar with things. It is a lovely town, with loads of history, things to see and do. Our first stop was to the Visitor Center where we watched a 20 minute video about the area’s history. Natchez will be celebrating its TRI-Centennial in 2016. They have much planned, I hope we come back here again next year.

Then we went for a walk… and then for a drive.  Here are some pictures from our day, if you want a closer look, click the picture and it will take you to an enlargement:

Edelweiss
The Parsonage
Rosalie
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Roman Catholic, 1842
St. Mary’s Cathedral
Grand Hotel
Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, 1910
Lucky 13 House

Forks of the Road is the site of the South’s second largest slave market in the 19th century. Interpretive signs and a kiosk tell its history:

Forks of the Road
Forks of the Road

And then the food!  Natchez is self-proclaimed Biscuit Capitol of the World and has an annual biscuit cook-off. We thought it only proper that we have lunch at a place named Biscuits & Blues. Great food! Then we see a couple other barbecue restaurants that look like we need to eat there…maybe next time.

Biscuits & Blues
Biscuit & Apricot Butter
Rotisserie smoked chicken, corn bread, sweet potato casserole and black-eyed peas.
Pig-Out Inn
The Butt Hut
  • Gasoline:  $26 @ $2.19
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Natchez, Mississippi

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

After a good night’s sleep we are both rested and ready to go. We crossed the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then left Interstate 10, going north on Highway 61.

Baton Rouge, LA

Crossing the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana

This is the Great River Road, a National Scenic Byway along the Mississippi River, running 2,000 miles up to the river’s source in Minnesota. But that is a trip for another time. After about 60 miles or so we cross the border into Mississippi.

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Mississippi State Line

We crossed the Mississippi River again and we’re back in Louisiana. We are staying at River View RV Park in Vidalia, Louisiana, for a few days while we visit Natchez, Mississippi, on the other side of the river so we will be going back and forth across this bridge while we are here.

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Natches-Vidalia Bridge

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Natchez-Vidalia Bridge

The RV park we are in tonight is along the river not far from the bridge. There is a walkway along the river’s edge. We walked it to the bridge and back. It was a beautiful day, 80 degrees and mostly sunny. We spent the rest of the day watching barges traverse up and down the river.

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Vidalia, Louisiana

Barge on the Mississippi

Barge on the Mississippi

Riverside view  🙂

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River View RV Park, Vidalia, LA, #108

  • Passport America 50% off for 1st night
  • Escapees Discount 15% for the 2nd night
  • Plus taxes and $6 electricity fee for 50 amp
  • $66 total for two nights
Posted in Daily Post, Louisiana, March, Mississippi | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Louisiana Swamp and Cracklins

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It was a very noisy night spent in the parking lot at Isle of Capri Casino last night between the highway bridge noises and the trains going by. Neither of us slept well. So we’re tired today and only drove 125 miles. Today we’ve been seeing the rice fields. This is the area where we saw them when we were riding the Amtrak train earlier. Besides rice going in the flooded fields there are cages to capture the crawfish they grow there too. Double duty.

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Rice and Crawfish Fields

You can buy sacks of live crawfish. We’re not planning to have a big crawfish boil party any time soon, but if we were now we know where to get them.

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Get Your Life Crawfish Here!-10 

As we drive east on I-10 we noticed several signs boasting who makes the best Boudin & Cracklins.

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Boudin & Cracklins

When we stopped at a fuel station for our late morning coffee break we had the opportunity to buy some warm cracklins, boudin, meat pies, and other deep-fried mysterious-to-us items. We chose a small serving of cracklins only out of curiosity. You know, eat like the locals. hmmmm… imagine deep-fried chunks of pork/fat/skin. Crunchy and rich, lightly salted. We couldn’t eat them all, and I didn’t even feel well after eating what I did. My Midwest milk-toast tummy can’t handle it. I knew better, really I did.

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Craklins

The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, also known as the Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge, is the second longest bridge in the US and carries Interstate 10 over 18 miles of the Atchafalaya Basin, America’s largest river swamp.

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Atchafalaya Basin

There is a cool visitor center with a large parking area towards the west end of the bridge.

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Atchafalaya Basin Information Center

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Atchafalaya Basin Visitor Center

Tonight we are parked in a Walmart parking lot near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hopefully we can get some good sleep.

