I hope to be able to go on a train trip in May. The primary reason for the trip is for my grandson's 8th grade graduation. The USA Rail Pass is pretty expensive, but my son has offered to pay for it—if all goes well for him financially. I wanted to get full use of the pass, so I planned out a possible route. The pass includes ten segments. I numbered each segment which starts at 0 in order to be able to follow the route I hope to take. I will only have a small amount of money, so I won't be doing anything in the transfer cities, marked with a yellow pin, except waiting for the next train! The green pins are where I hope to stop and see family and friends. I am still uncertain about any plans in New York, but I green pinned it anyway. Ideally, having extra money and a travelling partner would make the trip perfect, but a train ride across the country is truly a dream come true. Many years ago, I had looked into this type of train trip with Amtrak, but personal circumstances changed and I had to put my dream on hold.
All the white dots are train stations that the train will stop at along the route. Basically, I will be leaving from Florida, travel up the east coast through Washington DC, New York City, Upstate New York, near the Great Lakes, and transfer in Chicago, Illinois. I will continue west through the Northern States and change trains in Portland, Oregon. From Portland, I will head south to Sacramento, California where I will change trains again. I will leave California for a stop in Colorado to visit with my brother, then on to Nebraska/Kansas to see my son, daughter-in-law and grandkids. After several days with the family, I will head back to Nebraska and board the train back to Chicago. In Chicago, I will change trains headed to Syracuse, New York for another transfer before stopping in Rome, New York not far from where I grew up! This part is tentative, but I have plans in my head, just not sure I have the courage to carry them out. After a few days which will include my birthday, I will leave Rome and head to New York City. After a quick train change, I will head back home to Florida.
deland fl (DLD) - portland or (PDX) - 90h 28m - departs Wed 7 May 7:49p - arrives Sun 11 May 11:17a
(segment 12-1) 37h 56m - deland fl (DLD) - chicago il (CHI) - Wed 7 May 7:49p - Fri 9 May 8:45a
[transfer 6 hr 20 m -chicago il (CHI) - 8:45a - 3:05p]
(segment 22-2) 46h 12m - chicago il (CHI) - portland or (PDX) - Fri 9 May 3:05p - Sun 11 May 11:17a
portland or (PDX) - grand junction co (GJT) - 42h 19m departs - Sun 11 May 2:22p - arrives Tue 13 May 9:41a
(segemnt 12-3) 16h 6m - portland or (PDX) - sacramento ca (SAC) - Sun 11 May 2:22p - Mon 12 May 6:28a
[transfer 3h 55m - sacramento ca (SAC) 6:28a - 10:23a]
(segment 22-4) 22h 18m - sacramento ca (SAC) - grand junction co (GJT) - Mon 12 May 10:23a - Tue 13 May 9:41a
(segment 11 - 5) 16h 23m - grand junction co (GJT) - lincoln ne (LNK) - departs Thur 15 May 9:53a - arrives Fri 16 May 3:16a
(segment 11 - 6) 11h 12m - lincoln ne (LNK) - chicago il (CHI) - departs Wed 21 May 3:27a - arrives Wed 21 May 2:39p
[change train 6h 51m Lake Shore Limited chicago il (CHI) 2:39p - 9:30p]
chicago il (CHI) - rome NY (ROM) - 17h 5m - departs Wed 21 May 9:30 p - arrives Thu 22 May 3:35p
(segment 12-7) 12h 58m - chicago il (CHI) - syracuse ny (SYR) - Wed 21 May 9:30p - Thu 22 May 11:28a
[transfer 3h 26m syracuse ny (SYR) 11:28a - 2:54p]
(segment 22-8) 0h 41m - syracuse ny (SYR) - rome NY (ROM) - Thu 22 May 2:54p - Thu 22 May 3:35p
rome NY (ROM) - deland fl (DLD) - 28h 5m - departs Sun 25 May 7:45a - arrives Mon 26 May 11:50a
(segment 12-9) 5h 0m rome NY (ROM) - new york ny (NYP) - Sun 25 May 7:45a - Sun 25 May 12:45p
[transfer 1h 45m - new york ny (NYP) 12:45 - 2:30p]
(segment 22-10) 21h 20m - new york ny (NYP) - deland fl (DLD) - Sun 25 May 2:30p - Mon 26 May 11:50a
The adventure is the train ride itself! A scenic trip across America and meeting people along the way. There are some things I am anxious about, so I am going to ask Amtrak for some accommodations I saw listed on their website. I think that will help the trip go smoothly for me—if I understood their website correctly! Right now, any further planning of the trip is on hold pending purchase of the USA Rail Pass from Amtrak!
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