Trip Report: October 5 through 14, 2002
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
THREE WEEKS BY LAND AND BY SEA
DAY ONE: KLAMATH FALLS TO EUGENE
October 5, 2002
Do most train riders enjoy cruising, too? As travelers who no longer leave the surface of the earth, we do! Holland America and Carnival Cruises think so too, as they are currently offering a whopping 25% discount on both rail and accommodations fare in a cooperative venture with Amtrak for cruise passengers who take the train to their port of embarkation.
We've written quite a few Amtrak tickets on this unprecedented discount rate, and now it's time for us to venture onto a big cruise ship again.
Yes, Accent on Travel USA books cruises, as well as rail/cruise combinations. Our clients usually request the five-star Holland America Lines. Our last cruise with the company was on the then-new Ryndam in 1995. Since then, we've toured a new class of ship, the Zaandam, in Vancouver (see our trip report of May 2002) which whetted our appetite for another cruise.
As usual, Sylvia is putting the finishing touches on a new order even as it's time to head for the Amtrak station. (Coincidentally, this client is doing a combination of Amtrak, an Alaska cruise, and VIA Rail Canada for next summer.) Ted insists that the Coast Starlight won't wait for us this morning. Due, apparently, to the dock workers lockout out on the Pacific Coast, there are fewer freight trains on the UP; thus #14 is due to arrive early into Klamath Falls.
The Pacific Parlour Car is missing from the consist today. We drop our bags in Standard Bedroom 14 on the 1430 car and head for breakfast in the dining car. The usual exclusively-for-first-class Pacific Parlour Car has been replaced by a Superliner I Café/Lounge car today. Attendant Larry explains that two of the vintage Pacific Parlour Cars are out of service; one with a broken spring.
"But they're working on them," he assures us. "They were built in the early 1950s for Santa Fe's El Capitan and have millions of miles under their wheels. Amtrak's policy of deferred maintenance has caught up with them."
Upper Klamath Lake is as smooth as glass as we speed along its eastern shore. There is just a hint of yellow in the trees; fall foliage is late this year due to the warm autumn weather. After only five hours of sleep last night, we take turns napping in the upper bunk instead of enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Cascades.
We arrive on time in Eugene, our first stopover. We wheel our luggage a block to the Hilton. This evening, after an excellent meal at the nearby Oregon Electric Station, we're seated by 8pm in intimate Soreng Theater of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, next door to the Hilton. Here we enjoy a performance of shorter orchestral works of Debussy, Schumann, and Mozart, played by the Oregon Mozart Players. It is the first concert of the 2002-2003 series, and the last appearance of its conductor of five years, Andrew Massey, who has composed a brief piece to open the concert, titled Very Early in the Morning.
Continue to Next Page
