{"id":5169,"date":"2012-07-19T01:08:34","date_gmt":"2012-07-19T07:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sixsuitcasetravel.com\/blog\/?p=5169"},"modified":"2021-11-09T16:14:19","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T23:14:19","slug":"traveling-60-hours-roundtrip-by-amtrak-with-a-family-of-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sixsuitcasetravel.com\/blog\/traveling-60-hours-roundtrip-by-amtrak-with-a-family-of-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling 60 Hours Roundtrip by Amtrak with a Family of 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Railroad<\/p>\n

Guest Post:<\/em><\/p>\n

This was an adventure from our home in Selah, Washington to my parents’ home in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. We’ve been looking forward to this trip for three years, and actively planning for six months.<\/p>\n

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\nWe purchased our tickets in January for the July trip. We had a “buy a full price fare receive 50% off up to 2 children” automatic fare discount. Worked great for us as that was our adult: child ratio. They have a sensible refund and re-schedule policy so we were confident booking that far in advance. With our round trip Empire Builder tickets from Pasco-WA to St. Cloud-MN purchased we began researching rental van options, baggage limitations, what to expect TSA-wise, what to bring food & entertainment suggestions, what the interior of the train looked like, & what “facilities” would be like.<\/p>\n

The rental van research was blessedly taken care of by my parents. They found Fromm’s Auto<\/a> in Mankato which had excellent rates. Mom picked us up from the train station and we drove to pick up the rental after depositing kids and hubby on the farm.<\/p>\n

Baggage policy per Amtrak website is located here: Amtrak – Baggage Policy<\/a>. We were boarding\/detraining at stations without checked bag service, the checked bags would in no way be secure as they are stowed on shelves on the lower level of the train car at the bottom of the stairs with no security. (Checked baggage traveling to\/from stations with baggage service, are stowed in baggage areas that are only accessible from outside of the car- thus more secure.) We opted for carry-on only.<\/p>\n

Baggage we brought:
\n6 suitcases
\n6- backpacks
\n1- Entertainment bag
\n1-Food bag
\n1-Water bag ($2.25\/bottle in the lounge)
\n1- med kit backpack<\/p>\n

This worked out really well for us as each traveler pulled their own & carried their personal bag plus the 2 olders and mom & dad each carried an extra bag.<\/p>\n

With the luggage packed into\/onto our van we headed out to the Amtrak station with MapQuest directions, which took us NOT to the station. Then we asked for directions at two separate stations whose directions took us all over Pasco except the train station. Mom experienced the same in St Cloud. When we finally found the station, we parked in long term parking & headed inside. I presented my computer reservation printout to the attendant and was given both sets of tickets. We waited about 15 minutes for the train. Good to be there a little early. The trains may be running late, but, if they\u2019re on time\u2026 they won\u2019t hold the train for you.<\/p>\n

There were NO baggage or personal searches at the stations we boarded\/detrained – they were not even set up for this. I did see a TSA line at the West Glacier, MT boarding point, but that appeared to be totally unobtrusive- just a “do-you-have-anything-to-declare” type question with no metal detector, wanding, groping going on. Boarding and detraining were all about getting on and off the train quickly, efficiently to keep the train on schedule. (National Park Rangers also boarded and narrated\/Q&A us through Glacier National Park.)<\/p>\n

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Coach seats aren\u2019t reserve-able and you\u2019re not guaranteed a seat with your travelling party. The conductors make EVERY effort to allow travelling companions to sit together-especially with minors, but sometimes it\u2019s not possible. When we boarded in Pasco this was not an issue, however, boarding in St Cloud this was. The conductor assigned us to two pairs of seats together with the other two in the same section of the same car until morning (we boarded just after midnight) when other passengers detrained. If this is something you are not willing to deal with, you may want to reconsider train travel or reserve a sleeping car (see Amtrak.com<\/a> for sleeping car info).<\/p>\n

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Train travel is similar to coach bus travel with wider reclining seats, plenty of legroom, a wider aisle, a standard outlet per pair of seats and several airline-sized bathrooms (and one or two handicapped accessible ones) in the basement. You can get up and walk around as you please moving from car to car (but not in the sleeping car). There is the observation car which has caf\u00e9 booths and several seats facing the windows. Below the observation car is the lounge caf\u00e9 with booths. In the lounge, they sell hot and cold food items as well as assorted beverages (including wine & beer) a la cart. The temperature was moderate, got a little warmer during the day and a little cooler at night. We wore summer clothes & flip flops to kick off in our seats and were thankful for the sweaters and travel blanket for night time.<\/p>\n

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People from all walks of life ride the train and for different reasons, so it’s an interesting mix of travel companions. There were Amish, Mennonite, Muslims, college kids, senior citizens, many different races, colors, creeds, orientations. Our trip there, we were seated right behind a group of 25 4-H\u2019ers from Michigan returning from a month of exchange with another club. On the way back almost an entire car was full of baby boomers on a train-travelling tour with a travel agency. With all the differences (& similarities-since most of us are like the rest of us) riding Amtrak was definitely a slice of American pie.<\/p>\n

We had an AWESOME trip\u2026 we would definitely do it again!<\/p>\n

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P.S What was there to do in the Sleepy Eye, MN<\/a> area?<\/p>\n