Train station at Grand Junction, Colorado.
One of my favorite spots in Grand Junction, Colorado was the Museum of the West. There were plenty of interactive things for children and my son loved climbing on the Cessna, boarding the stage-coach, and sitting in the school room. We ate our lunch at the top of the tower. It was warmer than expected and we could sit fairly comfortably looking out over the country town to the mountains. Unfortunately, in the winter many things shut down, so it isn’t always possible to view the wild horses or to horseride in the area. Also, exploring without a car posed some issues. Nevertheless, we enjoyed walking round the town and examining the abundance of sculptures which lined the main street.
We finally made our way back to the station where we had strict instructions not to walk onto the platform until the train came to a halt. Once out of the station, the beautiful sun on the red rock reminded me of Sedona.
Utah was flatter and the sunset, seen from the dining car, was spectacular. We slept better than before, propably due to the clocks changing and a general sense of familiarity. Nevada, from the train looked similar to Utah in landscape, although we did see some Casino signs, which we hadn't observed previously. Some of the areas I could see from the train reminded me of the Peruvian Andes, especially the first part of California near the river. The trees in the Sierra Nevada ("snowy mountain range") reminded me of Norther Arizona and we passed many ski slopes.
As we approached Sacramento we were removed from our "room" sooner than we wished and we waited near the train door. The view from the door window was quite different from the previous day. There was green grass, no snow and palm trees. We arrived at the Emeryville station and the bus took us across the bridge to the downtown area. Since we were the last people on the bus, and we had 7 bags, the driver took us directly to our hotel. That evening, with train legs, I rested, then we went for a brief walk before darkness set in. A wonderful vacation had neared its end.
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