It has been quite a long time since my last post here on my blog, so let me bring you up to speed on what has been going on in my travels! After last summer's trip on the Empire Builder from Seattle to Minneapolis and back to Portland, I have added only 343 miles to my Amtrak mileage total. This seems like quite a small amount considering I traveled nearly 4000 miles in 7 days last summer, but I'll take it!
The bulk of my mileage came from a trip I took last winter from Salem to Seattle on the Amtrak Cascades Route. It was a fairly routine trip, so I did not write a travelogue about it at the time. I was headed to Seattle so I could attend the Western International Band Clinic. When I was in high school I spent four years at WIBC in various honor bands, but it was a special treat to go for my first time as a director on the tenth anniversary of my first time being there. I was happy for the chance to add an Amtrak trip on to what was already a special occasion.
Sunday, 6:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time), 11/18/2012 – Salem, OR
I arrived at my home station in Salem at about 5:55 AM to catch the
Northbound Cascades Train 500 to Seattle. Around 6:30 AM, the station
dispatcher informed us that our train was stuck behind a freight train that had
stalled on the tracks and would be later than our scheduled departure time of
6:42 AM. Eventually, Union Pacific was able to get the stalled train moving
enough to get it into a siding, allowing our train to pass it. Unfortunately
this did cause us a delay, and we did not leave Salem until 7:13, running 31
minutes late. The rest of this trip was uneventful, and we ended up getting to
King Street Station in Seattle 10 minutes early, just after the beginning of
the Noon hour.
I will take a second to talk about King Street Station (KSS). The City
of Seattle has been doing extensive renovations on KSS since 2008 after buying
the building from the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad. The building
had fallen into neglect and disrepair over the years. After purchasing the
building, the City of Seattle undertook a 5 year, $55 million dollar project to
completely renovate the station and provide seismic upgrades for safety. Having
been finished in May 2013, the station now looks fantastic. The drop ceilings
that were added in the 1960s were removed and all of the original ceiling
panels were restored and painted, bringing them to their former glory. The
original 1906 light fixtures were restored. I have not been to Seattle since
the project was finished, but from what I saw in November, the station looks
amazing. You can see pictures of the newly-finished project and read about the
restoration by reading a recent article in the Seattle Times, located here.
After arriving in Seattle, I was met at the train station by my lovely
fiancé, Jessica. At the time, she was not my fiancé though...that came later! Jess was in Seattle
for a Social Studies teacher's conference, and I came to Seattle for a band
director's conference. I guess you can say we're a bit nerdy. :) Jess's
conference was ending on Sunday, and mine was going until Monday afternoon.
Since Jess had to return to Portland that evening and was on her way out of
town, we thought it'd be nice to spend a bit of time together. So, after
picking me up at the train station, Jess drove me to the hotel for the
convention and then proceeded on to Portland. I had a great time at the
convention, got to see a lot of old friends and hear some great music being
played by some very talented students. On Monday after the end of the
convention, I returned home to Oregon.
Now, everyone jump in their Deloreans...make sure your Flux Capacitor
is...fluxing...and fast forward with me eight months into the future!
It's June 2013, and Phluphfie is coming to town! (Well, as of now, he
already came and went. Sad times.) "Phluphfie", as it were, is
sometimes also known to go by the name of "Kevin Haggard"...but most
definitely always goes by the title "friend". Anyways, a few weeks
ago, Kevin got ahold of me to let me know he was making his way up from his
home in the 530 to my home in the 503. (If he ever lived here, I am positive he
would mix those area codes up for awhile. It's nearly impossible not to.) Phluphfie wanted to know if I was interested
in making a trip to Portland to watch a Portland Thorns match. Being a fanatic
about futbol and never having seen a professional game live, I gladly accepted
his generous offer. We even decided to take a train, which was even more
exciting! My dear friend is probably the only person I know who gets as excited
about the possibility of train travel as I do. For this particular trip, I'm
not going to write a travelogue; Phluphfie has already done it! So, dear
friends, I urge you to go and check out his blog. He has some funny, interesting and thought-provoking
insights which are definitely worth your time to read. You can find Phluphfie's
thoughts on our trip and much more by going to Phluphfie's Awesometastic Blog.
Until next time, Happy Travels!
The Musical Traveler
