Day 1: Chicago to Minnesota

States traveled through so far...

1. Illinois NEW!!!
2. Wisconsin NEW!!!
3. Minnesota NEW!!!

Depart Chicago @ 3:05pm

I'm back on the Amtrak and I couldn't be happier!

It's been almost three years since I've done a long-distance Amtrak ride. My first route, in 2021, was from Chicago to Seattle, with stops in Minneapolis/St. Paul and Glacier National Park.

But this trip is not that.

This time, I am going non-stop to Seattle from Chicago.

It is a 47-hour trip that is basically non-stop except for the occasional passenger pickup/drop-off and refueling.

Not only am I going non-stop to Seattle, but I am also traveling with my dad in a roomette. This means that we can actually lie down to get some sleep, eat proper meals, and have some level of privacy compared to the regular coach seats.

I've done overnight coach before, and it's not something I would do again if I didn't have to. We are barely 5 hours in and I can already tell what an upgrade having our private space is.

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Dinner: 7:30pm

For dinner, my dad and I are paired with two random people. However, one of these random people seemed to be an Amtrak veteran.

He had a robust knowledge of the do's and don'ts when traveling by train.

Here are some of them:

• Expect delays... expect long delays.
• Order french toast for breakfast and the flat iron steak for dinner. They are the long-standing traditional food items on the menu.
• Listen to the observation talks. They will impart so much great information.

For dinner, I had:

• Spring salad
• Flat iron steak
• Cheesecake
• White wine

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It's 9:30pm and we're 6 hours in

It's pitch black out now.

I am currently in the observation car.

And, most people have left.

But, I like it at this twilight hour because it is quiet and kinda magical.

I can still see the vague outlines from the remaining remnants of sunlight over the horizon and occasional lamp posts and lit up billboards and fast food restaurant signs.

I just met a guy named George. He's cool. He shared that he was able to get a passenger seat next to him available and that made him happy. That makes me happy too.

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Time in motion is something else. It's difficult to put into words, but whether I'm flying, or now, cruising at 79 mph on a train, these hours seem to go by quickly, filled up immediately by my thoughts. And, I think that is a good thing.

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That's goodnight for now. I'll write back tomorrow 👋

States traveled through so far...

1. Illinois
2. Wisconsin
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota NEW!!!
5. Montana NEW!!!

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It is currently 1:13pm

After falling asleep around 2am, I was able to get about five and a half hours of decent sleep. It is so nice to be able to lay flat after sitting down for much of the day.

Upon waking up, I take a shower and get breakfast with my dad.

Here's my order:

• Coffee and orange juice
• French toast with maple syrup and sliced strawberries
• A side of sausage links

Overall, I am very impressed with the two meals I've had so far, given that they are complimentary with the sleeper cabin. When compared to the snack bar under the observation car, the dining car is miles ahead in terms of food quality.

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10am: Break @ Minot

We took a half-hour smoke, stretch, and refuel break around 10am.

I went for a quick run to wake my legs up and ordered a coffee from a coffee shop in a trailer that was just outside of the train stop. This was a much-needed break to simply get outside, breathe fresh air, and move around. I look forward to the next outdoor break.

I see happy cows. Some are huddled together grazing and resting. Others stray away on their own for solitude, it seems.

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6:03pm | Montana

The mountains are upon us.

We have crossed from Central Time to Mountain Time, and I can sense the guise of Glacier National Park quickly fading away to show herself.

We get hints of this through the occasional semi-mountainous landscapes that speckle between the massive acres of farmland.

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7pm dinner & delays

We are currently under a bombardment of delays.

First, it was a tornado, then a traffic signal malfunction. After the storm blew over, we had to wait for an oncoming train to pass us. Finally, we were making headway. Keep in mind that that was just out of Milwaukee. Up to that point, we were delayed about 2 hours. Then, this morning, due to high winds that exceeded 60+mph, we had to travel at 40mph, which is half of our normal cruising speed of 80mph. Once again, we thought we were okay. We should have been at least. But, at this point, we were 3.5 hours behind schedule.

We have dinner.

I eat the same meal as yesterday because it's good.

