By Beth Carpenter
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| Our train |
Have you ever noticed that the people who live in popular
vacation areas don’t always take advantage of the sightseeing opportunities
that tourists come from all over to see? Or maybe it’s just me.
We’ve lived in Anchorage since 1990, but it took a visit from my daughter and her boyfriend to inspire us to book a winter trip on the Alaska Railroad. We flew to Fairbanks on Saturday morning and took the train back on Sunday, a twelve-hour journey.
Compared to airplanes, train travel is laid-back and luxurious, with wide seats, legroom, and the ability to wander. It wasn’t quite up to the standards of one of my favorite Agatha Christie stories, Murder on the Orient Express, but then no one was murdered, either.
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| Yes I was glad to have the earflaps in Fairbanks |
The train wasn’t full, so we were able to move
up and claim a table at the front of the car where we played dominos while
watching the scenery go by. We had lunch in the dining car and beer from the
local breweries in the bistro car, and must have seen at least two dozen moose.
One moose was on the track, and we followed along behind him for a mile or so
until he decided to run down the hill.
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| Alaska Range |
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| View from train window. Those dots are moose. |
About halfway through the journey, the train route diverts
from the highway route and goes through country we’d never had a chance to see
before, and we found a surprising number of cabins along the railroad. We were
on a flagstop train, which means anyone along the tracks can flag, and the
train will stop. I think we collected around a dozen people along the route.
I’m certain one of these remote cabins will appear in one of my books in the
future.
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| Running for the train from a remote cabin in Alaska |
So what about you? Are there any local attractions where you
live that you’ve never seen?
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So true. We've gone to see art in New York City and Chicago, and even Ottawa, but the AGO here in Toronto? Never, and we've lived here now for 18 years. We tend to visit places in Toronto when people come to visit us and want to see them - just like you and your daughter visiting. We obviously need someone to visit who wants to go to the art gallery.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking cover!
Thanks. Maybe I'll have to come see you someday so we can both go.
DeleteYour train ride looks amazing! We pretty much "did" Chattanooga when we moved here but may get to show the kids around again this summer. Ditto sightseeing for me when I lived in NYC, but hubby, who was raised there, has never been to the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, etc. Love the Northern lights on your cover. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThank you. NYC is on my bucket list!
DeleteI just saw a program on PBS that featured train rides around America and I was impressed by how many there are and what beautiful places they pass through. I've done a couple of them in Arizona and one in Washington state. The one in Alaska looks like such fun. Thanks for the reminder that there are great things to do and see at home.
ReplyDeleteI've done the train from Chandler, Arizona. The views are great.
DeleteWhat fun! I've often thought a long train ride might be fun. You're inspiring me to go :)
ReplyDeleteThey are long, though. Anchorage to Fairbanks was a 45-minute flight and a 12-hour train ride back. But the scenery was amazing, and we were going slow enough to really see it.
DeleteI want to do a train ride! And as for sights around here, I guess Elvis' birthplace and Graceland in Memphis are two I've never done.
ReplyDeleteOoo, Graceland. I've heard its quite impressive.
DeleteWhat a very cool (yes, sad pun) trip, Beth. I love train trips too and the very best one I took to celebrate retirement was across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. It was fabulous and I went by myself, which was different but special, too. I love the cover of your new book - the Northern Lights are pretty special al well. As to local sights, can’t recall the last time I went up the CN Tower here. But I see it almost every day. Does that count?
ReplyDeleteI think that counts. My cousin did that Canadian railroad trip and the pictures were so amazing, I made up my mind to do it someday. Did you sleep in a sleeper car or stop at night?
DeleteA sleeper cabin all by myself. First class treat, gifted by my late father so the memories are all wrapped up in that. Food was wonderful and scenery breathtaking tho I think Alaska would far surpass.
DeleteOh, that sounds fabulous! And Alaska is beautiful, but Banff...
DeleteIt is so true! I lived in Florida for 16 years and never went to Disney!
ReplyDeleteRunning for the train - do people treat it like they would getting on a bus to go grocery shopping? Do they live "off the grid" (thinking of Jeannie Watt when she lived in Nevada).
For a book - a perfect set-up for forced proximity trope!
Those pictures are amazing.
Never went to Disney? Wow! We flew in with the kids from Alaska three or four times. Yes, they're off the grid - no running water and electricity is from generators. They use the train for transportation, but they only go once a week in winter, so not exactly grocery shopping.
DeleteCan I come visit you and will you do the train again? I grew up in Omaha, and my parents were not explorers, so except for when Dad filled in as a preacher at a small town, we didn't go much. I married, however, into an exploring family and my best friend (waving at Cathy) took me many places. I've probably explored 80% of Arizona.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd do it again with you. We've just started exploring Arizona. Haven't even made it to see London Bridge yet, but we've seen Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Natural Bridge, the area around Payson, and several other amazing places. Arizona has some wonderful sites. I still get excited about the saguaros north of Phoenix.
DeleteBeth, this looks like so much fun! Love your pics. My husband would like to take the train that goes all the way across a bunch of Canada someday - I think it's called The Great Western Way. I'm definitely up for it. Your cover is beyond beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I want to take that train, too. All us Heartwarmers should meet in Western Canada and take the train to Toronto to visit Harlequin, don't you think?
Deletelove the photo's, i like to read stories in Alaska, and love the heartwarming stories,
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patricia! I love them, too.
DeleteI had the memorable experience of riding the Super Chief from Williams, Arizona to Los Angeles. I lived on the South Rim of Grand Canyon for seventeen years. At age fourteen, I hiked across from South to North Rim with a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant. After that, I hiked it solo to the bottom and back many times. (I dated a girl who lived at the bottom.) Every time I hiked out, I wondered if love was worth it. Two weeks later, I'd be hiking down again.
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DeleteThat sounds like true love! Was that at Phantom Ranch? (typo in first reply)
DeleteFunny how we don't take advantage of what's around us. For example, this last weekend, Pamela Tracy was in my area and went to Kartchner Caverns. I've lived her for twelve years and have still never been there. Your Alaska adventures sound amazing! I'd love to go there some day.
ReplyDeleteDo! And I'll have to come see Kartchner Caverns.
DeleteI love traveling by train. There needs to be more luxurious train travel options in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%!! I was born and raised in NYC (Brooklyn), and didn’t leave until 2003, and yet I’m ashamed to tell you how many places I hadn’t been when I lived there. I do much better visiting as a tourist.
The cover of your upcoming books is lovely. Congratulations!
Thanks, Laurie!
DeleteGood for you! We did that trip through Denali. Yesterday I saw a tv spot about the Johnstown Inclined Plane and realized I've never gone. I just might do that this summer.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up the Johnstown Inclined Plane, and it looks amazing! You'll have to post pictures!
DeleteI live in a resort town with a lake that draws people from around the province. We sneak down for an hour or two at a time in the quiet of the evening, but there's another nearby lake where the locals hang out. Come fall, we get our lake back. Your cover is gorgeous, Beth, and I definitely see a remote cabin in your writing life...please?
ReplyDeleteI like lakes, and it's nice that you have a secret one for the locals. Yes, I don't have a plan yet, but I'm sure there will be a remote cabin in a book before too long.
DeleteMy niece lives in a village in Alaska. I'd love to be able to visit her before she retires and moves back home! I love the train story.
ReplyDeleteYou should! Village life is Alaska magnified. Does she teach? What village is she in?
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