Posted in Daily Post, Louisiana, March | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Escapees and a Casino

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We just spent the last two nights at the Escapees RV Park in Livingston, Texas. This is more than just an RV park, it is the Escapees RV Club National Headquarters. And Escapees is more than just another RV park membership, it is a total support network for all RVers.

Escapees RV Park, Livingston, Texas

Escapees RV Park, Livingston, Texas

One of the benefits of membership is the Escapees Care Center. If you are injured, recovering from surgery, or getting to old to RV any more you can get assistance here in their Care Center.

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Escapees Care Center

You can get your rig weighed here. A service we could have used last year when we needed to get the weight of our RV to get it registered in South Dakota.

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SmartWeigh

Escapees provides mail forwarding for RVers and can help you set up legal Texas residency if you no longer have a stick house. The National Headquarters offices are in this building too.

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Escapees National Headquarters, Livingston, Texas

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Escapees RV Park Clubhouse

Trolley Tours of the park and the National HQ facility are offered on Tuesdays but we will have to miss it as we left early Monday morning.

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Escapees Tour Trolley and RV Park Office

Texas claims that everything is bigger in Texas. I will agree that the miles do seem longer. We finally made our way through all 800 to the Louisiana border! Not to badmouth Texas, it has a lot to offer, but we are just passing through this time around.

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Louisiana State Line

What a difference a state makes! The first stop across the Louisiana state line is the Visitor Center. The caretaker was on his mower trimming the green grass, men were fishing in the pond behind the Visitor Center, travelers were making picnic lunches. It was lovely.

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Louisiana Visitor Center on I-10

A boardwalk runs through a grove of cypress trees along one side of the fishing pond. Either all the other travelers did not see it, or did not care, we were the only ones who walked out there. Beautiful walk!

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Boardwalk Behind the Louisiana Visitor Center on I-10

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Cypress Knees

We saw three snakes! Good thing we were on the boardwalk and just looking down at them. We also saw some little lizards (geckos?), fish, and a few wasps.

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A SNAKE!

The Visitor Center was surrounded by blossoms.

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Pretty Flowers

We only drove 125 miles today and will be spending the night in the parking lot at Isle of Capri Casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana. They do offer designated RV parking with electric hookups for $20/night, but we don’t need that, we can stay in the free lot.

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Isle of Capri Hotel & Casino, Lake Charles, LA

We are almost right under the Calcasieu River Bridge that takes I-10 from Lake Charles to Westlake, Louisiana. There is heavy traffic on it and it makes a lot of noise. But we’ll sleep through it.

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Calcasieu Bridge, Lake Charles, Louisiana

We watched as the smaller railroad pivot bridge turned to allow the blue barge to pass after it cleared the highway bridge.

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The Blue Barge

And then we watched as the red barge passed the railroad bridge and cleared the highway bridge. Then watched the railroad pivot bridge turn to its normal position. And a few minutes later a train crossed it. It may sound like everyday activity to  most people around here, but to us landlocked Midwesterners it is pretty cool.

Red Barge

Red Barge

  • Gasoline:  $114 @ $2.07
  • Lodging:  free
Posted in Daily Post, Louisiana, March | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Rain Rain Go Away

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It rained all night. Maybe we should have stayed in the Walmart parking lot. But, no, during a break in the rain we left, figuring the traffic would be light early on a Saturday morning and we could get through Houston easier. We were right, we got around the city with no problems, other than it began raining again. Our new wiper blades are working GREAT!

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

We only drove 122 miles today.  We are recent new members to the Escapees RV Club and their National Headquarters is just north of Houston. We thought it would be interesting to stay in their RV park and tour the headquarters.

Escapees National Headquarters & RV Park, Livingston, Texas

Escapees National Headquarters & Rainbow’s End RV Park, Livingston, Texas

It did not stop pouring rain all day, so here we sit inside our RV and watching TV. We will be here for two nights, perhaps we will extend it, haven’t decided yet.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $23 (one night)
Posted in Daily Post, March, Texas | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Luling Barbecue

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

More driving today, this time only 210 miles, to Luling, Texas. I’ve been looking forward to this stop since we were here two years back. Luling is an old oil boom town, once known as the toughest town in Texas.