No, it's pretty good and puts airplane food to shame. Do better, United. The steak is actually cooked to our preference.

Suddenly...

The train slows.

It comes to a stop.

The lights shut off and I hear the crew say:

"Well, that's not good."

I follow up their comment as I pass them on my way back to grab my laptop

"Is it really that bad?"

They respond with, "Yes, it usually doesn't end up well."

Well, that definitely eases my mind.

I walk to grab my laptop and overhear an older man in a rough and deep voice say,

"This happened to me once before, and we were stuck for hours. Yeah, we had to have engineers come up and fix the problem."

I think to myself again, "This doesn't look good."

...

I make my way to the observation car to write what you are reading now and bask in the beautiful golden light.

Suddenly...

The lights turn on just as ominously as they deactivated.

I see two Amtrak men, gray hair and glasses, scurry hurriedly to the front of the train.

I think to myself.

A passenger I met this afternoon said that a train she was on hit and killed a man in a truck. Did we just kill someone? I mean, that could be plausible as the two Amtrak men scurried their way to the front.

I'm unsure.

I make my way to a table seat with my dad as he plays solitaire and I write.

Whatever the issue might have been, I will not know for the short time.

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Train people

A woman that sits across from me at dinner has this weird demeanor.

It's as if she is about to say something, but then doesn't.

She smiles and I wait for a breath to emanate from her mouth, but none comes.

I don't know how to act, but she eventually spills the concept of train people.

Train people, as she describes, are people who others would describe as people who take the train, but it doesn't stop there. They know the do's and don'ts, the tips and tricks.

Reading between the lines, she is saying that train people are those who make it their personality.

And, I kinda like this.

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It's 9:34 MT

And it's still lit outside.

We are racing the sun at this point, but, it the darkness will soon cover the farms and mountains until we wake in the morning.

This is the home stretch.'

States traveled through so far...

1. Illinois
2. Wisconsin
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Montana
6. Idaho NEW!!!
7. Washington NEW!!!

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I never felt like I would leave the train. After many delays, we finally arrived at King Street Station.

It's been almost three years since I was at this train station, and it felt amazing.

Although Seattle is known for its rain and gloom, we were presented with a sunny day in the 70s. We really couldn't have had a better welcome!

But, let's back up for a second and talk Amtrak.

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Here are my thoughts on taking the Empire Builder cross-country Amtrak route from Chicago to Seattle:

• Get a sleeper car. It's worth it if you are traveling with someone. The meals, ability to sleep lying down, and the privacy are miles ahead of what you get in the standard coach seating.
• Expect delays and don't plan on arriving on time.
• You go for the journey, not just to get from point A to point B. So, enjoy the ride.
• You'll meet some pretty cool people, so don't be afraid to talk because you'll be in close proximity for 2 days.
• The shower is fine.
• The observation car is my favorite place to sit.

That's all. I do recommend this if you have the time and curiosity to see what train travel is like and get another perspective of the United States.

My Rating for a sleeper car: 3.5/5 stars

My Rating for a coach seat: 2.5/5 stars

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Now that we are back in Seattle, the rest of the day was all about food and reconnecting with my dad's past life.

It was special to see this side of his family, and I am very glad that I have been a part of this.

I even found out that I have three cousins I never really knew I had.

That's all for today!

Not much to report today, but what I did experience was pretty special.

This was the first time I interacted with a family member who really didn't speak English. She spoke Korean, and even though we weren't quite able to speak together, the way we did communicate was something where words were unnecessary.

The embrace that we first shared didn't require words.

The sheer look on each other's faces was enough.

I'm not sure what she saw in me, but what I saw in her was a past life that my dad existed in.

Her outfit was uniquely Korean. She wore a floral knitted bucket hat, a floral blouse with a long bow tied in front, which was covered by a vibrant ocean blue sweater with three buttons. She wore beige trousers (I say trousers not to be fancy, but because she looked so well put together, it would be an insult to call them pants). Her shoes were of a red leather material, and she wore them confidently as she strolled with hands clasped together behind her back.

