It's been an odd few days. A weekend in New York to mark Endo's 20th anniversary was cancelled at very short notice. We all hope that Carol's badly broken ankle heals soon! Then we found out quite by accident that our intended few days in Alaska's Denali National Park, which was to follow on the weekend in New York, was cancelled by a computer glitch - fortunately discovered BEFORE we left for Anchorage! 

So we enjoy a few unplanned days in Laguna (with a Pacific Council dinner with George W Bush thrown in for good measure) before taking off to Seattle. 

But being us, we didn't hang around Seattle for too long before jumping an Amtrak train north to Vancouver. For those who've never ridden an Amtrak train, but may have travelled on trains in Europe or Japan, the experience will be somewhat of a surprise. It's a bit like going back in time to 2nd or 3rd class train travel as it must have been in Europe and Japan before the last war. Old rolling stock that really does roll....and rock....and shake....and rattle....and moves along at a very leisurely pace. The scheduled four hour journey ended up taking five hours. To put that in context - driving, including crossing the US-Canadian border takes around three hours. 

We're in Vancouver for just a night before making our way on a beautifully clear early autumn morning to the purpose built Rocky Mountaineer station to begin the two day journey to Jasper. 

The contrast between antiquated Amtrak and the Rocky Mountaineer couldn't be more stark! We gathered together with around 790 fellow passengers for the two day journey to Jasper (or Banff - the train divides in the town of Kamloops where everyone spends the night). It's all terribly well organized by the large rail company staff, although at times with a little too much forced jollity reminiscent of a Butlins holiday camp or a school outing! 

In the cavernous check in and waiting area, bleary-eyed passengers wonder around mostly trying to escape from the crazily over-amplified piano music. The piano player is enthusiastically pounding through hits of the 60's and 70's (he knows his audience!) at an almost unbearable volume! "Don't Shoot The Piano Player" - but it was tempting to pull the plug!!!