Another adventure with the Johnston's

As seems to be the pattern in summers past, the Johnston's are yet again on the road. It has been a busy year for Mom, Dad and myself. Each of us have had our individual projects and most of those came to a place where they could be paused for two weeks (a rare simultaneous open block for us three, let me assure you). Mind you, in the Johnston family even our vacations must be planned and so in March we decided it would be a great idea for the three of us to take an Epic train trip following our Epic European vacation last summer.

To be honest, in my mind, the train trip seemed far less Epic then it actually has turned out to be. But so goes most of our trips in the Johnston family. It looks simple on paper but then in the execution of the itinerary you realize that "Oops! Maybe this was more than we thought it was." What generally resulted in our younger days (when the Johnston family was just 6) was a breakdown from each child. Generally, David would breakdown because he was tired about 4-5 days in. Then Mary would follow because we weren't all getting along (but I think mainly it was because she was a sympathetic breakdowner). Sarah and I would hold on generally for a couple more days before each of us would have our times too. But you knew you weren't actually on a Johnston vacation until David blew the whistle.

For those of you not keeping track at home (and believe me, it would probably be a part-time job to try to), let me fill you in on our travel plan and then what our travels have turned out like so far. We started out at 4:00 am bright and early on July 25th in Hutchinson. We boarded the Southwest Chief Amtrak train bound for Los Angeles, CA. We went back to sleep for a bit but to be honest, you have to get use to sleeping on a train. Generally takes about 3 hours to get use to all of the noises and the clackty-clack of the train. We were up the next morning to enjoy a delightful breakfast on the train and then counted our time down to LA by both station stops and meals. Very few people know this, but if you buy a sleeping car ticket (or the equivalent 1st class fare on the East coast) you get your meals free. Everything except alcohol. Take that airlines. (Oh yes, I went there) And the food is surprisingly delightful.
We arrived in LA on July 26th a little worse for the wear but surprisingly well rested. We ventured off to San Diego, CA and enjoyed a number of different activities. Most of you will be getting postcards from the Zoo which was massive (see the Panda above :-) ). The only missing was a train. They even had a gondola which went above the park!! We explored San Diego (or San D-ah-Go as Ron Burgundy would say) by car, train, foot and boat. It was a nice time to be had for all. We returned to LA on the 27th and departed for Seattle, WA on Amtrak's Coast Starlight #14 at 10:15 am on July 28th. This was one of the most breathtaking train rides of my life. You should definitely try to take this train once in your lifetime. In addition to the regular amenities offered to sleeping car passengers, Amtrak added a special car on this trip called the Pacific Parlor Car which was reserved for Sleeping Car Passengers only and served treats, had wine and cheese tastings an had special Amtrak merchandise available.

We arrived in Seattle, WA at 8:15 in the evening on July 29th. It was a wonderful ride. We stayed that night (after walking through a rather sketchy part of Seattle) in the Arctic Club in downtown Seattle. My favorite part of the trip thus far was our tour of the Boeing factory in Everett, WA the next morning, July 30th. We had an Airbus enthusiast among our tour group who was promptly shut out of the conversation by the tour guide. It was quite humorous although you did feel a little bit sorry for the Airbus enthusiast. To set the tone for you readers out there, the tour guide ended his narration with "If it's not Boeing, I'm not going." CLASSIC!

It was then off to Timberline Lodge via a 2.5 hour traffic jam caused by a multiple (IE 14 or more) car accident on the Northbound lane. It was a fairly serious accident although, it appeared, there were no major injures. So what should have been a 3.5 hour drive to Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge in Oregon turned into a 6 hour trek on I-5 Southbound via traffic accident. We had a very pleasant dinner at the lodge and it was an early bed time for all. The next morning, July 31st, we departed to Portland via Malmouth Falls and the Rose Gardens. Both were beautiful. If those among you came and visited me in Lincoln while I was up there in schoool, imagine the Sunken Gardens expanded to acreage similar to the pasture. It was beautiful. But if we wanted to turn the pasture into these gardens, not matter how talented Grandma may be, it would certainly take a full-time army operation on our part.

We drove up to Seattle today, August 1st, and enjoyed some time at the Pike's Street Market (finding the originally Starbucks for Mary) before heading to the Space Needle for lunch. Good food and good company abounds this trip. I am very fortunate to be a Johnston and of Kinast lineage.

Next our adventures take us aboard Amtrak Train #8, the Empire Builder to East Glacier National Park. And then onto Chicago and home. August 7th at 4:10 am, it is my hope to be safely in my own bed.

For now, this ends my first Kinast blog post. Enjoy some pictures from our trip to supplement this posting.