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We then headed back to my dad's brother-in-law's house where I saw his family that I haven't seen since I was 8 years old. It's been a whole 17 years!

Almost two decades.

His three kids are grown, one is married, and while their house is the same, my mind pieced back memories from the pictures we took 17 years ago. Much has changed, as if to say the truth of life – things change. And whether they are beautiful or ugly, all you can do is move along.

For dinner, their family made us an array of Korean food: kimchi, short ribs, salmon, seaweed, bean sprouts, and some other food that I don't know the name of.

I'm glad we visited them.

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Another chill full day in Seattle.

Today, our outing was to Pike's Place Market.

It was crowed and hot. It's friday, so that makes sense. School is out too.

Guided by our wonderful tour guide, my dad's late wife's sister, took the lead and showed us around the market. We must have toured every hallway and floor level at the market.

If you haven't been, let me explain.

Pikes Place is an mult-level and outdoor fish, food, and market exchange. Now, it is mostly a tourist place as if relies on tourists to fund it for the most part. However, it started as a fisherman's market to sell fish and low income housing. Yes, a lot has changed.

For better or for worse, it was still nice to go back. We saw fish being thrown around, ate beef and salmon jerkey and fruit.

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We then went for dinner at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant. While we didn't eat the entire menu, as some of you know, we did enjoy so many dumplings!

We had dinner with our tour guide/ host and her son's family. What I didn't know prior, was that her son used to know my dad when he lived in Seattle. He's in his 40s now, but it was so intersting to hear sonme of the stories they shared when he was a kid.

Here is one of them:

Pickle ball was invented in Washington in 1965 and in my dad's neighborhood, they was a pickleball court. So, decades before it became a modern craze, my dad would play with his neighbors sometimes.

The stories didn't stop at dinner. They continued on as we ate popsicles at their house. And, the storyteller my dad's sister in-law is ridiculosu. It was a great insight into the culture on military bases and life in the 70s and 80s. If you're interested in hearing them, message me.

Cruise time!

I'm going to put all the cruise days into this section for a few reasons:

• Internet access was limited, so I couldn't upload daily.
• Days started to blend together, so I didn't feel like there was enough to write about each day.
• I couldn't upload due to some bug that involved the Wi-Fi and my server that hosts my website.

Anyway, here's the route:

1. Seattle ➡️ Juneau
2. Juneau ➡️ Icy Strait
3. Icy Strait ➡️ Sitka
4. Sitka ➡️ Ketchikan
5. Ketchikan ➡️ Victoria, BC
6. Victoria, BC ➡️ Seattle

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Sea Sickness on my first full day of the cruise.

It's a day and a half boat ride to Juneau. I didn't think that I would get seasick, but on the morning of June 9th, I woke to a rocking boat.

I didn't think much of it at the moment, so I walked to the fitness studio and hopped on the treadmill.

This 10-minute run was one of the most interesting runs I've ever done.

Picture a seesaw.

That's the boat.

Now, imagine yourself on either end of the seesaw.

That's where the fitness studio was.

If you know anything about seesaws, the ends go up higher than any other point on the plank.

So, what this meant for me, running, was that when the boat would go up, I too would go up. You can fill in what happens when the boat goes down.

At this point, I'm holding onto the treadmill with both hands, floating upwards and then slamming back down to the point where my knees are bending past normal running form.

It seems that my arms are getting a better workout than my legs due to the fact that I am forced to stabilize my body while holding the armrests on the machine.

After 10 minutes of running, I got off and went to the open floor area to do some push-ups.

During the push-ups, my body would feel lighter when the boat tilted up and heavier when it dropped, causing me to have some really easy pushes, almost floating, but then also getting slammed to the ground.

Thankfully, the force wasn't too powerful, so I was able to avoid slamming face-first, but the constant movement of the boat, I could tell, was getting to me.

I then exited the fitness studio, and at this point, I knew something was up. I was nauseous, had a headache, and felt dizzy.

I've never had seasickness before, but I knew this was it.

To make matters worse, as I walked to grab just enough food to keep my stomach at bay, I saw a woman wrapped in a towel with a cold press on her head, lying down on one of the beach chairs by the pool.

