POSTCARDS FROM COLORADO JUNE 14, 15, 16 & 17, 2005

Note: Click Here for a Photo Gallery of Eileen's Photos in Colorado.

The last two days have been in limbo. I won't fly any more so trains, busses and boats/ships, are my new steeds to get me to where I'm going to go. AMTRAK is a train company and I have a love-hate relationship with. I've taken the Southwest Chief from Flagstaff, AZ two times now. The ungodly hour of 5 a.m., is when this train hooves through the nearest railroad station to where I live. We have to drive 50 miles north to Flag, get a hotel over night and then get up at 4:00 a.m., which is even more ungodly, to get down to the train station in time.

The next question is porters. I've had two very good ones: Isaac and Paul. And I've had a couple of bad ones that I won't even bother mentioning their names. Porters are supposed to stay with their train car. But if you think you can fine one of the bad ones when you need to ask a question, dream on. I'm convinced there is a car among all the other cars, where porters who don't want to be bothered by their clients, go and hide. Of course, you can press the button in your roomette (a very small sleeper car space) or 'deluxe' accommodations (a larger sleeper car space) to hail them. Isaac was the best because he had 'rounds' and he'd pop in about once an hour to see how you were doing. The others never did. So, playing to the needs of the client are utmost if you want return business. AMTRAK is on a huge subsidy by the government and approximately $400 for each person who rides on the train (and pays a cheap price to do so) is paid by the feds to AMTRAK to keep it up and running.

Food is an important consideration when you're going to be on the train for 12 hours or more. On my first trip, on the way back from St. Louis/Kansas City, I got food poisoning from a leg of lamb served aboard the Southwest Super chief. You'd think they'd take better care of their food, but from what I can see, there's too much to do and too few people and/or, the people have not been properly trained to know you keep cooked meat in a refrigerator until served.

I'm happy to report that my second ride on the Southwest Super Chief, I didn't get food poisoning. But... there was a snooty dining room manager who was overbearing and in-your-face who did NOT make your dining a pleasant experience in the least. I called him "Little Hitler" because he was marching around like he owned the damned place instead of working to make his customers happy and WANTING to come back for other meals. Because of his aggressive and intimidating behavior at breakfast, Dave and I chose to get off in Albuquerque, New Mexico for lunch and had an incredible one at the Gold Room Cafe. If you ever get to this city, look this cafe up--they served me a Cuban Wrap composed of smoked turkey breast, guacamole, pepper cheese and a cilantro salsa on the side that was lip smacking good.

This cafe goes on my 'unforgettable' list. I will be back. So, basically, because of a boorish overseer in the dining room car, AMTRAK lost our loyalty. Not that they care. When you have a deluxe or roomette in the sleeper car, your food is paid for. So, AMTRAK gained some money by us not eating three squares that day with them.

Because of my other experience on the Southwest Chief when going to St. Louis in late March, 2005, I had a very pleasant experience in the dining car. Believe me, good management can make your eating a joy, or in this case, with Little Hitler, indigestion par excellence. And that's ashamed because the people working under this control freak were good, hospitable people.

Juan, our waiter, was pleasant, and you could tell, he LIKED his job. And we liked him. Juan offset the control freak manager to a degree.

So, train travel is very interesting. A real people watching sport. I can see why AMTRAK needs such a hefty subsidy from the government to keep afloat. Let me give you an example. At the Union Station in Denver this morning, 6.15.05, the Granby train was to leave at 8:05 a.m. Do you know we didn't get on the train until 9:10 a.m.? The two conductors from the train had to arrive and then they stood behind a wooden table in the middle of this huge, 1930's mausoleum kind of building and one, by one, took tickets from people and assigned them a car to go sit in. Good grief! This could have been done--and SHOULD have been done--by the two AMTRAK guys in the cage who just answered questions. Talk about a waste of TIME. If the two clerks had cleared everyone as they came in, the conductors would not have had to spend 30 minutes processing all the people who wanted to board the Zephyr (name of the train we were one). We could have started ON TIME, if they had let the clerks do the leg work. But nope, AMTRAK in its infinite wisdom (?) is having this 19th century way of doing things instead of upgrading and automating the entire process. I can see why people don't ride the train any more in the U.S.

And then... there is this thing about being on time--or not--with AMTRAK. I've got to say that my train experiences over in Europe and England showed me what GOOD train riding was all about. The Europeans have automated and upgraded and they have up to 20 different platforms in some cities and thousands of people coming and going 24 hours a day. And all on time. An amazing feat but it shows it can be done. If you compared AMTRAK with the European style of running trains on time, AMTRAK looks like a secondary amateur.

In Amtrak's defense, when I rode the Southwest Super Chief both times--it was ON TIME. But when we took the Denver to Granby--that got shot out the window like twenty hunters drawing a shotgun bead on one unlucky duck. Quack.

First of all, it shows the timetable of leaving at 8:05 a.m. for Granby from Denver and arriving at 11:01 a.m. We left at 9:30 a.m. and did not reach Granby until 1:00 p.m. It was TWO HOURS LATE! Now, the locals in Granby warned me this train was NEVER on time. As we finally pulled into Granby I asked the conductor if being 2 hours late was unusual for this train.

"Oh, yes," he reassured me. "This isn't normal."

