USA Rail Journey: Day 3 — Chicago to Omaha
I boarded the famous California Zephyr train. The person sitting next to me was visiting Chicago with his family, it seems. He was also traveling to Omaha. He looked like an introvert. I tried talking to him about places to see in Omaha. He answered everything to the point. He must be around 50 years of age and has grabbed the window seat. 10 minutes into the journey, he started snoring. He at least could have taken the aisle seat! I got up and went in search of the cafe car. As I was snaking between the cars, I entered the lounge car. The Lounge car on the California Zephyr is an interesting concept. This car has wide windows which go all the way to the roof and seats facing the large windows. Since this train travels through many scenic mountains and deserts, the view from Lounge Car is quite a sight.
The dinner is equally interesting. The train crew takes the reservations and gives you a particular time. You will be seated with a random passenger so as to occupy everyone. At about 4 PM, the train crew gave me a reservation slip. My seating group was #1 and dinner was at 8 PM.
The dinner was with a group of 3 guys who were on their way to Denver. It was a fun chat. They were programmers and the discussion ranged from Java, Web development, to different styles of coding. This group was a big fan of HBO series, Silicon Valley. We spoke about each of our favorite characters and how every group needs both Erlich and Jared to keep things balanced. I conveniently stayed away from the Trump/Hillary topics. Chicago to Omaha journey is mostly through corn and bean fields. These are some of the pics of the American country side I took during today’s journey.
I have reached Omaha and checked in to my AirBnB house. I plan to explore Omaha tomorrow and catch the California Zephyr again to Denver.
