The Itinerary

This has been the hardest thing to figure out. 

I was going to make my first stop Chicago then head to the west coast on the California Zephyr. From there it was on to Portland, down to San Diego, over to Texas and New Orleans.  From there up to Chicago then take a different route back to New York. I figured I’d do all the detail planning while I was on the way out west.

Not A Good Idea

Yesterday, I go the bright idea that I had better look over the train schedules to see if I could do what I had in mind so I’d be back by March 28. Turns out I would have been stranded in San Diego which is not a bad idea but I’m under orders to be back by the 28th.

With a little consultation from Amtrak (the folks I’ve spoken with have been fantastic so far) I decided to revers course and go south to New Orleans out of Chicago rather than head west. The problem was that the Sunset Limited, which runs along the southern border, is the only line I’m traveling on that does not run daily.

Here I Go

Assuming I can survive this and that I won’t need to change my schedule, here it is as of this morning:

DATELINELEAVE / LOCATIONARRIVE / LOCATIONOVERNIGHT
Sat Mar 10Lake Shore Limited3:40P/NYCTrain
Sun Mar 1110:40A/Chi
City of New Orleans8:05P/ChiTrain
Mon Mar 12332/New OrleansHotel – New Orleans
Tue Mar 13Hotel – New Orleans
Wed Mar 14Sunset Limited9:00A/New Orleans
Thu Mar 1512:05A/San AntonioWalk around – San Antonio
Texas Limited7:00A/San Antonio9:13A/AustinHotel – Austin
Fri Mar 16Hotel – Austin
Sat Mar 17Texas Limited6:30P/Austin9:55P/San AntonioStation
Sun Mar 18Sunset Limited2:45A/San AntonioTrain
Mon Mar 185:35A/Los Angeles
6:30A/Los Angeles8:30A/San DiegoHotel – San Diego
Tue Mar 19Hotel – San Diego
Wed Mar 20Coast Starlight5:55A/San DiegoTrain
Thu Mar 213:32P/PortlandHotel – Portland
Fri Mar 22Hotel – Portland
Sat Mar 23Empire Builder4:45P/PortlandTrain
Sun Mar 24Train
Mon Mar 253:55P/ChicagoHotel – Chicago
Tue Mar 27Hotel – Chicago
Wed Mar 28Lake Shore Limited9:35P/ChicagoTrain
Thu Mar 295:40P/NYCHome

That’s all and that’s enough.  The hardest part will be Texas where I have some insane arrival and departure times in and out of San Antonio and Austin. At least I’ll spend 2 nites in Austin just to recover.

In case I need it, here are all the Amtrak schedules.