Dec 25. Day 2. Chicago to Denver.

This is the 2nd day of the journey, aboard the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco. The California Zephyr is a Superliner train, a double decker train, bigger than the Shoreline Limited. Again, it has comfortable coach seating cars, sleeper cars, a sightseer lounge car with a cafe bar, and a dining bar. The big difference is the sightseer lounge, on the upper deck, with reclined seats and tables, and all around views from both sides of the car. You’d have a wonderful view of the scenery from both sides. The Chicago to Denver leg would be a precursor to more scenic views from Denver, Salt Lake, Sierra Nevada, Truckee, Sacramento – the last leg of the trip.

We left Chicago at 2PM CST. Checked in to our cabin, again a Roomette but this time without the private mini toilet and sink. Bathrooms – toilets and shower – are shared among passengers of each car. We have our cabin on the lower deck, close to the luggage and bathrooms area. I find this better than cabins on the upper deck because we have easier access to our luggage, and the shower. There is also a toilet room on the upper deck, but shower is just on the lower deck.

We checked out the sightseer lounge and it was really a nice place to hang out to have the most enjoyable view of the scenery as the train traverses its course.  We stayed there for a bit, and not long after, dinner reservations were announced. We made our reservation at 7:15PM.

Dinner is communal seating. You share the table with other passengers, with the idea of striking a conversation and exchanging stories just about everything. Our first night’s dinner on the California Zephyr was quiet, with our table mates preferring not to have a conversation with us. Works fine with us as we were also on the same side.

Menu options are the same, which is the downside of this trip. You have the same choices from the first day to the last day of your trip. But I’m not complaining. By the end of this trip we would be 10 lbs heavier.

We had salmon and enchiladas for dinner (they ran out of noodles).  Both were delicious. Opted to have the desserts to go, which we ate back in the cabin. The leftover desserts became the pre-breakfast food the next day.

Btw, we took shower in the afternoon before dinner. Each sleeper car has its own shower room for the passengers in that car. Coach passengers do not have this amenity, but I think with a little out-of-the-box thinking, they can find a way to have access to this and have a quick shower (not that I’m giving anyone any ideas).

I will end this post here. We’re still aboard the California Zephyr. Goodnight and see you again tomorrow.