Lane87
New member
After living overseas for the last 3 years and seeing a few different Asian countries my wife and I decided it's time to plan a trip and see the U.S.
We are originally from small town Indiana/ Illinois. I have never been farther west than St. Louis. We are now living in Pennsylvania and seeing a new area has us both inspired to explore everything else our country has to offer.
I heard a story on NPR that got me thinking.. They said that with rising air fare prices that it is more cost and time effective to take a train for trips under 400 miles. Then the interviewee said that Amtrak has a rail pass that allows you to ride 8 segments in 15 days for $439 or 12 segments in 30 days for $669. A segment meaning travel on one train or bus without having to get off.. The thought of traveling across the country by train seems like the most epic way to see America I can think of.
We will be "backpacking" the trip and camping as much as possible. The plan is to decide on a few places to spend a few nights. So far we want to spend a couple nights in Chicago visiting my sister. Then a few nights in the Denver area.. Where else do you guys think we could stop and have decently close options for camping? I'm thinking we'll want to spend the majority of the time in California..
The California Zephyr travels from Chicago to San Fransisco via Denver and is the most scenic route. From there we could either go north to Seattle and across the top of the country back to Chicago or South to LA then across to New Orleans and up to DC. Which route back do you guys think would be a more interesting view?
We will likely be making this trip at the beginning of next summer. I know this trip is going to take a crazy amount of planning to pull off but I think it can be done for pretty cheap after the rail pass fee.. Any advice on train riding or places to see are greatly appreciated.
We are originally from small town Indiana/ Illinois. I have never been farther west than St. Louis. We are now living in Pennsylvania and seeing a new area has us both inspired to explore everything else our country has to offer.
I heard a story on NPR that got me thinking.. They said that with rising air fare prices that it is more cost and time effective to take a train for trips under 400 miles. Then the interviewee said that Amtrak has a rail pass that allows you to ride 8 segments in 15 days for $439 or 12 segments in 30 days for $669. A segment meaning travel on one train or bus without having to get off.. The thought of traveling across the country by train seems like the most epic way to see America I can think of.
We will be "backpacking" the trip and camping as much as possible. The plan is to decide on a few places to spend a few nights. So far we want to spend a couple nights in Chicago visiting my sister. Then a few nights in the Denver area.. Where else do you guys think we could stop and have decently close options for camping? I'm thinking we'll want to spend the majority of the time in California..
The California Zephyr travels from Chicago to San Fransisco via Denver and is the most scenic route. From there we could either go north to Seattle and across the top of the country back to Chicago or South to LA then across to New Orleans and up to DC. Which route back do you guys think would be a more interesting view?
We will likely be making this trip at the beginning of next summer. I know this trip is going to take a crazy amount of planning to pull off but I think it can be done for pretty cheap after the rail pass fee.. Any advice on train riding or places to see are greatly appreciated.