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Welcome to Luling, Texas

City Market is where we went for some world-famous mouth-watering Texas Barbecue. We were not disappointed. Upon entering the restaurant you get in line to enter a small room in the back. You must keep the door to this room closed and only enter when you see through the window that it is your turn. Do not stand in line with the door open or they will yell at you to close the door! This room is where the meat counter is. You order pork ribs, sausage links, or brisket. We ordered all of it. They lay it out on brown paper, scrunch it up around the edges to make it easier to carry, you pay for it, and leave the room and go find a place to sit in the dining area.

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City Market, Luling, Texas

We ordered a lot, ate what we wanted, and took the rest home, packed it up and put it in the freezer for future enjoyment. NO BBQ sauce is needed! These were so juicy and tasty just the way they are. There are some small bottles of a mustard-based sauce you could use if you thought you needed sauce, but I didn’t like it. Big Red appeared to be the beverage of choice here. I’m not sure if you can even buy it up north, it’s a southern thing.

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City Market, Luling, Texas

There are still working oil pump jacks throughout the town, some even in people’s back yards, and the town smells like oil. Several of the pump jacks have been decorated up with whimsical decorations. And there is an oil museum in town, but we did not take the time to see it this visit. Our Amtrak train did use those tracks in the picture, but it was in the middle of the night and we were sleeping when we passed through here.

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Pump Jacks in Luling, Texas

On the other side of the freeway from Luling is a very large Travel Center, tourist stop, called Buc-ee’s. It was PACKED with people. Probably all the folks that just drove through all of west Texas and needed some civilization.

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Buc-ee’s

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Buc-ee’s

Continuing on our travels the scenery is changing… seeing lots of GREEN stuff now! And a lot more traffic.

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Texas

We’re stopping at Walmart in Sealy, Texas, tonight. It’s very very humid, and thunderstorms and flash-floods are in the forecast. There are four other RV’s parked with us here tonight.

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  • Gasoline:  $100 @ $2.09
  • Lodging:   free
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Kerrville, TX

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Today was a day of just driving. We drove 365 miles on I-10 from Van Horn to Kerrville, Texas, stopping only to stretch our legs, make a sandwich, and fuel up.

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Heading East Into the Morning Sun

One of the rest areas we stopped at had a nice green lawn with some pretty yellow and purple flowers. 🙂  It’s Spring!

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Dandelions and Creeping Charlie

Fort Stockton has a cool sculpture at the entrance to their community. I grabbed a shot of it out the window as we whizzed by at about 65 mph. Not bad for a cloudy day and an iPhone.

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Fort Stockton, Texas

Much of our day was spent looking at this. It is beautiful, but it goes on forever.

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West Texas

We are out of food and supplies so stopped at the Walmart in Kerrville to replenish. And we’re tired, so why not just spend the night here? We didn’t even unhook the Jeep, we will be leaving in the morning. There are eight other RV’s parked here with us tonight with the same idea.

Kerrville, Texas

Kerrville, Texas

  • Gasoline:  $75 @ $2.29
  • Lodging:   free
Posted in Daily Post, March, Texas | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Into Texas

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We left Deming, New Mexico, mid morning and headed east on I-10. Between there and the NM/TX border we saw (and smelled) mile after mile of big dairy factory farms.

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A stop at Camping World in El Paso, Texas, finally scored us the windshield wipers that we needed.

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We found the cheapest gas of our entire trip! $1.99 at Flying J, and the same price at Love’s! So, naturally we filled up!

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$1.99 at El Paso, Texas

OK, with those two things out of the way we returned to our eastward trek. It took a long time to drive through El Paso.

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El Paso, TX

We are, more or less, for the time being, following parallel to the Amtrak train trip we just took. You can see the train tracks below the highway and then the Mexico border fence, and Juarez, Mexico on the other side.

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Not far down the road is another Border Patrol Checkpoint. The officer just asked us how many people were in the vehicle and sent us on our way.

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Texas is a big state. 800 miles across. From this point it is 411 miles to San Antonio. Here we go….

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The speed limit here is 80 miles per hour, but we don’t drive that fast with the RV.

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Naturally, this is the point where our tire pressure alarm system starts flashing red lights and making noises, alerting us to stop right now. So we pull off to the shoulder to check it out. Everything seemed just fine, so we figure it’s the monitor that was failing. It’s probably time to get a new system. We will be cautious, and we’ll have to do some research on that now.

Tonight we are staying at Mountain View RV Park in Van Horn, Texas, only 225 miles from last night’s stop in Deming, New Mexico. All of our tires are still round.

