Day 2 - Into the Mountains

If I’m honest, it wasn’t a great night sleep.  It was a bit bumpier than I was expecting.  A few times, I felt like I might roll out of bed.  LOL.  

We woke up in Denver with the mountains in the distance.  I was up pretty early so I went out on the platform for a short walk during our longer than usual stop.  

Once back on board, Tyler and I headed to breakfast and enjoyed a nice warm meal. 

We were just leaving Denver as we finished up, so we headed to the observation car for the ride up into the mountains.  So glad we did!  Lots to see as we zigzagged up the mountain… animals, tunnels, cliffs, etc.  It was beautiful.

After quite a while, we headed back to our room to give someone else a chance at the coveted seats.  We settled in to watch a movie but within 30 mins I was struggling to keep my eyes open.  So, I took a nap… at 10 am.  (Love this train living).  Tyler hung out quietly while I slept for 2 hours!  

It was lunchtime when I woke up so we headed back to the dining car for a burger and loaded baked potato.  

The train engineer for this leg was pretty chatty which made it kinda fun.  He’d point out wildlife and share details about the area when we’d stop.  At one point we slowed down for a stretch and he came on to let us know there was a moose running ahead of us on the tracks and as she moved off to the side told us where to look to spot her.  Very cool!

We finished the movie that afternoon and enjoyed the changing scenery as we reached the plateaus of western Colorado and then into the beautiful terrain of Utah.

In Grand Junction, CO we had a little longer stop and the engineer recommended we visit the gift shop.  We took advantage of the time to take a picture on the platform with the train.  However, without our knowing the train conductors stepped back on board and closed all the doors.  We literally ran to our car and pounded on the door… no luck.  But thankfully another conductor saw us in before the train pulled away.  Phew!

For supper, I chose the steak again and Tyler had another burger.  The train is NOT very full.  So the staff is giving us very personalized service.  Its been fun to use first names with people onboard.

Once the sun set, we packed up our bags and just relaxed for the last few hours on the train.  

We pulled into Salt Lake City around 10:45 pm.  Exited the train and waited just 10 mins for our Uber driver who took us the 10 min drive to our hotel.  Check in was smooth and I was in bed shortly after 11:30pm.  I know we will sleep well tonight!