3--GLACIER PARK, MONTANA TO HILLSBORO, OREGON

GLACIER PARK, MONTANA TO HILLSBORO, OREGON

September 10th to 12th

Our last day in Glacier Park, Thursday, September 10th, was without a car, so we decided to walk into the town of East Glacier for lunch at the Whistle Stop restaurant. When we were there we also ordered box lunches to have for dinner back at the lodge before we boarded the train at 6:45. While we were returning to the lodge, we looked up to see two cowboys herding about twenty beautiful horses at full speed down the road. During the afternoon we worked on our travel blog, sitting at a desk with a view over the pool, the forests and the mountains. What a place to be inspired to write!

Our Amtrak Empire Builder train rolled into the Glacier Park station just on time that evening.

After boarding and claiming two seats, Dick scurried to the observation car to find a table for us but found only a single seat. When Judy caught up with him after turning in our tickets to the conductor, a kindly passenger gave up his seat so that we could sit together. A short while later a table became available so that we could spread out our belongings and have a place to write.

The scenery through the mountains and valleys of Montana continued to be spectacular--very different as we looked out either side of the car. Where the tracks hugged the mountains, the  train traveled through many open-sided wooden tunnels to keep the snow from covering the tracks. We cannot imagine what it would be like when the snow starts falling.

We don't know how much of the mountain scenery we missed when night fell, but when morning came we found ourselves riding along very close to the Columbia River, the scenic water gateway to Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Several years ago we had driven along the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon side of the river, but the train takes the Washington side and gave us several views of Mt. Hood as well as unique rock formations forming the gorge.

We extended the miles traveled by another 715 to a grand total of 2257 from departing Chicago to arriving in Portland. This last leg took a bit less than 16 hours. Right on schedule on Friday morning the Empire Builder pulled into Union Station, Portland. Our daughter, Maia, and her friend, John, were waiting and waving to us as we detrained, and we were more than happy to be together again.

Since Dick had dropped and stepped on his glasses while he slept on the train, making it nearly impossible to see the scenery on the last part of our journey, our first stop was at LensCrafters to have the frame repaired and to order new glasses from an Rx that Dick had not yet had filled. It was extremely helpful that the shop could have his prescription FAXed here, so that there was no delay in getting his new glasses. Later in the afternoon we drove John to McMenamin's restaurant where he works, and Dick, Maia and Judy enjoyed an Oregon dinner there while  a well-known guitarist entertained us. Maia gave us a walking tour of this unique building with its hundreds of paintings and long history.

When Saturday comes to Hillsboro, so does the colorful outdoor "Saturday Farmers Market," which is close enough to Maia's house that we could easily walk there. Especially enticing was the fresh produce, most of which is grown here in the valley. Although we tasted many kinds of fresh fruit, samples of dried Asian pears and peaches were a new treat for us.

Assortments of multicolored flowers, grown on nearby flower farms, caught Judy's eye. She couldn't resist buying some large bright yellow and dark purple mums for Maia. The young Asian man who was selling the flowers told her that his family sells their flowers at three different markets each week, but they do not sell to grocery stores or flower shops.