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Mountain View RV Park, Van Horn, Texas, #25

  • Gasoline:  $100 @ $1.99/gallon
  • Lodging:  $31.50
  • New Wipers:  $60
Posted in Daily Post, March, New Mexico, Texas | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Deming, New Mexico

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Who says you can’t have pie and waffles for breakfast? The rhubarb pie we bought at the RV park office yesterday isn’t going to eat itself you know. So after having a small piece of pie we walked to the office for free coffee and waffles where we met several fellow RVers and had a good visit before we checked out of the park.

We are entering the wide open spaces of the desert and signs warn of possible dust storms. But I don’t think that is going to be a problem today.

Border Patrol…they’re everywhere down here!

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We had only driven about 100 miles when it began to rain. Our windshield wipers are in need of replacement so this was not a good thing. We are fairly recent new members to the Escapees RV Club and our plan was to stop at an Escapees RV Park in Deming, New Mexico, anyway, which was 30 miles further. As we left Arizona and enter New Mexico we re-enter the Daylight Saving Time grid, so turned clocks ahead one hour.

As soon as we got settled in at our new site the rain stopped. March and April are supposed to be the driest months in this area so this rain is unusual.

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Dream Catcher RV Park, an Escapees Park, #18

We have been checking with auto-parts stores the last few days for those new wiper blades we need with no luck. We made some phone calls again today and hopefully we will find them tomorrow when we get to El Paso, Texas.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $20
Posted in Daily Post, March, New Mexico | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wilcox, Pie, and Sandhill Cranes

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We left Tucson behind us today, beginning our trek east. After stopping in Benson one last time to visit with Bernie’s cousin, Cheri and Phil, we continued down Interstate 10. We are not looking forward to the next few days of driving this route. Getting through the desert from this point on to Louisiana is long and dull.

About 15 miles east of Benson I-10 runs through Texas Canyon. There are a few miles of some big granite rock formations here. Once past this area the desert flattens out. It is dry, not green and blooming like it was around the Tucson area. A sign mentions the danger of brush fire is extreme.

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Texas Canyon

Tonight we are staying at Fort Wilcox RV Park in Wilcox, Arizona. This is a Passport America member park and we’ve been here before in previous years. It is a small park, only 26 total RV sites; free coffee and waffles at the office in the morning.

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Fort Wilcox RV Park, Wilcox, AZ

Also, in the office, right beside the registration desk, is a display case with homemade apple pies and homemade rhubarb pies! How could I resist??? Rhubarb it is.

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Mmmm, yummm, Homemade Rhubarb Pie!

Sandhill Cranes can be seen wintering over very near here. We could hear them from the RV park. We got directions from the owner and went to have a look. The sun was dropping and we were losing light quickly but I did get a picture of a few of the thousands of Sandhill Cranes flying by. They made quite a racket.

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Sandhill Cranes at Wilcox, Arizona

A few minutes later the sun went behind the horizon and created a brilliant sunset.

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Wilcox, Arizona

  • Gasoline:  $95 @ $2.34
  • Lodging:   $20 (Passport America Rate)
  • Rhubarb Pie:  $8
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, March | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Madera Canyon

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

When it gets up over 80 we just cannot stay inside the RV without the air-conditioner running. But since we’re not hooked up to electricity that’s hard to do. We decided to drive down to Madera Canyon, south of where we are. It was cooler there. It’s within the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains. Bernie’s feeling better so we went for a short hike in the trees along side a babbling brook.

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There are cabins for rent and an interesting Bed & Breakfast that looked like it would be fun to stay in some day.

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One of the rentals is above the owner’s little gift shop.

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A little further down the street is another gift shop and some small cabins for rent. They have placed several bird feeders out. I got a shot of these two hummingbirds at the window feeders.

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Madera Canyon is a resting place for migrating birds and is rated the third best birding destination in the United States. We watched the bird feeders for a while and saw at least a hundred birds. There were some very serious birdwatchers there with their binoculars and their super duper cameras on tripods. They were almost as fun to watch as the birds were.

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I was way out-classed with just my little iPhone camera. About the best I could get was one of the turkeys that walked by.

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We were treated to some very nice panoramic views on the way back home.

