The Amtrak Solution

It was hard to say good-bye to my friends in Fresno, after only a week.

For the return trip to Portland, I decided to forgo flying---I'd seen so many airports lately, and I'd done that particular flight on Alaska/Horizon from PDX to Fresno in their Bomardier Q400. I didn't particular savor doing the same thing going back this time.

Amtrak seemed like an attractive alternative. I hadn't taken Amtrak for years, and hadn't done an overnight trip for decades.

Their website was easy enough to use. It didn't present any ghastly barriers to researching and purchasing a ticket, the same way one would on the better airline web sites. It got a roomette on the Coast Starlight, and opted to have the ticket printed at the station in downtown Fresno.


The taxi dropped me off there about an hour the train was due to arrive from Bakersfield, in the early evening. I killed some time in a dive bar across the street that served Basque appetizers. I ordered the combination of a shot of whisky and a pint of beer, I can't remember which kind. I learned long ago that this is the way you wait for a train.