Have you experienced Amtrak yet?  Perhaps you've taken the rail in Europe, or traveled in the eastern part of the US.  But if you haven't taken the routes westward and south out of Chicago across the country, you're missing something special.

On the way from Denver going west

Here are the reasons we started taking the Amtrak.

•    We're retired so we have a good bit of time and we're not in any hurry to get there.
•    We love taking pictures along the way.
•    We love the meals that Amtrak whips up for us.
•    The staff on Amtrak have time to tell you lots of info about the route and the panorama.
•    It's just nice to be waited on if you purchase the sleeping car accommodations.  Coffee, water and juice always available.
•    It's pretty cheap if you go coach.  Coach has three times the room as a bus or a plane.  You can actually recline, I mean, really.
•    If  you get your reservations on line and have questions later, you can actually talk to someone to straighten things  out.
An example is that last year we had booked a trip 9 months in advance, my husband passed away and when I called to asked if we could substitute another person—no problem, nothing in triplicate and just give them the name.

Crossing the Great Divide in the club car

•    You can book up to 11 months in advance.  Actually, the earlier you book, the cheaper it is.  Play around with the dates when you do book on line, because a Wednesday might be cheaper than a Saturday and so forth.  Move up or back a week to see if it's cheaper at another time.
We had determined that we wanted to see as many as possible of the National Parks in the west by rail.  We got to three  and I'm continuing the practice now with friends.  We found that early fall is $200-$300 cheaper than summer bookings.
•    While you're at it and if you have time, check out the season pass where you can travel for a month or two for a fixed price.
•    The kiosk in the big stations just prints out your ticket with a swipe of any ID card like a credit card.
•    The club car is a fun social place.  I've had interesting conversations, good games of scrabble, and even some singing.  The northern route out to Washington State even has a little wine and cheese party for sleeper car customers. 
•    No security checks and you can get to your luggage (if you don't carry several suitcases that you'd probably have to check).
•    You can get up and walk around during the trip. 
•    You sort of enjoy a different time warp from air travel. .It's nice to take a little time.  The trip is more important than the destination, or at least equal to it.

Unbelievable sights not seen from cars

I've had a few unpleasant things happen, but nothing to get me riled up enough to bother mentioning. One of the frustrating things is the frequent lack of punctuality.  But Amtrak doesn't own a lot of the rail themselves, so the freight trains have priority.  Waiting an hour or two on a siding is not uncommon.  But they really work to make that up  in the next stretch. 

If you are in a hurry, have kids that don't like long travel, or you have a deadline, take a plane.  If you like to be in control, drive your car.  But if you like leisure, pleasant company, good food and gorgeous panoramas across the plains, mountains, rivers and deserts of our vast land, take the train—Amtrak.

Carol Voigts is the Co-Editor for Retiree Travel at Wandering Educators

All photos courtesy and copyright Carol Voigts