Booked - Finally!

Well, as predicted, the Amtrak North American Rail Pass was closed Monday.   I did as the info line suggested and tried to pay/book through a travel agent.   They had to research it and call me back.  When they did, it wasn’t good news.   She said that she couldn’t do anything, but that I could buy the pass at the station.    

That would be all fine and dandy, but considering the train leaves at 5:40am, we would have had to get up at about 3am just to get there in time to sort it out.  AND, what if she was wrong and they couldn’t process the ticket?  OR, what if the train was full and I couldn’t get a reservation.   Even if that was unlikely it wasn’t worth the gamble at that time of the morning.   I opted to stay on with wife and son for a few extra days.  

We got a few more things straightened out.  I didn’t feel as rushed.   Cooked up a good dinner of grilled chicken, spicy pasta, and spinach last night --- a bit of a departure from the fast food they’ve gotten used to.    I was also able to get a few boxes put away, we got the aquarium situation straightened out, and much to the delight of TJ, we got the Xbox360 hooked to the network and ‘live’.

Today I went to hop in the shower and got a knock on the door.  ‘Water will be shutoff for the next 2-3 hours while we dig up the street in front of your house.’   Great!   So, I got on the phone and tried a few times to get through to Amtrak’s North American Rail Pass operators.  After about 10-15 mins each time I gave up.   Finally a little after noon I got through.  

The operator took my info, booked me on Thursday’s train to Bakersfield, California, then transferred me to the VIA RAIL Canada operator who booked me on a leg from Vancouver to Winnipeg.   I quickly confirmed that the leg to Hudson Bay was running year round, and that was about it for that.   They took my passport number (expires Feb 08/06 btw) and gave me my reservation numbers.   Didn’t even ask for a credit card number.    Guess I’ll be paying at the ticket wicket after all.  

If you’ll notice I put my itinerary on the sideboard (right).  If you scroll down you’ll see the dates I plan to be where.   These are subject to change, and I can do so easily….it’s an RSS feed from RSSCalanders.com --- anything changed there will reflect here.

Also, if you haven’t noticed already, there are links to the different trains I plan to travel on so that you can get a general idea of the route I’ll be taking.   And, there are a few links to places I want to visit.   These are subject to change also, and I’ll be adding more as I go.  

Note again, that this is a blog.   It is best read daily to keep up-to-date,   or read from ‘The Beginning’ if you’re just joining me.   You’ll find the links for each entry also on the right-hand sidebar.  

So, that’s it for now.  I’ll be trying to enjoy some quality time with my son TJ before I get underway early Thursday morning.    Including doing some laundry, making some last minute decisions, etc.   It’s not like I’ve gone on month long trips before….just never on a train.