Dec 26. Day 3. Denver to Utah.

We woke up in Denver, Colorado, MST. Had an extra hour of sleep because of the region and time  change. This would be the start of the scenic views of the journey.

Breakfast. Went to the dining area and had our names on the list. This time, we were joined by Chris and Will, mother and son, doing a skiing trip from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Since I’ve known their names, you should’ve figured that we had some conversation with them. In fact we had an extended interaction with them after breakfast since we both ended up in the same table in the lounge car. The lounge car was crowded this time.  We spent most of the time with Chris and Will in the lounge car. They taught us a card game I’d given a name slap-jack (can’t recall the real name of the game). We enjoyed the company with them.

Lunch was around 1PM. This time with Saurabh and company (sorry, I forgot her name), 2 Indian IT folks from Chicago. It turned out they were doing the same kind of train adventure from Chicago to San Francisco.

Jackie and I spent the afternoon back in the lounge car, playing a variant of Rummy card game, while enjoying the scenery. Had a great time this afternoon. It’s better to describe the scenery with pictures. I’ll try to include some here.

We made an early dinner reservation – 6:15PM. This time we’re with the company of Mary and Brandon, a grandmother and grandson. Just like the other table companions we had before, it was a pleasant and enjoyable experience. We were informed by the dining crew that they had ran out of salmon as well. We had salisbury steak and chicken for dinner.  Delicious, but we would have preferred the salmon and the pad thai noodles.

After dinner, we went back to the cabin. Played some more card games while having the desserts. Asked Dennis, our wonderful cabin attendant, to set up our beds when we took the shower. Tucked in a little earlier than usual, getting ready for the last day of the journey.

I will end today’s entry here. Tomorrow will be another scenic ride to Emeryville, the final stop of this train trip.

Once again, good night and see you tomorrow.