Rolling West to Arizona

March 30-31

Mornings in New Orleans had been quite cool, so we pulled on jeans and sweatshirts, strapped on our back packs and walked the dozen or so blocks to the Amtrak station, towing our rolling bags behind. We were not about to take another rip-off taxi ride. Halfway there, we realized that it was not a cool morning and we were sweating. Thinking that we had plenty of time to spare before our 9:00 am departure, we were startled to hear, as we walked into the station, someone hello-ing us from the far side. If we were ticketed on train #1, Sunset Limited, we had better get on now. We panted over and they threw our bags on a golf cart, let us jump on, and drove us right down to car #1030 to board. Brian, our sleeper attendant, welcomed us aboard and got us settled in our downstairs roomette.


Though we had traveled many miles on the train in the past several weeks, we had only taken a sleeper on our first segment-from Vancouver to Chicago. Many of the trains didn't run overnight, and none of the trains in the east that we took had sleepers on them. This stretch of travel would be 1 ½ days so we felt it would be worth the extra cost. One way I've justified the extra expense of a sleeper is that all meals are included. Thus, it was quite a disappointment to find out that they would not be serving breakfast. Instead, we had to go to the cafe car and settle for a prepackaged cinnamon roll that probably had an expiration date sometime next year. As we left Louisiana, we passed one of the curious-looking above ground cemeteries and crossed the mighty Mississippi River.

Above-ground cemeteries in New Oreans

Mississippi River

The day remained sunny as we rattled and swayed along. Much of the area alongside the tracks was swampy and it was fun to imagine the alligators and feral pigs hidden in the dark water among the plants.


One strange, negative thing about this train is that almost as soon as we rolled out of New Orleans, we noticed an occasional sewer smell. It got pretty bad, so finally I sought out Brian and asked about it. He explained that due to a venting issue, when someone flushes a toilet in the car, the smell from the tank goes through the vents into all the rooms. Ugh. He said that when we get to San Antonio, he hoped to get someone to remedy the situation.


In the late afternoon we stretched our legs at the Houston, TX station. I visited with Brian a bit in the balmy Texas air. He is such a sweet and patient guy. He and his wife have many grandchildren, four of which live with them in their home.

Brian (L), our sleeping car attendant with the coach attendant

Houston skyline

While we ate dinner, Brian made up our bunks for sleeping. The first thing we noticed when we got back was a strong air freshener smell. It was so strong that we worried we wouldn't wake up in the morning if we didn't leave the door of our room open for fresh air. As we were pondering it, Brian poked his head in and proudly said, “I fixed it. I put one of them smelly things in here. If it gets too strong, let me know.” What a sweet guy! I felt so bad telling him to remove it and then watched as he crawled under our bunks and pulled off a commercial-grade, stick-on air freshener. Once we were convinced we weren't breathing toxic air, we turned off the lights and sat on my bunk with the curtains open to the night. A three-quarter moon hung high in the sky, turning the landscape silver and obscuring all but the brightest stars.


At around 1:00 am, I sensed the train had stopped. I popped my head up like a gopher and looked out on the city of San Antonio.We were late arriving, but since our scheduled departure wasn't until 2:45, we would have had time to slip out and explore the River Walk and the Alamo. But sleep called.


We woke in the morning as we neared the Mexican border near the town of Del Rio. As we ate breakfast, the land alternated with acres of yellow wildflowers, fields of pecan trees, or dry, desolate ground dotted with yucca cacti. I overheard somewhere that you go to sleep in Texas and when you wake up, you're still in Texas. Quite true. It seemed to go on and on.

Texas wildflowers

Yucca cactus

Pecan trees

Around lunch we stopped in El Paso, again near the Mexican border.

Texas/Mexican border

Shortly later, the conductor announced that we would be stopping in the small town of Deming, NM. It was a “flag stop” town, that is, they only stop if a ticketed passenger needs to get off or on. We would be stopping because of a “medical emergency”. As we pulled into the station we saw a vehicle waiting and as soon as we came to stop, we were boarded by some medical person. As we sat, a police drove up, and then an ambulance and then two more police. I asked Brian what was going on. He said that a man had been in the lounge car and had become inebriated (his words) and had fallen down. He was being check out and then put back in his bunk to sleep it off. What Brian didn't know is that while we were talking, Alyssa saw the guy loaded up in the ambulance and hauled off.  And so ended his trip.  I have no idea why all the police were there but it made the afternoon interesting.

In Deming, New Mexico

Responders to our "medical emergency"

As we left New Mexico and entered Arizona, the land was arid and flat, with a white appearance.  I thought it might be a "salt flat".

At dinner, we had already been seated on one side of a booth and were waiting to order. A couple came in and was shown into our booth. The guy looked very confused and then sat in the next booth over. The server patiently asked them to move to sit with us. They sat awkwardly down. I asked, “First experience with community seating?”. Yep, it sure was. Once they understood the concept, we settled down to good conversation about our respective travels. Alyssa even shared her baked potato with the gentleman. This was their first train trip and they were really interested in taking a longer trip with a sleeper. As we rolled along the sun set brilliantly outside the dirty windows.

We rolled into Tucson, Arizona, right on time. I texted my brother Dwight to let him know. But wouldn't you know it, we sat an extra hour in the station for no explained reason. Eventually we got to Maricopa but we sat on the tracks for what seemed like forever as they changed out the crew. When we finally got off at nearly 10:00, Dwight was there waiting with a much appreciated welcome.