Friday in Vancouver
We arose before dawn to make our way to King Street Station in order to catch the Amtrak train to Vancouver on Friday morning. The scenery was spectacular, as the sun rose and we sped along the shoreline. Patches of frost and snow ran right up to the water, tendrils of fog draped across the trees and mountains, eventually clearing to reveal blue skies and dramatic cloudbanks. It was a very, very pleasant trip...
...right up until we crossed the border into Canada and got stuck behind a 98-car freight train moving at 17 miles per hour. After about an hour of creeping along, we stopped altogether because the freight had triggered an alarm that alerted them they might be dragging equipment or have an axel overheating or a break failur or some other such potential calamity. After an hour or so was spent checking the length of the freight train, they finally got underway and we were able to move into a position to pass them, when we stopped again. This time because some jerk had decided to go off-roading and tried to cross the tracks only to get his car stuck with wheels off the ground. We were forced to wait what seemed an interminable time for a tow truck to make its way to where the car was stranded and remove him. We rolled into Vancouver almost exactly three hours late.
Luckily, we were booked at a comfortable hotel with a glorious view and we were able to immediately check ourselves in, relax for a couple of hours, and refresh ourselves before our scheduled dinner and evening out.
...right up until we crossed the border into Canada and got stuck behind a 98-car freight train moving at 17 miles per hour. After about an hour of creeping along, we stopped altogether because the freight had triggered an alarm that alerted them they might be dragging equipment or have an axel overheating or a break failur or some other such potential calamity. After an hour or so was spent checking the length of the freight train, they finally got underway and we were able to move into a position to pass them, when we stopped again. This time because some jerk had decided to go off-roading and tried to cross the tracks only to get his car stuck with wheels off the ground. We were forced to wait what seemed an interminable time for a tow truck to make its way to where the car was stranded and remove him. We rolled into Vancouver almost exactly three hours late.
Luckily, we were booked at a comfortable hotel with a glorious view and we were able to immediately check ourselves in, relax for a couple of hours, and refresh ourselves before our scheduled dinner and evening out.
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