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When the sun set it cooled off and the evening was perfect for an evening walk. And while we were out we stopped in at the Casino.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  free
  • Admission:  Free with Bernie’s Senior Pass
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, March | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Saguaro National Park

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Saguaro East–Rincon Mountain District

Last month we visited Saguaro West–Tucson Mountain District and today we visited Saguaro East–Rincon Mountain District. Both are districts of the Saguaro National Park. One being on the west side of Tucson and the other on the east side of Tucson.

70 percent of the park is designated as wilderness area with 130 miles of hiking trails. Bernie didn’t feel up to hiking, so we just drove around the Cactus Forest Drive, an eight-mile paved scenic drive that winds through a saguaro forest. Here are some pictures from our drive:

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  free
  • Admission: free with Bernie’s Interagency Senior Pass ($10 value)
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, March | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Back to Tucson With the Sniffles

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We are hearing that with the rains the desert has had this year this should be a good spring for desert bloom compared to more recent years. We are hoping we get to see some of it before we head back north. But we’re not sure we can. Bernie has not been feeling well since he stepped off the train last Sunday. Is it a bad cold? Or is it new allergies he just now developed?

Our reserved time at the RV park in Benson, Arizona, is up and we decided we would look for a free place to park for a few days to try to help make up for all that money we just spent on our train trip. We found a casino near Tucson that will let us stay for a few days.

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Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, AZ

Found this old guy in the parking lot:

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IF Bernie’s problem is allergies this may not be the best place to be. The shrubberies in the parking lot are beginning to bloom:

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Did I mention it got up to 80F today?

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  none
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, March | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Patagonia and Tubac

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It’s good to be home. After a day of recuperation and resting from our adventure of the last few weeks we were ready to explore a little more locally.

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Home Sweet Home

Patagonia Lake State Park is an oasis in the rolling hills of the southeastern Arizona desert. This is a man-made lake, with a campground, a sandy beach, hiking trails, and a marina. It is designated as an Important Birding Area by the Audubon Society. We could hear many birds chirping in the trees while we were there. The campground was busy and there were families playing in the water, people were boating and fishing.

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After exploring the park we went over to visit the little town of Tubac. This is a unique little village established in 1752 as a Spanish Fort and is known as the place “Where Art & History Meet.”  Now the town is an “artsy” village. The streets are lined with artist studios, galleries, gift shops, and restaurants. There are a lot of very creative people here.

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The fort became Arizona’s very first state park.

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  • Gasoline:  $30 @ $2.35
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, March | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Amtrak, 1 Sunset Limited, Final Leg

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It’s been a long day.

We woke up this morning to find ourselves in San Antonio, four hours behind schedule. Our train was to meet up with another train during the overnight hours and switch some passenger cars around. The train we were waiting for was late and we needed to wait for it. And it was raining.

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The engineer was able to make up some time along the rest of the route, but we are still behind quite a bit. He did slow down when we crossed the Pecos River High Bridge, one of the highest rail bridges in the U.S., so that we could all get a good look at it. Of course we could not see the bridge, just the view from above.

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Beyond that is the rest of West Texas, the most boring scenery ever, just my opinion. We made a few stops to pick up and drop off passengers, not all stops stay long enough for that much-anticipated “smoke break”. We did get a few minutes at Alpine, Texas.

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Somewhere along the way, out in the middle of nowhere, we see this blimp-looking thing. What is it? Our guess is that it is or was used for border patrol surveillance since we are very close to the Mexico border.

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Then we saw one of the Border Patrol Checkpoint Stations on the highway parallel to the train. The train does not stop here.

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It clouded up, looked serious for a while, but only sprinkled.

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The next smoke break opportunity was at El Paso, but even that was short to try to make up some of our lost time. In spite of best efforts, there are things that cause delays along the way. Usually it is that we have to wait for freight trains that are in the way. Oh, and we are now in Mountain Daylight Time, so clocks back one hour.

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It looks like we will be arriving at our final destination in Benson, Arizona, around 9:18 p.m., four hours late of our scheduled arrival time of 5:18 p.m.  That’s ok, certainly could be worse. We have a car waiting for us, our RV is only two miles from the train stop, and we will sleep in our own beds tonight. Oh yes, Arizona does not do the Daylight Saving Time thing so clocks back an hour.

Posted in Daily Post, March | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Amtrak, 1 Sunset Limited, Day 1

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

As our train approached the station in New Orleans last night it took us right past the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, I was lucky to get this blurry shot of it with my iPhone.