"I hope this doesn't happen to me"

I thought to myself.

Eventually, I went down to the medical center and bought some motion sickness pills.

Back in my room, I took the pills, ordered chicken noodle soup (as recommended by the medic) from room service, and lay down.

By the evening, I slowly regained power and strength, and I felt healthy enough to even play a game of pickleball with my dad.

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Native Americans in Alaska: The Tlingit

Little did I know about Alaska before I came here, but as we visited more places, my understanding expanded.

I think that most people, if asked, what Native American tribes live in Alaska, they would say the Eskimos.

And yes, they would be correct to an extent, but they are also insufficient in their answer.

At least in the southeastern part of Alaska where we were, the Tlingit people, made up of Raven and Eagle clans, were the most populous Native American groups.

I learned about their art, community, and relationships with the Russians and Americans.

We also got to see the many totem poles, or in the Tlingit language, called kootéeyaa. Totem poles were the name given by Europeans who first visited Alaska.

I can't help but think how the Tlingit created such perfectly symmetrical carved totem poles and carvings. It's insane to think that they did this before a time of machines and computer technologies. But then again, in their words, there was no word for art. Art was simply ingrained in every aspect of life. There was no separation between form and function. This blew my mind.

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Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

The big ticket item of this cruise was sailing into Glacier Bay National Park.

On Sunday morning, we picked up a park ranger, Ranger Dan, and he talked us through some of what we could see while in the bay.

We encountered a few whales, tails flipping up in the air majestically soon after their blowhole released.

A handful of otters swimming on their backs

Countless birds hanging near the boat's motors. They did this because the intense waves would knock out fish and make for an easy catch.

But... What viewers were really waiting for was... the GLACIER !!!

Traveling around 20mph, we slowly come into view of a glacier. And no, this isn't those super tall glacier ice sheets in the Arctic, but instead tidewater glaciers. It's quite a sight to be so close to ice calving, which I didn't see unfortunately, but I heard happened while we were there four times.

Either way, the brisk air, clear skies, and sunshine, paired with a fairly untouched land made for an unforgettable morning and afternoon.

While we were only able to appreciate the views from the boat, I said to myself:

"I'll be back and be up close"

I don't know when, but visiting here was just a taste of what Alaska has to offer.

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My Overall Thoughts on the Cruise

Unique, but Limiting

Cruises are a unique experience. It's essentially a hotel flipped on its side, going 20 mph on water.

That said, cruises cater to people who enjoy the all-inclusive package. Not having to worry about anything from food to transportation or excursions is appealing if you are willing to pay.

For me, this cruise provided a good taste of the places we visited.

Because we only spent a handful of hours at each port, we weren't able to fully immerse ourselves in each city.

However, this Alaska cruise made me want to come back and explore the outdoors. The sheer amount of history and outdoor space is unlike any other place in the US. Since the state is so large, it is home to volcanoes, mountains, glaciers, rainforests, Arctic regions, and many other geological features.

Great Staff

I'm not sure what I expected from the staff, but almost all of the staff, from servers, housekeepers, and bartenders, came from Southeast Asia.

These mostly young and single individuals were nothing but exceptional!

My dad and I even talked to a few of them and got to learn a little more about them. Here's what we learned:

• They come from Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, northern India, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
• They live below the waterline in rooms with no windows (a little sad).
• Some of their extended family members work on different cruise lines. One guy we talked to had cousins on a cruise ship that was tailing us. He would meet up with them when in port.

Food

There is no lack of food to be consumed while on a cruise. You can literally eat somewhere all day, every day.

As a result, you will gain weight if you let your eyes take over. This is what happened to me.

I can't say whether it was the cruise or eating three large meals every day for the past 13 days that caused me to go from 132 lbs to 141 lbs.

Either way, the cruise food wasn't helping, but it was oh so good!

Like everything, our time here as come to an end

From trees to stars and bees to cars

Everything must end

Two weeks have passed us by, my dad and I

We board the plane and are home again

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If you've read this far, thanks for reading. If you scrolled to the bottom, well, i'm glad still gald you're here. Go poke around