There had been forecast for 6-8 inches of snow overnight but ended up being 1-2 inches which was still cool to see. I had expected to have to dig the car out but it ended up that the snow was that light and powdery, you just swept it off with your hand.
Even with the low amount of snow, it still slowed down the freeways with the traffic flowing at 25mph rather than the madness of 70mph. It still didn’t take us long to drive the 5 miles into Union Station.
In the usual Thompson manner there was a park right outside the front door with my name on it. Soon the bags were checked in and I left Jenny with our carry-ons at the station while headed up-town to drop the car back.
It nearly took as long to drive the 15 blocks to the Hertz office as it did to get into town. This was due to none of the lights being synchronised and getting a red light each block and then trying to get grip taking off on the green. Luckily the Hertz girl was at work early and grabbed the key and lucky again that Denver had a free shuttle bus through Downtown as it was still snowing and the wind was rocketing through the buildings.
We were sitting in the Union Station waiting to board the train when someone came up and said “Hello Scott”. I had just checked into Union Station on FB and a FB geocaching friend who I had never met was walking through the station on the way to work. It was good to meet Art in person. Isn’t it a small world.
Out into the cold and snow again to board the California Zephyr and were soon on our way west.
Even though we had breakfast at the motel before we left, it was a couple of hours ago and we called up for complementary breakfast on the train. Sounds like it is going to be a 36 hour foodfest.
We had met another couple from Texas in the boarding queue at Denver, Stan and Jessica. They were just doing a day trip to Winter Park, a couple of hours out of Denver so we spent those hours chatting with them. Not sure that they were prepared for Winter Park when they got off so Jenny gave them our gloves to at least keep their hands warm.
It was spectacular as we travelled through the Rockies and it was made even better with the 11 inches of snow that fell overnight in the mountains.
It was not long before it was time for another meal. Even though there is a lot of empty tables in the dining car, the staff put you with another couple (and different one) each time which is good to be able to meet other passengers along the way. For lunch we sat with a German couple.
Between the meals, meeting others and the views out the windows, it has been a great trip. Before long we were out of Colorado around sunset and it was time for another meal and another couple, a hippie / bikie (not sure what they were) couple from California who had just returned from a trip in Iceland and were taking the train all the way from New York to home in California.
We hit Salt Lake City around 1030 pm (before schedule), our room was turned into night mode with two beds and it was time for some shut eye through Utah. It certainly is a lot easier to sleep on a train where you can stretch out flat than in a plane. Goodnight.