Well, ask the locals at Granby and they'll die laughing over the conductor's big windy. This train is always 1-2 hours late. Part of the problem is that AMTRAK is using Union Pacific (UP) rail line to get from Point A to Point B. So, UP is the boss and the AMTRAK passenger train is at their mercy--literally and figuratively--speaking. Picture this: going from 5,300 feet up to 9,900 feet, winding upward all the time. We have freight AND coal trains coming down off the Continental Divide and we have freight trains going up along with us. There are a lot of side rails so that faster trains, like a passenger train, can pass the slower, chunky hauling freight trains. However, this is where it gets political. UP wants their freight trains to stay on TIME. So what do they do to ensure this? They make the AMTRAK train halt for 20-30 minutes at a time on a side line while the UP trains stay on schedule. That is WHY AMTRAK is 2 hours late to Granby. A tremendous amount of hold-up's.

All this being said, I do love riding the train. Most of the AMTRAK people are stellar. And I've enjoyed many a conversation with them, and many laughs. You can tell in a heartbeat who loves their job on this ever swaying train, and who doesn't. You also meet a lot of different and interesting people. You may think that the poor folk ride the train because it's cheap. That's true. But also, a lot of older people who are retired, ride it too. You might get a person who is a cameraman from Hollywood on board, or some corporate president who hates to fly, or an NPR reporter who wants to slow down the crazy speed of her life. And the list goeson... People are more willing to talk with you on a train. And that's always fascinating for me, the writer. There is an endless stream of people with unique backgrounds that always teach me something I didn't know before.

There's also a camaraderie with AMTRAK employees with one another. There's a lot of pride in what they do. Most of the people I've talked too, have been in their job anywhere from 12 to 30 years. They love riding the train.

And most of the people on the train love trains, too. It's an ongoing love affair with the clients being one spouse married to the other spouse called AMTRAK. Depending upon how much you love trains and riding them will equally dictate how much you love AMTRAK. But you must separate out lousy management or the running of the train by the corporate train gods, from the people who really make the train a joy to ride. AMTRAK employees are the best in my experience--save one or two sour grapes. The bulk of them are stellar and they work hard to keep you accommodated and are attentive to details. And if AMTRAK would imbue them, people would flock to train riding even more. But they do not. Lousy corporate management is hurting the joy of train riding by the passengers and employees.

When we arrived at the Canyon Motel in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, our luck changed. We had a beautiful queen sized room with a 'bubble' tub-not too shabby. Plus, the owners were very nice and you could tell they like what they're doing. The place is clean, upkeep is in evidence everywhere. I like clean motels and this one is a '10' on my list, with '10' being the best.

In the afternoon, we went down to the Hot Sulphur Springs Resort, two blocks down from the Canyon Motel. The place is beautiful with lots of trees and a large pine building and twenty different pools. For $16.00 (bring your own towel or you get charged one dollar for one of their's... one would think for the price of admission, they would GIVE you a towel. It's always interesting to me how owners shirk on necessities to wring every last dime out of the customer. This one charges for towels that should easily be INCLUDED in the price of the steep admission.

That said, the pools smell sulfurous but not nauseatingly so. The pools range in shape from round to rectangular. There are some cute nooks and crannies where you can go along the extensive boardwalks. For instance, the owner has done something right in keeping children in the two lower swimming pool like pools. The adults get 17 other pools above and no child under 16 is allowed in them. That's NICE.

Further, "quiet" signs, no smoking and no drinking are allowed on the premises. Also nice. And, for handicapped people, there is a special pool for them as well, a very thoughtful addition.

The pools all have names. We went to the 'private' pool, a trapezoid created shape with white tiles on the sides and nubby, rough but not unpleasant concrete bottom. There is a plumbing fixture pipe to allow the 102 degree Fahrenheit (F) water to come in and a small opening in the trapezoid shape to allow the water to run out and down a hillside into a swamp where you can see flowers, rushes and Great Blue Herons. There is a fence around you so no one can see you, a nice bench to sit on and put your towel, and a door you can lock. The sign inside says: "30 minutes allowed per guest" so you can sit and look off over the swamp and meadows to the tall, Rocky Mountains in the distance unimpaired. A lovely way to get a mineral bath at a reasonable temperature and enjoy Mom Nature at her finest.

We then went to the Ute Pool which has a small waterfall. This one is half a circle and is the most popular one with good reason. And next, we went to an alcove surrounded by wooden walls called the Purple Sage Pool. It was about 104 degrees F and had a plastic potted sage in the corner of it. Another pool was 109 degrees F and I stuck my toe in it but didn't go in because it was simply too hot.

There were about 40 people at the spa when we were there at 4:00 p.m. Not overly crowded. There was talking, but not loud. No cell phones. No bleating, screaming children (they were well below us having a ball in their OWN pools), no drifting cigarette smoke and that helped to create a lovely, relaxed atmosphere.

Now, the water itself is interesting. Virgos, who believe cleanliness is next to godliness (I don't disagree with them), will wrinkle their nose and go: "ewwwww...". Why? Well, there's all kinds of WHITE stuff, shreds and filaments, floating around in the clear, warm water. This is just 'stuff' from the underground springs and there's no need to worry about it. After awhile, it reminds you somewhat of floating jelly fish and you are getting so relaxed and tension is melting off you, that you really don't care.

When you're done with running around all the different pools, you can sit in lounge chairs under trees or get a tan out in the sun. There is a men and women's shower/locker room facility as well as a dress/undress area. The owner has thought of everything to make this, indeed, a pleasurable, relaxing experience. There is a small cantina in the main building that has water, soda and even nachos that you can put in the microwave and eat inside in one of two large sitting rooms after your soak.

Best of all, this is a spa after all, I couldn't get a $65 massage for one hour. I'm set for a 10 a.m. tomorrow. This works nicely because we must vacate our Canyon Motel room by 11 a.m. I get to go get a massage and Dave gets to pack! One of those "honey-do" things that a spouse does for another spouse.

Warmly,
Eileen

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