Day Two

Woke up  this morning feeling well rested, turned out being small has its perks. I was able to comfortably curl up on the two empty seats next to us and sleep just fine.  Granny informed me shortly after we got up that she went down to the washroom to brush her teeth and "touch up her mascara" at one in the morning. I recall her doing a similar thing the day of safari in Africa! Oh Granny, you keep me guessing!

 

Our farthest venture so far was to get coffee and hot chocolate this morning to complete our breakfast! Today's menu consisted of muffins and laughing cow cheese all the way from Alberta, Canada. Part of the train that is known as the "lounge" has big windows and a glass roof (nothing like the trains on Indiana Jones) so we could really take in the unique landscapes of Oregon as we passed through. We saw large vineyards and orchards, small farm communities located on large hillsides, two large dams that provided a beautiful view, a tug boat that Granny quite enjoyed seeing, numerous tunnels and huge cliffs. The landscape itself is keeping the two of us entertained!
 

 

At 10:30 am we arrived in Portland, Oregon where we had a four hour layover till our next train. We have now been through three states - Montana, Washington and Oregon. We are currently sitting in Starbucks in Portland wasting some time and observing the people! We have another night on the train tonight but this time we get a "sleeper" so I am sure Granny and I will make that another adventure!  Details tomorrow.

 

We took a few minutes to enjoy a drink and use the Internet to contact people back home and then decided to carry on, exploring the area. Eventually we found ourselves on the waterfront path. It was a beautiful day here, everyone was wearing shorts and tank tops except for us! Granny decided she felt like some Chinese so we went to "old town" to find some! The place was empty besides us and two other people, which was so reassuring as "old town" appeared to live up to its name! The food was good despite my doubts. We ordered way too much and felt bad for wasting so much.  So we asked for some take out boxes and filled them up. We weren't sure how to politely approach the many street people we passed but when a young fella approached us for money for the paper he gladly accepted the food and we were glad to see some enjoy our extra.

Once loaded back on the train (this time enjoying the luxury of a sleeper), we dropped our stuff and headed to the lounge to read and hangout and see what we could see.  This is the life!