Sunny River Writings

April 2012 I took my first long train trip to see my son in California. Actually, it was the first time I had been west of the Mississippi. I had lived in Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina. I had friends and family in Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Vermont, Maine and New York. This trip was a very eye opening, very unexpected adventure.

The ride on the train has many benefits. No traffic, you can nap if you, delicious food in the dinner car or something light from the cafe car. As a long distance traveler you ride in a coach with like minded (long distance) travelers. There is not a lot of people getting on and off so it is quieter. Do you like reading or listening to something on you laptop or iPad? There is a restroom in each coach car. No having to leave the highway to find a restroom which takes time to park, go inside and then find your way back to the highway. Although the best part is the scenery. Small towns, big cities, open fields, farms, forests, rivers, and mountains. You get to experience it all.

I traveled from Washington DC through West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. In Chicago I transferred to a superliner that had an observation car. The trip continued through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and into San Francisco.

West Virginia through Iowa was pretty much the same scenery. Small towns, farm fields, more small towns, and occasionally a big city. Nebraska was mostly bare dirt with cattle ranches scattered all about. Colorado was green and mountainous. At one point we went through the Moffat Tunnel. It opened to train traffic in 1928 and is 6.2 miles long crossing the Continental Divide. It was built to be an quicker route from Denver to Salt Lake City. As the train took its slow journey through the tunnel it was eerie being in darkness riding in a train car for about ten minutes. Although a bit eerie it was exciting.

After Colorado came Utah. Here is where I had the most memorable experience. Utah is a hidden gem. First there are the amazing colors. The layers of rock: tan, orange, rust, pale yellow, pink, purple, brown and an off-white. The rock looked hard and solid, sharp and smooth, round and ridged, and soft and crumbly. Shaped by years of wind and rain erosion. The plateau’s are made up of sandstone, red rock, and granite. I have learned the difference between a mesa and a butte. A mesa is wider than it is tall and a butte is taller than it is wide. Running between them are flat canyons. The sight of the incredible rock formations took my breath away.

Still today thirteen years later I wonder why I never knew of the beauty of Utah. If the United States has a secret it is Utah. I am a huge fan of western movies so why didn’t I see the awe-inspiring magnificence of Utah since a lot of movies are shot at least in part there. The movies did not capture the colors, the vastness, the grandeur of this secluded or maybe secret place. I guess movies are more about the story and not the location. In this case that is unfortunate. Here is where a picture can not capture the incredible power of nature who has shaped and created such an unforgettable place.

I have been changed with a new love of our vast country. I have always been drawn to oldness. Out east you find old stately buildings and old narrow streets. Placed that date back to the beginnings of our country. But out west it is a different kind of old. It is nature through the ages shaping and transforming the natural world. Not build and changed by man.

I have taken this same train ride several times since and I am amazed, excited, and grateful for the untouched majestic beauty of Utah.