Sunny River Writings

Hello all,

Well we have been on our trip now 8 days. Our first full day we headed out of Chicago Illinois into Wisconsin. We saw lots of deer. The ponds and rivers were mostly frozen and there was still snow. Day 2 we were in North Dakota. It was night going through Minnesota. It was snowy as we entered North Dakota. In the fields we saw more white tailed deer, gray fox, rabbits and hundreds of pheasant. Oil drilling dotted the fields. There was no snow as we left the state.

Next came Montana where we saw coyotes and lots of snow geese. The weather was warmer and no snow. We slept through Idaho. In the morning we were in Washington. The train traveled along the Columbia River. Lots of waterfowl migrating north. We went through the longest tunnel of Amtrak’s system. It goes through the Cascade mountains it is 7.8 miles long. There was heavy snow when we entered the tunnel and everything was green when we exited the tunnel on the other side of the mountain. When we got to the Pacific Ocean we spotted a harbor seal. We spent the night in Seattle. Day 5 we headed along the coast. The trees and flowers were in bloom. One man was mowing his grass. Lots of Bald eagles and snow geese. Day 6 we were in Sacramento. Here is where the first transcontinental railroad started in 1863. We saw lots of palm trees. We spotted people downhill skiing. The Sierra mountains were covered with heavy snow.

Midday we crossed into Nevada. Here we saw lots of mule deer and wild horses grazing in the fields. We also saw fly fisherman in the river. Day 7 We were in Utah. We passed the salt flats. Here’s where they mine salt. There are mounds of salt ready to be processed and sent to the grocery stores. We saw prairie dogs and pronghorn. The mountains were snow covered. For scenery Utah is one of my favorite. We passed Arches National Monument and saw the Canyonlands National Park in the distance.

Crossing into Colorado traveling along the beautiful Colorado River. We saw Sandhill Cranes, more mule deer, wild horses, longhorn cattle and a herd of bison. At one point as we went through a mountain pass there was heavy snow on one side and no snow on the other side. Just before Denver we went through the Moffitt tunnel 6 miles long. This morning we are in Iowa and will head to Los Angeles this afternoon.

It is amazing the differences in landscape, architecture, and weather as we traveled through the different states.

Wisconsin snow

North Dakota

Seattle, WA boat