Today's Post Is Brought to You By the Number 343!

Hello, Dear Readers!

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