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08-26-2022, 08:58 AM
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#21
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: chicago, Illinois
Trailer: don't have one yet
Posts: 7
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Just a suggestion: Perhaps you can partner with someone who is waiting for an escape or wants to do the road trip. They drive out west and take their time along the way . You train or fly out - meet up with them, they go home and you see your sights and drive it home-so each does one way. The west is just so beautiful and rugged - worth the trip and time. When we head out there I can't help but think about our ancestors that traveled via wagons.
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08-26-2022, 09:36 AM
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#22
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joanwaldron
Just a suggestion: Perhaps you can partner with someone who is waiting for an escape or wants to do the road trip. They drive out west and take their time along the way . You train or fly out - meet up with them, they go home and you see your sights and drive it home-so each does one way. The west is just so beautiful and rugged - worth the trip and time. When we head out there I can't help but think about our ancestors that traveled via wagons.
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Interesting idea, Joan. Going to put that in the pot with the train+RV rental suggestions. Not sure I'd know how to find that 'someone', though. Actually, come to think of it, there was a forum member last winter who offered to go out to the West Coast and pick up a used Escape for us. . .
Speaking of rentals, has anyone here used RVshare.com? You're renting from an individual RV owner, not a big firm. I see there are plenty in AZ and UT offering Class Bs and Cs, which might be an option if we took the train out, rather than towing our 21C. Maybe better looking at Spring than this Fall, given the reported lead time for reserving sites in National Parks. And Bedrooms on Amtrak trains get bought up, too. . .
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08-26-2022, 09:48 AM
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#23
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
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There is always the Copper Canyon RR trip
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
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08-26-2022, 10:07 AM
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#24
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Thanks, Jim. That would be really something! Assuming that RR is more than a tourist route; are they mining there?
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08-26-2022, 10:25 AM
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#25
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLynn
Thanks, Jim. That would be really something! Assuming that RR is more than a tourist route; are they mining there?
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I have no idea....
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
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08-26-2022, 05:03 PM
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#26
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Abiquiu, New Mexico
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21 2017 GMC Canyon Duramax Diesel
Posts: 329
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Mr. Lynn,
We certainly agree with you that it is too bad that Amtrak does not offer something like the "RV on Train" to Florida for the East/West trip. We live in NM but cannot afford the time away to travel to the east coast and to Canada's Eastern Provinces towing our trailer. We would love to do both trips but the driving time isfor us, the problem also.
Chama
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07-24-2023, 09:12 AM
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#27
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Follow-Up
Well, here it is almost a year later. Speedy decisions are not our forté. But we have finally decided to leave the Escape in our yard this October and use up the Amtrak Rewards Points: take the California Zephyr to Grand Junction, CO; rent a car and tour some of the national parks (and the Durango and Silverton RR), end up at Williams, AZ (after two nights at the Grand Canyon Village), and back on the Southwest Chief.
Of course the Chief doesn't stop at Williams, but at Flagstaff, so we'll have to drive back there and figure out how to turn in the car and find a place to crash until time for the 4:30 AM train. Anyone here know how safe it is for two old folks toting luggage to walk from a nearby hotel to the Amtrak station in Flagstaff at 3 AM? Still stewing over this kink in the plan.
I'm not ruling out future trips westward with our Escape. Last attempt for a week-long excursion to the Pennsylvania Wilds ended just 30 miles from home, when the line to the transmission oil cooler on our Expedition blew—thankfully, it was not 300 miles away!
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07-24-2023, 10:51 AM
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#28
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Ocean Park, Maine
Trailer: 21NE picked up in May 2022
Posts: 207
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The places to stay in FLagstaff will have the answer on how to get you to the train station safely and on time. Flagstaff is a great college town also. Ask them when you get there.
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07-25-2023, 11:07 PM
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#29
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Trailer: 2012 E19
Posts: 1,773
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Maybe a taxi, or an uber/lyft driver.
__________________
Losing weight puts one at much greater risk of becoming thin.
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07-25-2023, 11:19 PM
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#30
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Colfax, California
Trailer: 2024 Escape 23 on order, 2022 RAM 1500 5.7L Laramie
Posts: 593
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My last trip on the California Zephyr was from Chicago to Sacramento. I had fun in the Vista Domes.
It was also in 1949.
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07-26-2023, 09:06 AM
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#31
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Trailer: 2022 escape 17B
Posts: 76
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Does the Zephyr go thru Denver? If it does the train ride from Denver to Glenwood springs was the nicest I have been on, and I have been on quite a few. Stan
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07-26-2023, 09:55 AM
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#32
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Site Team
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Trailer: 2023 Escape 5.0TA
Posts: 880
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLynn
Amtrak goes to Williams, AZ, whence you can take the Grand Canyon Railroad to the Canyon, a train I'd like to ride. For the Zion et al. parks, they get you to Grand Junction, CO and then you rent a car to tour the parks; or something like that.
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The Grand Canyon Railroad is a lot of fun and an enjoyable ride. If it were me, I would hitch up and head west with the Escape.
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07-26-2023, 10:02 AM
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#33
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr.stang
Does the Zephyr go thru Denver? If it does the train ride from Denver to Glenwood springs was the nicest I have been on, and I have been on quite a few. Stan
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It does go through Denver. Thanks for the tip; looking forward to that part of the trip.
