Amtrak to California, Part 6: Eastbound from Los Angeles

Eastbound on the Southwest Chief (11 photos)

  We were up early next day for our morning drive to L.A., where we would have about 5 or 6 hours to spend downtown.  It was a foggy drive for awhile, but the sun came out eventually.  The highway is really something to see passing the Santa Barbara area, with miles of sandy beach along the ocean.  As it was a Sunday morning, we drove into downtown L.A. with no difficulty.   Near the train station is Little Tokyo.  We were heading to a vegan sushi restaurant for lunch.  It was in an Asian shopping mall, three stories high.  There were several restaurants, gift stores and a large Asian grocery store.  Our restaurant, Shojin, offered some of the most delicious food we have ever eaten!  We shared BBQ Seitan, Stuffed Shitake Mushrooms, and a Gingeronimo Sushi Roll!  They also had many kinds of sake.  However, I had drank enough alcohol so far on this trip that I passed on the opportunity here.

            Later on we visited the L.A. County Museum of Art, enjoying visits to many different galleries and areas, including Japanese Art, which had a display of contemporary kimonos; early European Art, with a great collection of minor Dutch masterpieces; American Art, including several Pre-Columbian galleries; and the bookstore, where I purchase a shiny silver pencil.  The museum is more like a campus, with several different buildings linked by outdoor courtyard.  We were tired when we finally returned to Union Station to await our departure.  There is a small first class lounge here, and we relaxed for about half an hour before boarding.  We left on time, at 6:15 pm.  It was getting dark before we arrived in the mountains, and we didn't see anything much again until next morning, when we awoke in New Mexico.

Last view of downtown Los Angeles, as our train heads east and begins to climb.  The California part of our trip was quite fantastic, and certainly worth repeating (and extending).

 Red cliffs near Gallup, NM, as seen from the Southwest Chief.

More red cliffs, and some tent rocks, NM.

 Telephoto view of Mt. Taylor, near Grants, NM, from the train.  Deb and I have ascended this 11,300' mountain, and would love to get back up there at least one more time.

 The train arrived early into Albuquerque.  We had 55 minutes, so we walked to the nearby downtown city center area, browsing a few shops.  The KiMo is an active historic cinema/theatre.

Detail of the KiMo, Albuquerque.

 Recrossing the plains in NM, passing an extinct volcanic cone.  There were dozens of antelope out here today.

 Deb snapped this one from her side of the roomette, as we curved down into Trinidad, CO!

 It is still the monsoon season in early September, and we passed through some weather as we crossed Raton Pass into Colorado.

 It was a gloomy day as we recrossed the Mississippi River back into Illinois.  It had been a ten-state journey for us each way.  Eastbound, the order is California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan!

Back in Chicago!  We had left L.A. at 6:15 pm on Sunday.  It was now Tuesday at 3 pm!  We had a three hour layover, so we headed to Elephant and Castle Pub, not far from the station.  At 6 pm our train left for Dearborn.  Though we left on time, we arrived 90 minutes late.  We did not get in the door of our house until 2:30 am.  This ends the main travel portion of the journey.  The final page is devoted to craft beer!

To be continued...