Heartland for Independence Day

[playwithit]

A friend and I jumped a train in Martinez and headed for Omaha. It was a blast.

Here's the pictures.
Disclaimer: Pictures taken through the window of a moving Amtrak Train by a drunk passenger.

All aboard!

My bud Mark

Be prepared

California Sierras

Donner Lake

Truckee River

Reno

Saw this in Sparks (burnt out Amtrak Car hit by 18 wheeler last month. Added a little adventure!

 

[playwithit]

Hot air balloons over Salt Lake City

The SLC Light Rail. I helped design the train control system for the new line installed prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The rest of Utah.

Here's the Green River. It like all the others are high and flooding over there banks in many areas. This delayed our train's arrival by 5 hours.

 

[playwithit]

I have a hundred awesome (I think) pictures of the mountains in Utah. You only get to see a handful.

I spy a XJ.

Flooding

 

[playwithit]

On to Colorado.

The Colorado River (flooded)

I spy a XJ.

 

[playwithit]

The Rocky Mountains

A tunnel, one of 28 including a 6.2 mile, the longest train tunnel in the US.

The phone shows 9059', but we were told we reached 9250'.

Slide fence to detect falling rocks.

A few heading up the Rocky Mountain grade leaving Denver.

 

[playwithit]

Nebraska

Lincoln, NE

Where we stayed in Omaha (Friends family's house)

The fireworks were awesome. Legal and everywhere.

Went to a strip joint in Iowa (no pictures). Bring your own beer. I found out the hard way they don't allow touching there either (or licking as my friend found out).

Great time.

 

[SeansXJ]

post that XJ in the Colorado chapter..bet its someone on the board lol...

 

[JOSEJALAPENO]

Wow Kelly, that looks like a sweet trip & some awesome picks!! Thanks for posting them...

 

[Bryan C.]

Cool pics, thanks for posting them up.

 

[hiimmred]

Nice Kelly! My folks are from Nebraska and I lived there for awhile when I was 16. I worked with my uncle building pole barns out in the fields.

 

[connor0770]

Nice Kelly! My folks are from Nebraska and I lived there for awhile when I was 16. I worked with my uncle building pole barns out in the fields.

How come all the nebraska pictures were blank? I didnt see anything?

 

[hiimmred]

How come all the nebraska pictures were blank? I didnt see anything?

That's exactly how I remember it.

 

[XJensen]

Looked like fun. How many days did it take to get back there?

I stopped off in Omaha on my drive back to Maine last year. It took 3 days to get there with my Grandparents.

 

[playwithit]

Looked like fun. How many days did it take to get back there?

I stopped off in Omaha on my drive back to Maine last year. It took 3 days to get there with my Grandparents.

It was a blast. Meals were really good. Shower on board. Iphone playing a mix of blues and rock. Took a bottle of tequila and a case and a half of beer. Arrived blatter full and ice chest empty.

Timetable said 40 hours, with delays 46 hours.

 

[JOSEJALAPENO]

It was a blast. Meals were really good. Shower on board. Iphone playing a mix of blues and rock. Took a bottle of tequila and a case and a half of beer. Arrived blatter full and ice chest empty.

Timetable said 40 hours, with delays 46 hours.

Now that sounds like a great time!