May 24, 2016

Four Timezones, One Week

Maybe last year, I read a blog post written by a guy who traveled across the country by Amtrak train for $213. I instantly decided I had to do it too. With mixed reactions from various people I sort of put it in the eh maybe one day part of my mind and continued on with the semester. Then back in April, me and a couple friends decided hey, lets do it. So we set out planning. Planning which can be accounted for on one sheet of paper. Take note, I have homework on the other side. The lack of planning was made up for by Kyle’s mom (Thanks again Kyle’s Mom!!!)



We started with an end of the year party, some pre-train Taco Bell, and a ride from Heather. The Cleveland Amtrak station made a list of ugliest train stations in the country. It wasn’t exactly ugly, but it wasn’t winning any awards for decor. Our train was 2 hours late, so it wasn’t winning awards for punctuality either. The seats, however, were surprisingly comfortable.



When we got into Chicago, we ate some deep dish pizza. My new favorite type of pizza for its amount of cheese. Everything thing is better with more cheese.



We then visited the Field Museum where we saw dinosaurs, and didn’t see the Terra Cotta Warriors because the ticket man is bad at his job. After walking around the museum with a weeks worth of life on our backs, we were “dino-sore” and headed to the hotel for check in.



Our hotel was close to the Willis Tower, so we went up. Longest line for an elevator ever, but it probably beats taking the stairs.




After, we used some public transit and hit the Navy Pier.



The next morning, before boarding the train for Denver, we saw Millennium Park and the bean.



The trip from Chicago was fairly boring. A lot of flat land. Iowa was pretty boring, and I slept through Nebraska.



In Denver we mostly slept. It rained all day and we were pretty tired. There might be exciting and great things in Denver, but we mostly saw the inside of the Hampton Inn. Oh and a Noodles and Company. My perfect restaurant, all noodles.

The next the train leg was the prettiest leg. If I hit the big bucks, I would have a house in the mountains of Colorado. There was a ton to see.






We also befriended a nice older lady in the Denver Train Station. She taught us how to cheat at many forms of Solitaire, and we helped her with her bags.

Once we hit San Fran, well actually Emeryville, we visited Pixar. Then we spent two hours walking around trying to figure out how to get across the bay. Finally we bought an Amtrak bus ticket and made it into the city. Then after more frustration we found a bus that went to our hotel. Side note, San Francisco’s public transit is a pain. Maybe that was just us, but having different bus systems and 4 different trains all with different companies is dumb, but I digress. After to vowing to never use public transit in this city again, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf. I got my first In and Out Burger and a Ghiradeli milkshake. We then once again went to bed before midnight. At some point we became old people, but I think it was mostly the time difference that did it to us.





The next morning, we Uber-ed up into the Battery Spencer and walked back down into the Presidio. I have officially touched the Pacific Ocean!



For dinner we got homemade pasta.


Next stop, Seattle via Virgin Airlines. Not a bad airline by the way. Lots of leg room and they have those fun little TV’s in the seats. I started some Boardwalk Empire. Apparently it was the most expensive pilot to shoot to that point.

In Seattle, we went to Pike Place. We hit up a little bar where I got a Ginger Cider. I think it may have been our latest night with a 1am bedtime. The highlight of Seattle was the Space Needle. We went into the top and had a three course brunch. All of my food was delicious and it was a great view.






The day started off rainy, but after the needle, the rain stopped. We hit Pike Market and the gum wall and said good bye to Seattle. 





We ended our trip with an overnight flight back to Cleveland. It’s a little rough leaving one timezone and flying forward three hours to morning. Anyway, a great time was had by all, and I got to add three states to my state map, so I would say it was a success!