VIA Rail: Day One

The champagne flowed in the dome of the Park Car as the train rolled out of Vancouver Station at 8:30 p.m. We enjoyed the nighttime view as the train crept through the city under a nearly full moon and were later rocked to sleep by the steady motion.

We arrived in Vancouver without incident and met my dad and Liz, who arrived over an hour ahead of us, at the airport. We took a cab to the train station to check our luggage, then the Skytrain two stops to Granville Street to do some banking, have lunch, and stock up on liquor for the road, er, I mean rail. We made a brief tour of Stanley Park and enjoyed drinks and an early dinner at the Fish House overlooking the bay and the sunset. The bus delivered us back at the station in plenty of time to enjoy the Silver and Blue lounge prior to boarding the train.

We always try to give still-valid bus passes to needy passengers and got "Ay, I have a dog, ay," as a response to the first offer--translated to mean, "How the fuck am I going to use that? I have a dog!" A moment later, though, we heard, "Ay, thanks, ay!"

We awoke this morning when the train stopped in Kamloops in the still-dark pre-dawn. We had breakfast in the dining car with a retired couple from Arkansas. He was a defense attorney for part of his career, so he and Scott had lots to talk about. Many Southerners on the train including a woman about my age who is a prosecutor in Aniston, Alabama, traveling with her mother. Two older gentlemen from Rome, Georgia brought back a lot of college memories.

We spent much of the day in the dome when we could get seats, enjoying the view as we approached the Rockies. We were a bit disappointed to arrive in Jasper 40 minutes early.

Here are some shots from today's journey. Tomorrow we drive the Icefields Parkway to Banff. Monday we'll cross country ski at Maligne Lake before getting back on the train to continue across the prairie to Toronto.