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07-26-2023, 10:03 AM
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#34
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: South Lake Tahoe, California
Trailer: 2017 5.0
Posts: 524
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLynn
Of course the Chief doesn't stop at Williams, but at Flagstaff, so we'll have to drive back there and figure out how to turn in the car and find a place to crash until time for the 4:30 AM train. Anyone here know how safe it is for two old folks toting luggage to walk from a nearby hotel to the Amtrak station in Flagstaff at 3 AM? Still stewing over this kink in the plan.
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I know that area pretty well...which hotel are you staying at, have you already booked one?
__________________
“We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
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07-26-2023, 10:11 AM
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#35
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SageRpod
The Grand Canyon Railroad is a lot of fun and an enjoyable ride. If it were me, I would hitch up and head west with the Escape.
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We're going to take the GCRR from Williams to the GC and back, and spend a couple of nights in the GC Village.
We're taking the train out west this time. Nowhere as convenient as towing your own cabin, but considerably less time, and I do like trains—always have.
We'll be taking the Escape down to Virginia for Thanksgiving (hoping to stop in PA at the East Broad Top RR). Toying with continuing on to Florida. . .
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07-26-2023, 10:16 AM
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#36
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJoe
I know that area pretty well...which hotel are you staying at, have you already booked one?
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Coordinating rental car agency pick-up and drop-off with train times wasn't working out, so likely we'll just get a hotel near the airport (drop-off) and try to get a taxi to the RR station c. 3am. Open to other ideas, though.
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07-26-2023, 10:25 AM
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#37
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Mount Vernon, Washington
Trailer: 2013 Escape 15 B. Room4Two
Posts: 444
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike G
What about shipping the trailer out and back on a separate freight train? Just a wild thought, not advocating.
Mapping it out, I see it's 2600 miles and (estimated) 39 hours by a direct route. Yeah, that's quite a ways. If I were going to take a trip of that distance, I would look for things I'd like to see or do at daily (or semi-daily) intervals along the way. I'd treat the trip as a vacation to see all those places, so each day could potentially feel sort of like a destination. And I'd leave the trip open-ended; if I get to a certain point in the trip and change my mind about continuing on, I'd simply start back; any reservations made at hard-to-get-into western parks could be cancelled (a partial loss, but not much money in the grand scheme of things). That way there isn't a sense of pressure, of "we have to get there even though we no longer feel like it". In other words, I'd lose myself in each day's adventure and not think of it as "a whole month of this stuff". Footloose and fancy-free is the way to be. Getting up every morning and saying, "What do I feel like doing today? Do I feel the urge to put on some miles? Or shall I lounge around, or what?"
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Exactly
We are doing exactly that to see Idaho in a few weeks. No time schedule, some destinations, but loose as a goose. Get tired stop a couple days Explore, move on.
Nothing you do will be perfect. I would take my camper over a train any day.
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07-26-2023, 10:49 AM
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#38
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: South Lake Tahoe, California
Trailer: 2017 5.0
Posts: 524
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLynn
Coordinating rental car agency pick-up and drop-off with train times wasn't working out, so likely we'll just get a hotel near the airport (drop-off) and try to get a taxi to the RR station c. 3am. Open to other ideas, though.
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Well my other idea was to stay at one of the hotels that are just a couple blocks from the station, but now that I think about it and remembering the last time I was there, that area right around the train tracks is not the best or safest area to be walking at 3 am with your stuff. So I think I like your idea better...
__________________
“We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
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07-26-2023, 10:52 AM
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#39
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2020
Location: Overbrook, Kansas
Trailer: 2021 E19 (Padawan)
Posts: 2,064
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We love both the train and ferries. Fast enough to get somewhere, slow enough to soak some in, and comfortable enough to relax. We only fly when really needed.
We have a future Alaska plan that is a few rental cars, limited hotels, lots of trains and ferries, and some backpack gear.
We do travel several months a year with the Escape. We “camp” travel moving at a slow pace. We don’t often just go hang out at one of the local lakes “camping.”
We do travel fairly structured. I plan trips ahead. I don’t enjoy looking for places to stay while traveling. We stay in an area awhile, so we day trip to things that pop up. We schedule days for things that are unscheduled as well as rest and chores. We seldom drive back to back days. In this day and age, some things we want to see take reservations a year out or we won’t get to see them. Typically we move 200 miles at a time and day trip up to 100 miles in any direction. It easily takes us 4 weeks to cross MO, TN, and get back to NE KS for example.
Some folks by choice or need do it differently.
__________________
Randy & Barb
1998 C 2500 (Cruncher) and 2021 Ranger (Yoda)
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07-26-2023, 10:52 AM
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#40
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghosthunter
Exactly
We are doing exactly that to see Idaho in a few weeks. No time schedule, some destinations, but loose as a goose. Get tired stop a couple days Explore, move on.
Nothing you do will be perfect. I would take my camper over a train any day.
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I agree that Mike G's approach is the ideal one, if you're traveling: footloose and fancy free. Not for me these days, maybe for no good reasons, but here I am.
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