I hope you can write a bit about your logistics -- what you packed, wore, how you managed it when yo

For this year s summer vacation, up until around March, I had been acting in an uncharacteristically uninspired, wishy-washy fashion and had not determined a plan of attack as to where or if I would travel. I don t know if any of you ever feel like this, but due to the number of choices out there, I became paralyzed as to where to go. THEN, all of a sudden in the midst of my fickleness, one of my long-time friends with whom I socialized regularly moved for work from Montreal, where I live, to Vancouver BC. At first, since I like to open my eyes by visiting somewhere new, since I had been to Vancouver in 2005 and briefly alaskan cruises in 2008, since a return visit had not been on my mind particularly etc , I told him that I didn t think I d be visiting this year, to which he seemed resignedly disappointed.
Then, all of sudden thanks to this turn of events, a plan for my summer vacation dawned on me! I d never been to Portland, OR before and could combine a visit to that city with a trip to Vancouver BC to see my friend. alaskan cruises I d also been craving a long-distance train ride and I d never taken the Empire Builder train route that went from Chicago to Portland. alaskan cruises Those of you who ve seen my prior trip reports might be aware that the train is a form of travel I seek out. Portland , being a city some folks had mentioned as being progressive with a cycling culture, had long piqued my curiosity although I must admit had not been close to the top of my list of places to visit due to its distance and my perception alaskan cruises of its similarity to other Pacific Northwest cities. Ultimately though, the thought of seeing the Pacific alaskan cruises Northwest again with its mighty trees and dramatic landscapes convinced me that this was the trip I must do. My last trip to the Pacific Northwest was 5 years ago and I felt it had now been too long.
As it turned out, all the sleepers from Chicago to Portland were sold-out, so I ended up going with the Chicago to Seattle train, which I had taken when I d visited Seattle and Victoria 5 years ago. While I was disappointed, it turned out for the best as I got to meet a Vietnamese friend for lunch in Seattle who I d not seen since high school (24 years ago!) and we had a terrific visit, as I got to meet her 5-year-old twin girls and go to one of her favorite Vietnamese alaskan cruises restaurants alaskan cruises in Seattle.
How I enjoyed my 4 hour return to Albany! alaskan cruises The view of the handsome state Capitol and nearby hills by the reflecting alaskan cruises pools in front of the Egg made for a nice place to sit and read a book. So quiet, so under-appreciated I thought as almost alaskan cruises all I could hear was the wind gently breezing over the Empire State Plaza with only maybe a half-dozen other souls scattered over the entire large expanse with me. Lark Street still has a fun vibe, a good place to go for a coffee, surrounded by those charming narrow side streets with a early-13-colonies look to them. I discovered a pedestrian walkway which took me over to a path adjacent the Hudson River and enjoyed watching the families alaskan cruises strolling, kids pushing themselves along on scooter or skateboard, couples sitting in the grass or on a dock admiring their waterway a side of Albany I think many don t see.
The train from Albany to Chicago had some lovely river and lakeviews, passing adjacent the Mohawk River, Lake Erie for surprisingly long stretches and a bit adjacent Lake Michigan just before Chicago. While I had been on this train before, I d never been on it westbound and never along the Albany-Buffalo stretch. While I ve not seen it listed as one of North America s most scenic train rides, it certainly is no slouch as far as beauty is concerned in some parts.
The train was late arriving alaskan cruises in Chicago, leaving me 2.5 hours in this city I d not seen since 2008. I walked straight from Union Station to Lake Michigan and back. I enjoy the contrast of Chicago with east coast cities. Downtown Chicago denizens, regardless of race, seem to have a more clean-cut, all-American look about them, that differs from the more gritty east. Chicago to my eyes has such as clean new-ness and polish about it, that even things that are probably not so new, such as the El train tracks, have an air of youth about them somehow. Perhaps it s just the people and sights I ve chanced upon, but I ve also perceived an upbeat optimism and innovation alaskan cruises to the city.
The last time I took the Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle, alaskan cruises I was bussed from Chicago to Minneapolis due to floods in Wisconsin. This time however, rather than getting a boring old highway, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the beautiful views of the tall hills rising like islands out of the Mississippi River next to the tracks as we passed through the state of Wisconsin. It reminded me in some ways of the spectacular alaskan cruises coastal mountain islands of British Columbia in look but on a smaller scale. I must say, I really wasn t expecting the Wisconsin portion of the ride to be quite this scenically beautiful. Even downtown Milwaukee looked more interesting than I d imagined it, with some busy-looking charming restaurant terraces floating along a waterfront.
