The station is very remote.
You can't even find anybody to inform you of anything or even a restroom.
These tickets took us a long long time to print out.
There were simply two machines on the platform,
you're supposed to figure out how to operate them by yourself,
that was quite confusing.
Other passengers seem to have the same problem as well.
This is the whole "station"!
This converted to a bed at night.
Quite tight and uncomfortable even for our small size.
Dan was on the upper bunk and he could hardly stand it.
My lower bunk was a bit better because I could see the moon outside the window.
Besides, I love the honking horns of the old train.
Welcoming drink:
California "Champagne"???
But the sparkling tasted pretty good and refreshing.
You need to reserve your dinner table.
Worst hamburger I've tasted recently.
The meat and the bun were extremely dry.
The salad was pretty boring.
Dessert wasn't too bad, very sweet, though.
Coffee was acceptable when it's fresh brewed.
But if you leave it there for a while, it started to taste like instant coffee.
This bar area is spacious and has a lot of windows for you to enjoy the view.
Everybody was here although the signal for the lap tops wasn't strong enough.
An old train.
Passing by the coastline between Ventura and Santa Barbara.
Have a beer as aperitif.
This restaurant car doesn't have a big menu like the other one which we had lunch at.
But it's much quieter and nicer.
Visited this town several years ago on the way to Paso Robles.
This time we only took a picture outside of the station.
Wine tasting in the train.
We met a lot of people,
mostly retired couples.
Heard some very interesting stories from them.
There were 3 kinds of cheese and 4 bottles of wine from nearby areas.
Menus:
The food wasn't great, sort of school cafeteria kind of stuff.
The enamel plate was interesting, though.
Several years ago when I visited Beijing University,
there were some students using enamel bowls eating noodles,
and the size was almost like my grand mom's washing vase.
China's changed a lot recently,
so you might not be able to see this kind of old time stuff very often anymore.
Lamb(above) and chicken(below)looked and tasted almost the same,
with same vegetables, too.
Reminded me of some Chinese restaurants in Europe,
no matter you order beef, chicken or pork,
they always use the same vegetables and the same sauce.
Apple tart and the pudding tasted good.
A small theatre.
Dark and stuffy.
Needed to upgrade.
Next morning:
We are going through some beautiful lakes on the high land.
The breakfast was just acceptable,
but I love the feeling to have it while the train was moving,
images passing by the window every minute,
and the morning sun which was shinning on it.
View outside of the window:
Our car.
Tom, the "manager" of our compartment.
He said his picture is in a lot of living rooms all over the world,
which is probably true.
Pasta for lunch.
Last stop before Portland.
After 29 hours or so,
we were already in Oregon.
***
Overall, the experience was a bit disappointing.
Not quite as nice as the train trip in Europe, Japan , Russia or Taiwan.
Probably it's because there are not very many people who use the train anymore.
But you did savour a bit of the old time travelling style by train.
Worth it to try at least once.
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