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No sleeping on the train, as it was being cleaned and prepped for its return trip to New York, so we had to get a hotel for the night.  In the morning we made our way to the Union Passenger Terminal of New Orleans. This is where Amtrak and Greyhound Bus routes begin. You can see a bit of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to the right.

New Orleans Amtrak Station

Union Passenger Station, Amtrak and Greyhound

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New Orleans, View from Amtrak Station

As Sleeping Car Passengers we have access to a special lounge, the Magnolia Room, while we wait to board the train. We got a pass-code number to punch into the keypad to unlock the door. Nice comfortable upholstered chairs. Along with that comes priority boarding.

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Magnolia Room, Sleeping Car Passengers Lounge

There is a special car attached to the back of our train today. Nobody knows much about it, but we did hear that it was empty and being pulled to Los Angeles for an exhibit. Darn, I had hoped there was a celebrity on board.

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American Railway Explorer, Kansas

Our train, 1 Sunset Limited, left promptly at 9:00 a.m. But no sooner had it left the gate then it had some mechanical difficulties, stopped, and set us back about an hour behind schedule. Our route through New Orleans was very interesting. It is a fascinating city.

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This train is exactly like the Texas Eagle, the train we began our train adventure with. There are two engines, followed by two sleeper cars (we are in the 2nd one), then the dining car, a really cool observation lounge, followed by three coach cars and then that special car. This is a double-deck train and there is noticeably more elbow room on this train than there was on the single level 1 Crescent. Among other differences, the bedrooms are slightly larger and the dining room booths have more “belly room.”  The menu has been identical on all of the trains we have been on.

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We stopped at Lafayette, Louisiana, to pick up passengers and a few minutes allowed for a “smoke break.”  We don’t smoke, but can’t pass up an opportunity for a bit of fresh air. The chef in the door of the dining car, waved at me.

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We passed many flooded rice fields. The rice fields also have rows and rows of crawfish traps, so they do double-duty.

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Another “smoke break” was set at Beaumont, Texas. I loved the tiny little train station there.

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Between chatting in the observation lounge and the community-style seating in the dining car we have met many very nice people. Everyone has a story. It’s fun.  The sun usually goes down about dinner time, so there’s not much to see or photograph after that. I was pleased I was able to get this shot of Houston, Texas, in the dark from a moving train, with the iPhone. Not too bad.

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Houston, Texas

We arrived at the Houston station 50 minutes late. The small waiting room at the Houston terminal was packed with people wanting to get on this train. The crew did a good job of moving people along and managed to depart only 39 minutes behind schedule.

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Houston Amtrak Station

We are traveling west. Yesterday, when we crossed into the Central Time Zone at the Georgia/Alabama border we turned our clock back an hour. Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow so we will move our clocks ahead an hour. Spring forward, right? Later tomorrow when we cross into Mountain time at the Texas/New Mexico border we move our clocks back an hour. Until we get to Arizona which does not participate in Daylight Saving Time so then we will turn our clocks back an hour. GOT THAT??? If we were to continue on to California which is in Pacific Time Zone we would need to set our clock back an hour for the time zone change and then ahead an hour to return to Daylight Saving Time…….I think. My head hurts.

Posted in Daily Post, Louisiana, March | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Amtrak, 19 Crescent, Day 2

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

When the sun came up this morning ALL the snow was gone! Not a snowflake to be seen anywhere.  I do kinda miss it, but not really. We are running about an hour and a half behind schedule. One of our first daylight stops was at Atlanta, Georgia. I was able to step out for some fresh air and to get a picture, but there was no time to go see the station building for any pictures there. Snow on top of the train was melting and running down the sides of the train.

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Atlanta, GA, Train Stop

Somebody told us that the most scenic part of this train trip happened while it was dark. That’s a pity. Every once in a while I get a glimpse of the train as we round a corner. Due to the weather and the length of the trip the windows on the train are getting pretty dirty on the outside. That, plus taking pictures from a moving train, doesn’t make my pictures very nice.

Crossing the Georgia/Alabama border brings us into the Central Time Zone, so now we have to do that last hour over again.

At Birmingham, Alabama, we were able to step out for another breather, otherwise known as a “smoke break” for the smokers. But that, too, was short and sweet. We gotta get this train moving.  I did spot a random old train car sitting on the tracks, I wonder what its story is.

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Birmingham, Alabama

As we pass through Mississippi we see more water and swamp land.

