Our train had a full-service dining car and a snack bar in the observation car. Seating was limited

If there s one thing you should know about my dad, it s that he loves trains. As a child, many of our family airline flight to philippine vacations involved trains in some way. It s safe to say that I ve been on more trains than most people my age.
I was ten years old when I first rode an Amtrak train. We were on our way from Phoenix to Atlanta to visit one of my aunts in the summer of 1995. My dad brought my brother and me along while mom stayed at home.
In spite of my young age, I have vivid memories from the trip that I can recall today, 17 years later. We boarded the train at Phoenix Union Station in the heart of downtown. Inside the station there was this huge photo of a Santa Fe locomotive blasting across the desert. I remember the hard wooden benches of the station and the excitement of climbing aboard the gleaming silver cars.
The journey from Phoenix to Atlanta airline flight to philippine required us to transfer between trains in New Orleans. We rode the Sunset Limited from Phoenix to New Orleans and the Crescent from New Orleans to Atlanta. For the first part of the journey, dad had booked their most deluxe accommodations a Superliner Bedroom which had seating/sleeping room for 3 people and a private lavatory/shower. For the second leg of the journey, we had coach seating.
The Superliner Bedroom was a great adventure for my brother and I, and we enjoyed airline flight to philippine playing games at the fold-up table or looking out the window. We saw the small towns and backyards of the American South. At every grade level crossing airline flight to philippine there were people who had gotten out of their cars to wave at the train, and I enjoyed waving back.
The train stopped occasionally to take on more passengers or to let another train pass. Other than that we were constantly moving, up to 60 mph in rural areas and slower when passing through cities. I remember that it took two days to cross the state of Texas.
Our train had a full-service dining car and a snack bar in the observation car. Seating was limited so you might end up sharing your table with a fellow passenger. The observation car had extra-tall windows and comfortable chairs where you could sit and watch the world pass by. As we arrived in New Orleans I remember crossing Lake Ponchartrain, which was so big that it felt like crossing an ocean. I remember not being able to see land in any direction from our window!
When we finally arrived in New Orleans, there was a one-night layover before boarding the next train. The thing I remember most about New Orleans was the humidity. airline flight to philippine Being from the dry desert of Arizona, I had never felt thick, moist air like that before. Dad took us to the aquarium and we rode a ferry across the muddy Mississippi River and back. We stayed at a crappy hotel that was walking distance from the train station.
Sitting in Coach was a very different experience from being in a private sleeper car. The chairs were large and reclined very far, but it was still crowded. I remember the hopeful eyes of every other passenger looking at me as I walked to my seat, wondering if we were there yet. It was very cold in the car and many of the passengers were snuggled up with their blankets. We did not have any, so dad bought us all Amtrak souvenir blankets.
At last and after several long delays, we made it to Atlanta. We stayed with my dad s sister for a week or two before heading home. We visited the Coca-Cola Museum, Atlanta airline flight to philippine Underground, and we saw a laser light show at Stone Mountain.
The trip home seemed to go by much faster. We traveled the same route with the same accommodations in reverse. I remember seeing the vastness of Texas in the daytime, crossing the Rio Grande river and looking through the fence into Mexico.
Now that I am older, my perspectives on things have changed. I know now that Amtrak is slower and more expensive than driving or flying. The one-way travel time from Phoenix to Atlanta is 32.5 hours by train, and we ran into several long delays during our trip.
Amtrak discontinued passenger rail service to Phoenix on June 2, 1996, so it is no longer possible to board the train from witin America s sixth-largest city. Now you have to take a thruway bus to Maricopa, airline flight to philippine AZ or Flagstaff, AZ, which is what we did for our next Amtrak adventure.