Destination Pasco

We waited there on the landing while the bridge rotated back to its resting place. Then our train arrived at 5:14. I was pacing the landing with my leather back pack on my back. There was a guy who had told me the restroom code in the station. He was on the same train and out on the landing he took his helpfulness as a welcome to engage in conversation. I listened to his stories well enough to remember nothing and went on to my pacing and waiting to get the shots I wanted, especially one of the train arriving. I did feel bad for not engaging the guy more but he found other distractions pretty quick and I let go of that.

It was my first time on the train and had no idea about the check in process. My ticket was in the Amtrak app on my phone and that's all I knew. By 5:15 the first uniformed person I'd seen appeared outside the train. A line began to form where we had our codes scanned as we entered the train one by one. I politely let an elderly lady in bad health go in front of me in line.

Stepping on the train, there was the downstairs with some people sitting at tables. My ticket was for upstairs as was the aformentioned lady. One might have thought she was working as hard as giving birth the way she labored her bag behind her one step at a time. There was no practical way to help her move faster so I looked around at the structure and finishes of the stairwell and worked my way up one slow step at a time.

In the seating area there was another person assigning seats to each of us once we reached the second floor. By chance I was seated on the left side of the train. There was a 50/50 chance and I didn't get the 50 I was hoping for and asked if I was stuck there. Then I was told that they had a very full train and it was necessary for them to assign our seats. That was a lie and I just let it go. At that point I decided to just make the best of it and see whatever I could see. It was disappointing but I decided not to let it get me down at the very beginning of my adventure.

It was at least Fishers Landing before I learned that there was another car with big windows and open seating. The windows were dirty and beat up but the views and the comfort in that car made me realize that my seat did not really matter on this trip. I finally went back to it a few minutes before we arrived in Pasco.

Most people on the train put their stuff up in the wide open overhead bin or on their seat. I clutched my bag and kept it with me the entire time. I could not get the story out of my mind. When I was maybe 5 or 7 years old my mom went out of town to visit her friend Catherine in Olympia. The only thing I remember about her trip was that she had her purse and wallet stolen by the passenger beside her. So on my train trip up river I was on high alert. It appeared that I was the only one thinking that way and on the way back I was slightly more relaxed about that.

I was mesmerized by the scenes I could see as we pulled through Vancouver and then the mill in Camas then on through Washougal. It wasn't until we hit the gorge until I thought to pull my camera back out. One of the places I really looked forward to experiencing was going through the tunnel at Cape Horn. It was longer than I'd imagined and the air in the train felt slightly more pressurized.