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Most of our station stops are quick, just drop off passengers and get the new ones on and get going. It only takes a couple of minutes.

It’s dark now as I write this. We should be arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana, shortly, over one hour late. New Orleans is the end of the line for this train, so everybody off. Tomorrow it heads back to New York. We will spend the night at a hotel in New Orleans and then in the morning board the 1 Sunset Limited which will take us the rest of the way, to Benson, Arizona, our destination.

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Amtrak Return Trip

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to the kids, but it’s time to return to sunny Arizona. We will be back here in the spring.  We left Concord New Hampshire, yesterday, returned our rental car, and spent the night at a hotel in Boston so it would be easier for us to catch our early morning train at Boston South Station.

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Boston South Station

We were early so I had time go to out and get some pictures of the beautiful old building. It was morning rush hour and loads of people were exiting the train station to get to work.

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Boston South Station

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Boston, Massachusetts

Our return trip begins on the Amtrak 171 Northeast Regional beginning in Boston and switching trains at New York Penn Station, about four hours. We had reserved coach seats. This is more of a business commuter train, very comfortable seating, like airline seats. It had a cafe car. A big difference with this coach is that most people are dressed better and did the whole trip, about four hours, in a vertical position. This is different from when we took the long-distance train, the Texas Eagle, last week, where almost all of the coach passengers were dressed more comfortably and did most of the trip sprawled out in a more horizontal position. And this train has wi-fi.

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It was snowing when we left Boston, and continued to snow all the way to New York Penn. An announcement was made that some of the exit doors were freezing shut and if you couldn’t get out one go find another one. Also, it’s slippery when walking between cars so be very careful.

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We never even saw New York City. The train entered the city through a long dark tunnel, parked under ground; and by the time we left the train and acclimated ourselves to Penn Station, which is huge, got a bite to eat, and figured out where to find our next train, we never even left the building.

We are now on Amtrak’s 19 Crescent which will get us to New Orleans tomorrow night. Since this will be an overnight ride we booked a bedroom. It’s almost identical to the one that we had last week. We have our own bathroom (with a shower), which I love.

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This is not a two-level superliner, but rather a single level viewliner, which means things are a little more scrunched. We do have a nice dining car as well as a cafe/lounge car. This time the dining car is between the sleeper cars and the coach cars which means we do not have to walk through three or four coach cars to get to the dining car like we did previously. Reservations are made for dinner, priority given to those in the sleeper cars as meals are included with the price of our tickets. Then coach passengers may make reservations and pay for their own meals.

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Dining Car Set and Waiting for Service to Begin

It’s been snowing all day which made for some beautiful views.

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By the time we finished our dinner the sun had set and it was dark…somewhere around Baltimore, Maryland.  We have been seeing a lot of parking lots with snow-covered cars. Lots of snow.

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There was some sort of difficulty along the way so for quite a while we could only go about 35 miles per hour. I couldn’t hear the announcement explaining it because the PA system on this train isn’t working very well at all. This put us 1 hour and 20 minutes behind schedule.

All the stops so far have been very brief, only long enough for passengers to get off and new ones to get on, so no time to get out and take a picture of anything. We did have a longer stop at Washington DC Union Station while the train switched  from an electric engine to a diesel engine. Still, not enough time to walk into the station, so I just stepped out to get a picture of our frozen train.

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Union Station, Washington DC

As we left Washington DC we could see the Capitol Dome, the Washington Monument, and Jefferson’s Memorial nicely lit, but, sorry, was not able to get pictures.

Can’t see out the windows any more tonight, and we hope that by the time the sun rises in the morning all the snow will be gone.

Posted in Daily Post, March | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Winter! and a Baby

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Our train arrived at Boston South Station after midnight, about three hours late. Finding a taxi was no problem, they were waiting at the station for potential fares. Our hotel was holding our reservations for us as we had notified them we would be quite late. It’s cold here! I miss Arizona already!

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View From Our Hotel Room Window, Boston

We stayed the night in Boston at the Best Western Roundhouse Suites. An interesting building. It was built in 1875 to store coal gas for the city’s street lights and residences. It was converted to a warehouse early in the 20th century after the streetlight system was electrified.

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Best Western Plus Roundhouse Suites

We called Enterprise to rent a car and they brought one to us right away. Then we were on our way through Boston, Massachusetts, to Concord, New Hampshire.

