California Zephyr - Denver to San Fransisco

The California Zephyr is an Amtrak train which transverses the USA daily in both directions from Chicago to Emeryville, San Fransisco, taking a scheduled 52 plus hours to complete the journey. It is popular as a senic journey, passing through some of the most beautiful canyons, mountains and desert areas of the country and as it seemed like a great way to see even more of the country in a relaxed environment, I booked our trip before leaving home. There are various travel options and as the Superliner Bedrooms were already booked months ahead we had to be content with a Roomette. This consisted of a small room with two seats which converted to narrow beds for the night. There really was no other space  - our small bags were squashed onto a shelf while the bigger ones needed to be checked into the baggage car. Unlike the rooms on the Australian Ghan, they did not have individual bathrooms and were far smaller and this was reflected in the considerably lower cost. Meals were included in the cost of the room but these were barely adequate, even at the start of our sector. From Denver to San Fransisco the fare was $157 per person with the roomettes an added $465 each, regardless of a single or double occupancy.

California Zephyr approaching the Rockies

Before we boarded at Denver, we were aware that due to floods in Nebraska, the train was running several hours late however, in the end, the whole trip ran more than 12 hours late meaning that we were in the dark when passing through the Grand Canyon in Colorado and were in the dark again after Winnemucca thereby missing such famous and beautiful parts such as the American River Canyon.

Leaving Denver on the California Zephyr

Due to the nine hour late departure the sun was going down as we left Denver - the outskirts of the city seen here in the above photo.

Colarado River

As we settled down we enjoyed seeing the Colarado River squeeze through the lower part of the Rockies. Soon after, it was dark and when we awoke we were near Price, in Utah, with the next stop Salt Lake City coming up in a few hours. We had previously driven this route but the train often departed from the road to go through behind the scenes places, close to the rocks that I had photographed from the road.

Salt Lake

We were delayed even further in Salt Lake City while the company confessed that the locomotive had a problem and that this was actually responsible for most of the delay and tried to fix it. This didn't work out well for them [ or us] as the train had to travel  at a very much slower speed for the entire journey. This caused all kinds of problems from food running out entirely to people missing their onward connections from various stops and events they were travelling to. As we need to always carry food and I had allocated a generous amount of time in San Fransisco we didn't have too many problems with these delays.

One place that we did get to see that would have been in the dark had the normal schedule been operating was Salt Lake. It was huge ! And beautiful! The mountains were reflected in the glassy water and then the water was replaced with a sea of salt waves. This we counted as a bonus as we had seen the lake only from the distance on our car trip.

"Water Spout"

 Tornados are common in parts of the States and we were a bit nervous when we were an area where they occur so when I saw this 'spout" from the train I was a bit . . . curious, at least. I was told it was quite normal and that it was a "water spout".

The above photo was taken  not too far from Winnemucca . . .

. . . as was this one.

Our train trip ended with our arrival in Emeryville at 4.30am, more than twelve hours late. We expected taxis to be at the station but this was not the case however a local resident from the train called one for us and we were quickly on our way into San Fransisco, a short distance away. This was an interesting ride because the taxi driver asked us for directions to the hotel and didn't seem to understand the name of the street where this well established hotel was situated near Union Square. When he handed us his iphone and asked us to type in the address and then couldn't read the street sign when we came to it, we realised that he couldn't read English. Come to think of it, he didn't speak in more than two word sentences either!

After a short nap and breakfast at a Diner, we decided to take the Hop On Hop Off bus for a quick tour of the city. There are several companies that offer this tour and we selected the only one that went across the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Fransisco Town Hall

We took the bus from Union Square and one of the first sights pointed out to us by the on board human guide, was the Town Hall.

One of these houses is famous as the location of a TV series, we were told. Everyone on the bus was going "OHHH ! Wonderful! " and clicking their cameras madly so I joined in despite not having a clue about this famous series. I am not a TV watcher! I do think the houses were lovely. The guide was very informative and entertaining and we should have stayed on this particular bus as, by hopping on and off at various places, we had only a boring commentary to listen to via headsets on subsequent buses.

San Fransisco

Haigh Street, San Fransisco Hippy Town

We passed through Hippy Town in the 1960s. That era doesn't seem that far back to me and it was good to see places I had previously read and heard about.

We spent quite a while on the far side of the Golden Gate Bridge where, true to form, it was as misty and windy as I remembered it! I was determined to get a photo with at least two of the support structures but couldn't quite manage it. It was fascinating for me to watch the clouds slide over the hills and funnel up, over and under the bridge. Had I been alone, I would have walked back across the bridge or taken one of the bikes that are for hire.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco

San Fransisco Harbour from Golden Gate View Point

Back in downtown San Fransisco we took one of the famous Cable cars to Fisherman's Wharf. My companions headed for the seats indoors while I fought for a fun spot on the outside. After all, I was there for the ride! Down the steep hill we went with me jammed between strangers, holding on to the bar with one hand while the other pointed my camera at various sights, the wind whistling through me, bells clanging and wheels shrieking at the stops. What fun !

After a walk around Fisherman's Wharf and a seafood meal at Alingo's, my companions were tiring so we looked around for transport back to our hotel in Union Square. No luck until I saw that the driver of a tram that had been waiting on the street corner, move to the brake of his tram. When I asked him where he was going as we wanted to go back to the city, he told me that he had just finished a private tour and could do one for us back to the city for $5.00 each! Done Deal. My companions again fled to the more sheltered interior of the tram while I again went to an outside bench and we set off, just the three of us and driver, this time uphill.

The Oakland Bridge

The driver's name was Alex and he really enjoyed his job, stopping in the middle of intersections directing to to take a shot of this building, that fresco  and the Oakland Bridge, pictured in a frame of inner city buildings. I was happy to see the Oakland Bridge as the last time we were in San Fransisco around 1986 we stayed at Oakland with friends and crossed the bridge daily. Soon after our return home a severe earthquake caused part of the bridge to fall into the sea and several lives were lost.

Lori's Diner, San Fransisco

On our last morning here, we stumbled across this diner in Powell Street. We were looking for a different place for breakfast when we saw a sign pointing to  a long flight of dark stairs. Stairs were not possible for one of our group but then we noticed a very old cage type lift so up we went and were happily surprised to see a 50s - 60s style Diner!

Happy Dayzz

The food wasn't anything special but it was a fun ending to our time in San Fransisco!

For those fellow teenagers of the 50s - 60s - Lori's Diner is on Powell Street, near Union Square. Go there and reminisce!