#elpaso tx

[vintagewhiteline]

V A G U E / kyle odom / 

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GIL SMELLS LIKE FISH CO.

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TODAY MY FRIEND DID WESTGATE GAP.

[fleetingadventures]

Amtrak

Around Thanksgiving our family took a trip out to California. After some thought and discussions we decided to have an adventure and we took a 36 hour Amtrak ride from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles, California. The format on this post may be a little weird as I am going to break it down into station reviews and train review. 

Amtrak station in Austin, Texas: This station is small and dusky. There are bathrooms and vending machines available in the waiting area so that is a plus but they are run down. The inside of the station though is very small - maybe 20 people can sit inside. Outside though they have some covered seating which helps. The day we left there were lots of storms and we quickly learned that we did not like not having a covered walkway to the train. Once we got on the train we were completely soaked; we also saw our luggage sitting in the rain for a bit too (luckily all of our clothing was stored in ziplock bags so our clothes were dry! 

Amtrak station El Paso, Texas: We only stepped off the train for a moment here so not many thoughts on it. It did look nice though, or at least the building. It was not covered though and the train station was farther back to the tracks than the one in Austin (which is literally right next to the tracks). It does have a pretty large outdoor area though thats gated off that looks nice. One downside to this station though is there are no stores nearby. 

Amtrak station Tucson, Arizona: This was a pretty decent sized station and it was really nice. They had nice large bathrooms, vending machines that even took credit cards, and a large waiting area. To the end of the waiting area they even have a few pieces of Railroad History - an old switchboard; the kids enjoyed checking this out. There is a restaurant/deli directly next door to this station however it closes around 8pm so if the train is running late you miss out. Other than this store there is not to much nearby for a fast meal. Also, walking to the train is covered or at least mostly covered to avoid rain! 

Amtrak station Los Angeles, California: Union Station in Los Angeles is gorgeous, and huge. Completely enclosed so no getting wet in the rain - nor will your luggage. Large bathrooms, plenty of food shops around, rental cars on site as well. This being a large station though (and not just an Amtrak station) it gets very busy with many many people. Due to the crowds it was hard to even get into the restroom but there is plenty of seating. 

We rode coach so the seats were not very comfy to sleep in but they were doable. Coach seats recline a decent amount, have a headrest, and a foot stool - bring a blanket and pillow and your pretty set to sleep. However, if your on the inside of the seats it can be difficult to get over your neighbor; and if your on the outside you may be woken up a few times during the night due to your neighbor. We did like that there was a fold out table though and an electric plugin for every group of seats. Luggage? Well, you can throw your carry ons up top or you can check your bags depending on your stops (we checked some bags). The train is two levels and has quite a few cars. The top levels are where the majority of the coach seats are, some of the rooms, the restaurant, and the viewing cars. The bottom levels have rooms, bathrooms, luggage storage, cafe car, and staff only areas. Most people spend most of their time upstairs and these are the cars where you can walk back and forth between the train cars. 

So what do you do about food while on the train? Well, you are aloud to bring any food onto the train as you wish - they actually say a small amount for each person but they do not check anything at all when you board or after. We brought a small suitcase full of different snacks and treats; we had cookies, chips, chicken/tuna salad kits, muffins, granola bars, and crackers. Amtrak also has both a cafe car and restaurant on long distance trains. We decided to try the restaurant car for breakfast our first morning on the train. We chose breakfast for two reasons - one we were hungry, two it was the cheapest of the three meals. Breakfast cost us about $10 per person where as lunch or even dinner would have cost us upwards of $30 a person. For breakfast the kids had french toast and the rest of us had eggs, bacon, and toast. The food was not awesome but it was not horrible; service was decent but once again not great. The cafe car we visited a few times for some drinks during the day as we had run out of water. Now from the description online I assumed it was cooked food but more like what you get at ball games or amusement parks; I was wrong. This food is literally food heated up in the microwave from a convenience store and canned sodas sold at ridiculous prices. When we found this out we were a little bit more disappointed but we were not worried as we already had plans for lunch and dinner. Our plans for lunch went through and James' sister was able to drop us off some McDonalds when we stopped off in El Paso (she luckily had just moved there literally weeks before). Our dinner plans though were to go to the restaurant in Tucson next to the train station; this stop was scheduled for one hour and it should not have been a problem. Well, remember all that rain in Austin before we left? It put the train behind by 2 hours which meant we got to Tucson 1 hour late and so the stop was dropped to 30 minutes and the restaurant was closed before we got there. Due to this issue we all just snacked and ate some food from the cafe car. 

The restrooms on the train were not horrible and some were a decent size where you could change in them or even have an adult and child in one restroom together. The train also had areas with water fountains so people could refill bottles if they wish. This would come in handy at nighttime when both the restaurant and cafe car are closed. Amtrak doesn't have wifi on most trains but our cell reception was not horrible. We would lose service in a few remote area's but not often. The sightseeing car was also pretty interesting. It is full of top to bottom windows, seats that face toward the windows, and tables for groups. We enjoyed grabbing a table and playing a few games to pass by but these tables are hard to come by. Most people wake up early, grab a table, and just sit there all day long. Actually, most seats in this car are hard to come by so we didn't spend very much time here and instead spent more time in our own seats napping! We did enjoy seeing many of the sites pass us by though even though it was mostly desert. 

Would we ever take an Amtrak ride again? YES! We all enjoyed it very much. However, we would make some important changes though. We would get a family room no matter the cost. These rooms include all meals, everyone gets a bed with provided blankets and pillows, access to showers, and its an area to get away from everyone else on the train. We would also make a trip up north where there is more to see other than farm and desert land. Overall though we had a great time and enjoyed our trip!