Cross-Country Rail Trip: A Few Changes

Well, the countdown is almost over. I booked this trip in April, and there is now a mere five days before I get on the Lake Shore Limited in Boston. However, plans have changed already. Because of the flooding in and around Minot, ND, Amtrak's Empire Builder is only running between Chicago and St. Paul in the east and between Seattle/Portland and Havre in the west. No alternate transportation would be provided, so I had to find my own way to get from the Twin Cities to Glendive.

At first I thought, well, I still have two unused travel segments on my 30 day rail pass, so if I turn in my Empire Builder ticket, I could go the long way around at no extra cost (California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder to Havre) and James could pick me up there. However, the earliest I could do that trip was July 20, which is after I was planning on leaving Montana. Not wanting to plan an entirely new itinerary at the last minute or cancel the whole trip, I starting looking for other ways to get to Montana.

A little research on the internet found a bus that runs from Minneapolis to Fargo, where it meets another bus that runs from Fargo into Montana, stopping in Glendive. I booked myself for this route, and I'll be arriving in Glendive in the evening of July 5, only a few hours later than originally planned.

My itinerary hasn't changed much. Just to review, here is my plan:

Lake Shore Limited, Boston, MA to Chicago, IL

Empire Builder, Chicago, IL to St. Paul, MN

Bus, St. Paul, MN to Glendive, MT

Visit James in Glendive

Empire Builder, Havre, MT to Portland, OR

Coast Starlight, Portland, OR to Davis, CA

Capitol Corridor, Davis, CA to Oakland, CA

Spend a day in San Francisco

Capitol Corridor, Oakland, CA to Davis, CA

California Zephyr, Davis, CA to Galesburg, IL

Southwest Chief, Galesburg, IL to Los Angeles, CA

Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle, Los Angeles, CA to San Antonio, TX

Texas Eagle, San Antonio, TX to Chicago, IL

Lake Shore Limited, Chicago, IL to Boston, MA

I'm really looking forward to this trip. I was planning on bringing my laptop to post updates as I go, but my laptop recently died, so I may not bring one. I am working on getting it running again, but I'm not making any promises.