ANOTHER TRIP WEST

When I went west this past summer, I flew into and out of Chicago, which is where Amtrak hubs all their cross-country lines.  For this trip, I took the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, changing there to the Capital Limited which runs from DC to Chicago.  Travel in the winter is normally easier by train than trying to fly, but the winter storm we experienced was bad enough to snarl the trains as well.  The Capitol Limited left DC three hours late, and so I finally got on board at 3AM.  Bit of a waste having a room, although I did get to shower.  If I had gone to DC instead of Philly I would have been the same amount of late, but would have slept through it.  Oh, well. If I hadn’t gone this way I would have never seen how dead downtown Pittsburgh could be on a cold Sunday night.  And mind you, this is only about 10pm.

I did manage to find both a pizza joint and a bar (with both Wi-Fi and earsplitting music – yin and yang) within walking distance.  As I said, we were three hours late out of Pittsburgh, but I was hopeful we would get no later, and so would make my connection to the Zephyr.  My hopes were dashed somewhere in Ohio, however, as we sat for several hours behind another train that had broken down.  When we finally limped into Chicago more than five hours late, we found a zoo.  The Zephyr and several other trains were still on the board, listed as delayed, and some others had been cancelled.  Around 8PM they cancelled the Zephyr and several other trains, and what had seemed a zoo originally exploded into sheer pandemonium.  The staff was clearly not ready for the deluge, and lines snaked around the building as people tried (and largely failed) to get answers, satisfaction, or even tickets.  Even the next day, the ticket line was ridiculous, still running back into the great hall. 

I got the Diners’ Club Concierge to find me a flight out on Wednesday, since the next day’s Zephyr would not get me to the Bay Area until too late on Thursday.  I was able to book a room at the Holiday Inn I used last year.  Since it was downtown and a long way from the airports, it hadn’t filled up.  The reason for the cancellation of the Zephyr became obvious once I got to my hotel room.  I believe it made the national news.  The incoming Zephyr, which would have become my train out, got stuck in some ice and the passengers had to be bussed in to the city.

Here's a link to the Amtrak story.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/07/us-usa-weather-stranded-idUSBREA060N320140107?feedType=RSS

In my posts from this past summer, I made it clear that I really like Chicago.  I obviously didn’t do a lot of walking around during this serendipitous visit, but my impressions were unchanged by the weather.  Taxi drivers, bartenders, and shopkeepers all seemed to be taking conditions in stride, although it was the worst weather they’d seen in more than 20 years.  It was minus 15F on Monday.  That was the temperature; the wind chill was in the minus 30’s.  Tuesday it warmed all the way up to 5 above, and a veritable hear wave would take it up to 16 above on Wednesday.  Great place to live.

In any event, Wednesday found me at O’Hare for my flight on Virgin America.  Thankfully, this went off fairly smoothly.  The only hitch was caused by me.  I hadn’t remembered to redo my backpack for the change from train world to TSA world.  I had to stand there in my stocking feet, holding my pants up until I could put my belt back on, while they went through my bag.  They confiscated the multi-blade knife I always carry.  But the amazing thing is what they did not find or object to.  There was a smaller multi-function knife they missed, perhaps because it’s on my keychain and the keys masked it, and a wine corkscrew in plain sight.  The other oddity was, given their constant insistence on liquid containers being no more than three ounces, they said nothing about my great big one liter aluminum water bottle.  That had to stick out on the x-rays.  By the bye, if you’ve ever wondered what happens to confiscated items, visit the website below and search for 'confiscated items'.  There, you can buy knives and other items from the Harrisburg center, by the pound!

www.govdeals.com

So anyway I was forced back into flying.  I will say that Virgin America runs a somewhat less onerous cattle car than others I’ve encountered. There was slightly more legroom than on Frontier, and they didn’t charge for water and soft drinks.  And they were on time.  Contributing to that was the fact it was an afternoon flight.  Those have a better chance to being on time.  Since I was taking what I could get when I booked it, we landed in San Francisco rather than Oakland, but that was alright, since I could rent a car there and return it in Emeryville, right at the Amtrak station.  Anyway, flying got me back on schedule.