Glacier National Park in Montana, with its snow-capped mountains, icy green-blue rushing rivers and streams; the Cascade Mountains in Washington with the unfathomably tall firs, spruce and pine; the close-by views of the Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background as you make the final sally toward Seattle: all three conspire to make the journey from western Montana onward a near-constant wow fest in admiration of the dramatic scenery. I was reminded of myself on my first trip to the Pacific Northwest in 2005 upon talking to one of my fellow passengers who had never been further west than Louisiana who told me her eyes were glued to the window. Even though I d done the trip before, alaskan cruises as an easterner, I find my eyes too drawn to the scenery in admiration and sometimes disbelief.
Great report. I have done bits of this trip but really enjoy your report. It takes a confident person to admit to admiring Albany! The Chicago-Twin Cities portion was a very pleasant surprise alaskan cruises to me, too.
I hope you can write a bit about your logistics -- what you packed, wore, how you managed it when you were doing explorations between trains, what you ate, how you passed the time in the Empty Quarter. I am also not quite clear on whether you had sleeper accommodations.
Of the cities in the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria, some might even include San Francisco in this category), alaskan cruises Portland seems to me to get the least prospective visitor attention of the group (possibly inaccurately?). In a certain sense, I get why . Unlike Portland, the others combine city with snow-capped mountain viewing and/or spectacular views of large bodies of water. Seattle s on the Puget Sound, Vancouver s on the Georgia Strait, Victoria s on the Juan de Fuca Strait, alaskan cruises San Francisco s transit system takes you to the Pacific Ocean itself, while Portland is on the Willamette River only and while I am to understand that Mount Hood is visible alaskan cruises sometimes, I never saw it. Also, sketched-out individuals, folks that have unfortunately fallen through the cracks due to what I imagine to be heavy-duty alaskan cruises drugs, seemed sadly peppered throughout Portland, it seemed to me more than in other cities I ve visited.
*Yet* while I m hesitant to use the word must-see for anywhere, I feel that *Portland is as much of a must-see* as the other NW destinations. Why? The vagrancy issue did not prevent me from coming to the conclusion that the Portland neighbourhoods I saw seemed to me in many ways to be models of urban living. From both the Alphabet District where I stayed as well as the nearby Pearl District, one could walk from an oasis of greenery with charming homes to one s downtown job and have access to a wide array of interesting independent restaurants, bars and breweries; I even saw a bourbon bar with a patio, which I don t think I ve seen in other cities. Despite the advertisements for the People s Republic of Portland undoubtedly poking fun at the left -leaning nature of the west coast city, Portland is far from communism. Capitalism and entrepreneurial spirit seem incredibly robust, what with the proliferation of independent, innovative and uniquely Portland food carts as well as unique pub-like establishments. The city has a vibe that I can only describe as kind of Bohemian hipster , plenty of tattoos and piercings and funky hairstyles, which I m sure would make it a fun place to be for progressive twenty- and thirty-somethings. However, it s for none of these reasons that I think Portland is as equally a must-see as its West Coast sisters, but rather due to what I consider to be its ace-in-the-hole its proximity to the spectacular Columbia River Gorge.
I stayed at the Portland International Guesthouse, near 22nd St. and Flanders in the leafy Alphabet District, a handsome wooden home that reminded me of the style one sees in Capitol Hill in Seattle. alaskan cruises The guesthouse is a homey, welcoming, well-maintained base within easy walking distance of a Trader Joe s as well as a number of coffee, dining and alcohol-drinking locales. At approximately $70/night, I d recommend it for a highly independent, budget-conscious traveller. Guests that require constant catering may wish to choose another establishment as it s a pretty hands-off affair where there s no one manning a desk, although apparently the proprietors are available by phone. I saw them only twice during my stay and they were impeccably cheerful helpful at those times. The shopping in the Pearl District alaskan cruises is maybe 10 minutes away and downtown attractions are about a 20 minute walk; the #77 bus will also whisk you downtown if so desired. I often took the NS Streetcar from downtown toward my hotel for the fun of it even though the tram dropped me off a few blocks away from my guesthouse at 21st and Northrup. One nice thing about staying in the Alphabet District alaskan cruises is that the streets are arranged alphabetically north-so