8/16/14, 8 am - We had some things to get done before leaving the hotel and catching the Sunset Limited to New Orleans.  A thirty-hour train trip requires some planning to ensure we have the right provisions for the journey. 

First we stopped by a UPS Store to jettison some stuff (gloves, hats, balls, etc.) no longer needed.  Next, a spin through Target for snacks, drinks, water and the ever-essential Kendall Jackson.  We also picked up a large mailing tube for Charlie’s broken bat. 

Not only did it protect the bat from breaking further, it disguises a potentially banned carry-on as something much less menacing.  We’ve also learned to carry duct-tape, because there can be many bits and bobs in a sleeping compartment that either squeak annoyingly, rattle incessantly, or don’t stay in position (cabinet doors, for example).

At 11am I returned the rental car to Hertz at ELP.  The Chrysler 300 we rented was a pleasant surprise, and moved us over 1,100 miles in comfort.  The boys loved the bluetooth feature that let them play their iPhone music over the car speakers.

8/16/14 2:15 pm - The Doubletree shuttle dropped us at the front door of Union Station in El Paso. 

The train was running about 10 minutes late, so we bided our time while Peter marked every BBT location on a pullout systemwide map in the Amtrak timetable.  Surprisingly, we have be in over 80% of the US states over the course of the past six baseball trips.

  

3:20 pm - We boarded the Sunset Limited and found our rooms 007 and 008 in car 0231.  The A/C was on full blast, a comforting difference from the scorching boarding platform just outside our window.  The train pulled out of ELP a few minutes late, and immediately pulled past the baseball field and our hotel.  From there we quickly scooted past the El Paso city limits into the vast, barren expanse of west Texas.  Hard to believe but it would take more than 24 hours until we would cross another state line outside of Texas.  From the very western tip to the easternmost point, we would see Texas topography change from mountainous, arid moonscape to flat bayou swampland.

5:00 pm - Our train pulled through an amazingly powerful group of thunderstorms which dumped a large amount of rain in our immediate vicinity, producing raging flash flooding along the rail bed.  The train slowed to a crawl as the head conductor explained there was water going over the rails, and the 5 MPH speed was a prudent precaution.  Despite the slow speed, the show of nature’s power, just outside the window, was great compensation for the incremental delay.

6:30 pm - We had dinner, first of our four meals on board, with a great view of the fading daylight across western Texas. 

Afterward, we played Mao in the sightseeing lounge and then faded off to bed. 

I slept through the night until 6am when the we stopped in San Antonio.  Here, the 12+ car train is divided into two trains with separate destinations;  The Texas Eagle goes to Chicago and the remaining cars of the Sunset Limited proceed to New Orleans.

8/17 8:00 am CT.  Somewhere east of San Antonio, the boys and I emerged from our rooms and went to breakfast.  Afterward, we went to the lounge for more card games and then to our rooms for reading, math problems and general goofing off (iPad, phones, etc.).  Lunch and Dinner broke up an otherwise-leisurely, day on the train.  By 9:00 pm, we were pulling into New Orleans station, earlier than expected, and quickly into a cab for a 5 minute ride to our hotel in the French Quarter.  Tired and ready for bed, we hit the hay, ready for the Big Easy tomorrow.