Amtrak Giveth...

Trying to figure out my food needs, I went to the Amtrak website and actually read their information. Lo and behold, the price of the trip includes all meals. D'oh! Three a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tips, however, are another matter and apparently fodder for conversation out on the web. Now where are my brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Ellen, when I need them? On a cruise, of course, where they probably solved this issue many years ago. I'm reminded of my first trip to Hollywood in the late 70s when I worked for NBC. Of course I had to stay at the pink palace -- the Beverly Hills Hotel where I became fascinated by the etiquette of  tipping the valet parkers. I discovered if I gave the kids a buck, they would take it and walk away (hey, a buck meant a lot in 1977... at least I thought so), leaving me standing next to an open car door. Two bucks got me a nod but the same cold shoulder. It took a $5 bill to get them to hold the door open, wait for me to get in and then close the door behind me. I guess that's how valet attendants train their hotel guests. I suspect the same will be true aboard the Southwestern Chief...

Amtrak Taketh Away...

Then I clicked on the tab, "Journey with WiFi" which provided a list of all the Amtrak trains that have wifi service. Acela? Check. Amtrak Cascades? Check. Ethan Allen Express? Check. Illinois Zephyr? Check. But nowhere on the list was the Southwestern Chief listed. 

Wait, what? I'm supposed to go three days and three nights with no internet? OMG. But then I thought, 'Okay, that's a royal pain in the ass, but at least my telephone is a hot link.' But here we need a minor digression. Y'know all those cell phone service ads? The ones that promise "98% coverage...95% coverage..." Well, take a look at one of those coverage maps.

See all those blank places with no coverage? Now look at the route map of the Southwestern Chief. 

Apparently, the purple spots along the route are the towns we'll be stopping at. Which means I need to pre-plan what I want to download, review, read, etc. -- and then get seven to ten minutes at each stop to identify the local wifi, make a connection, agree to terms and download what I'll need. Okay, I can do this...BUT in the meantime, I've spent the afternoon downloading digital books from the Fairfield Public Library. Onward!