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Boston, Massachusetts

Concord, NH, is only about an hour north of Boston.

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Concord, New Hampshire

They have had a lot of snow!

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Concord, New Hampshire

Winter, ugh.. the residential streets are extra narrow due to the amount of snow piled along the edges. Unfortunately the side mirror of our rental car got clipped while it was parked there.

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Oops!

Now here is the whole reason we made this long trip to the Northeast…our very first grandchild!

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Grandpa and Grandma with Ozzy

We’ll be here a few more days and then head back to Arizona. We did enjoy the train trip up here and have decided to return to Arizona on Amtrak again, but we will take a different route for the return, going south through the Appellation mountains and to New Orleans, then west to Benson, Arizona, where it is sunny and warm.

Posted in Daily Post, March, Massachusetts, New Hampshire | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Amtrak Day 4, Lake Shore Limited

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

2,176 miles done, 959 to go.

We waited in the Metropolitan Lounge at Chicago’s Union Station for nine hours last night. Thank goodness we had sleeper car tickets that came with a perk of allowing us this luxury. It was very comfortable, free wifi, free snacks, coffee and soda and TV. Our next train, the 48 Lake Shore Limited had arrived late and so was late on departure. It was midnight before we hit the tracks, 2 and a half hours behind the scheduled departure time.

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It was late, I was tired, it was dark, and the temperature was around zero F so I did not stop to try to get a picture of the outside of the train. This is a single level train, and not a luxurious as the Texas Eagle. We have a roomette, not a full bedroom like we had on the Texas Eagle.

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Lake Shore Limited, Roomettes on both sides of the narrow hall.

In the roomette there are two chairs that face each other which collapse to form a bunk, and a drop-down bunk above it. There is a toilet, with a cover. Just above the toilet is the sink, which folds up into a cabinet when not in use. The crew had already converted the chairs into bunk mode for us. It is very tight quarters. Really no room for us and our luggage. No room to open our bags to find our night clothes and change, so we just slept in our clothes. Oh well, it’s only one night and it will be morning soon. Everyone in coach is sleeping in their clothes too.

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Lake Shore Limited Roomette

Sleep was hard to come by. You have to laugh at this. This is a smaller train and it rocks more and makes more noise than the two-level Superliner we had just come from. And that was just the beginning…The heat was hard to control, either too hot or too cold. A vent was blowing air at my head until I finally grabbed my parka and put it between the vent and me. And then the PA speaker was screeching continually until around 4:00 am when they finally turned it off. And then in the middle of the night I heard someone slam their roomette door and I thought “how rude” they should be more considerate, until I realized it was OUR door that had come unlatched and slid open with a loud “swoosh BANG” (sorry). AND THEN..all that free soda I drank in the Metropolitan lounge came to haunt me and I had to get up and use that toilet and then it would not flush! They are electric powered and there was no power to it. *sigh*.  It’s not my intention to complain, just saying this is what happened. We are enjoying the whole adventure. For future reference I would still prefer the roomette over coach for an overnight trip, but a bedroom is best.

In the morning we turned our clocks ahead one hour. We are now in Eastern Time Zone. The toilet works again. We walked through four coach cars with sleeping passengers sprawled out and snoring, through a lounge car (not a nice Sightseer Lounge, just a car with booths and a snack bar) before getting to the dining car for breakfast. The menu is exactly the same as it was on the Texas Eagle so I probably will not be taking pictures of the food now.

The whole crew on both trains has been wonderful, so very friendly and helpful.

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The Dining Car on the Lake Shore Limited

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Passing Through Cleveland, Ohio, on the Lake Shore Limited

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Cleveland Amtrak Station as seen Through the Lounge Car on the Lake Shore Limited

The rest of the day was very quiet and the scenery nothing spectacular. When we stopped at Albany the back part of the train including the dining car and the lounge separated from us, got a new engine, and turned south to New York as the 48 Lake Shore Limited. Our part of the train, the engine, baggage car, one sleeper car, and one coach, continued east to Boston as the 448 Lake Shore Limited. The crew brought us sandwiches so we wouldn’t miss our dinner.

We are running about two hours late and will be arriving at Boston South Station before midnight if there are no further delays. We’ll get a taxi to take us to our hotel.

This has been a fun and interesting trip. My first Amtrak passenger train ride. Would I do it again?  Most definitely.

Posted in Daily Post, February | Tagged , | 1 Comment