Thursday Thirteen and Friday Family Photo

Yes, I know it's Sunday, but it is also the 5th anniversary this week of our Amtrak trip to California in 2003, 16 days and 16 states. We parked our car in Toledo and traveled to Chicago with a special $6.50 ticket, cheaper than lunch. From there, it was on to Flagstaff, visiting the Grand Canyon, on to California for 5 days with the Bruce family to celebrate my father-in-law's 90th birthday, on up the coast, for a stay over Labor Day at Glacier Lodge (fires prevented us from seeing much), then back to Toledo and Lakeside. The only one of the 16 states I didn't "see" was Idaho because I was asleep.
At the Fullerton, CA train stationWith our fabulous hostess, sister Kate, in reflection, here we are ready to head for Glacier National Park. Yes, we did go 16 days with only this luggage, 2 carry-ons each. I'm wearing the 21 year old khakis I wrote about in the broken zipper entry here. I started this blog about a month after we returned, so I don't think I've talked much about that trip, but here are Thirteen Things worth remembering.

1. Best overall event: Visiting with the Bruce family for 5 days in California 2. Most emotional: Seeing the four Bruce siblings together with their Dad 3. Best views: Riding through Glen Canyon on a pontoon boat 4. Best restaurant meal: Khoury's in Long Beach with Aunt Dorothy, my dad's sister 5. Best train ride: Pacific Starlight, through California, Oregon, Washington 6. Best tour guide: Billy with "Over the Road" tours in Flagstaff 7. Most disappointing: Fires and smoke at Glacier National Park; we experienced but didn't see McDonald Lake, Going to the Sun Road, the Continental Divide, and Two Medicine Lakes 8. Biggest surprise: Meeting former members of our church, UALC, on the Glacier Lodge porch 9. Best value: Upgrade to sleeper on Empire Builder 10. Biggest blessing I missed: I thought he was a drunk cowboy on the train and ignored him, but later learned otherwise 11. Most never-before-eaten fruit: Huckleberries are ubiquitous around Glacier 12. Biggest scenery change: Western Montana and Eastern Montana, like a plumb line 13. Most destructive government program observed: cradle to the grave government care and disincentives for Native Americans; environmental regs for not removing dead trees and brush were a close second (fires)