Chicago was the first leg of our California Zephyr trip. Robin and I met at the Atlanta airport on Friday July 7th for a 2:30 flight to Chicago. It was a fairly short flight and we flew first class so we could have a little more leg room.

All I could think about after getting to the Chicago airport was where the nearest bathroom was, but it took Robin about 20 seconds to see the Lego vending machine. It was hard, but I did convince to use the restroom first.

After checking into our room at the Hampton Inn in downtown Chicago we took Uber to Gino’s Italian restaurant for their, must have, deep dish pizza. It was a beautiful evening, low 70’s, and we got a table outside along the sidewalk. It was fun talking and just watching all the different people walking by. Our server recommended an appetizer since the deep dish takes 40 minutes – so we did. Thirty minutes later our server comes up and says the kitchen lost our appetizer order and that she was rushing it through. Ten minutes later when she brings our appetizer she informs us, that she forgot to enter our pizza order and she was rushing it. Our server was upset with herself she comped our entire meal, which was nice but Robin and I didn’t care because we sipping a beer enjoying ourselves.

Saturday morning in Chicago was cool and overcast – with rain predicted. We decided to go to the Field Museum of Natural History and what a treat. We spent a little over 6 hours at the museum and saw these exhibits – Evolving Planet, Dinosaurs, Sue the T. Rex, Fossil Prep Lab, Meteorites, Gems, and Geology.

We also saw a special exhibit on life’s greatest mystery: Death. The ways that we experience death, celebrate life, and wonder about what’s next are part of what makes us human— yet it’s also a subject we often push aside. At the Field Museum’s newest exhibition, you can explore perspectives on death and life through culture, science, and art.

Before heading over to the Union Station on Sunday we made a short visit to Millennium Park. Millennium Park is a 24.5 acre public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago near the Lake Michigan shoreline. The park opened in 2004 intended to celebrate the third millennium and features a variety of public art.

It was January pf 2023 when I decided I wanted to take a train adventure and started to do some research. Robin had traveled on the western section of the California Zephyr and suggested that might be a good trip – Chicago to Emeryville, CA. After doing my research I bought my ticket on a sleeper car in February – departure date of July 9th. Shortly after buying my ticket Robin said he wanted to go and then, of course, Greta didn’t want to be left out so she hopped on the train when we pulled into the Denver station on Monday morning. Many life things happened from February, when I bought the ticket to July. Robin started a new job with the National Park Service in Macon, GA, bought a house, sold a house and moved – all in May to July 7. Greta spent an epic two weeks in France and got home just a before the train rolled into Denver. This wonderful trip had three distinct parts; Chicago, Amtrak and Camel Valley and it was so much fun spending time with Robin and Greta.

Sunday morning, just before noon is when Robin and I decided to head down to Union Station in Chicago for our 2PM departure on the California Zephyr train to Emeryville CA, just out side San Francisco. Our hotel was only a couple of blocks away, but we wanted extra time to see the fabulous Union Station.

The present Chicago Union Station opened in 1925, replacing an earlier union station built in 1881. The station is the fourth-busiest in the United States, after the Pennsylvania, Grand Central Terminal and Jamaica station in New York City, and the busiest outside the Northeast Corridor. It handles about 140,000 passengers on an average weekday, including 10,000 Amtrak passengers.

The Amtrak person at the check-in station recommend checking one or both of our bags because the roomettes were small and our wouldn’t fit. She said there was a small luggage hold area in each car, but it tended to get full quickly. We decided to pull a few items from my bag, put them in Robin’s bag and check mine. Amtrak had a very nice lounge where we could store our luggage and enjoy some snacks and drinks while we waited for the train.

Our roomette was on the upper level, which in my opinion offered better views. The stairs were very narrow and steep. The dining car and observation car were both located on the upper level. Each car had a bathroom located on the upper level but, the showers were on the lower level.

Sleeping was a little tight in the roomette for two adults – there wasn’t enough to sit upright on the top bunk, which made it feel a little claustrophobic.

A few images as we followed the Colorado river.