Iron Spike

On the face of it Iron Spike Brewing Company, situated in a historic fire station, seemed like a good dinner venue. What we didn't know was that it was participating in a fundraiser that involved a huge, noisy crowd combined with loud, bad music. The food wasn't great either. To be fair the service was good, my basil lemonade spritz was okay (I was thirsty), and the space itself was interesting.

Glimpses of Galesburg

Heading out to dinner we saw a little more of Downtown Galesburg in the evening light...

Galesburg Holiday Inn

I suppose this was the best pool of the trip since it's the only one I actually used. The Galesburg, IL Holiday Inn Express was on the whole pretty good, a very different experience from The Great House but still a good place to unwind after a few days on the train.

Cornucopia

One of the absolute highlights of our revisit to Galesburg, IL was setting foot in Cornucopia Natural Market & Deli and discovering that it is a first rate health food store just steps away from the Amtrak station and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. This made an already user-friendly town even more user-friendly. It's a large, pleasant space with clean restrooms and a fantastic deli featuring a variety of Indian curry dishes and a memorable "eggless egg salad". Also, the service was friendly and informative, making this one of the best lunches of the trip.

elk alert

 

It was announced that a herd of elk was visible on one side of the train. If you look closely above you can see a few elk. The photo below doesn't have any elk but I like it anyway since it captures the spirit of that moment (it was taken four seconds after the first).

Lamy to Las Vegas

A familiar stretch of scenery, and a glimpse of something we would experience at the end of the trip. As the saying goes, Viva Las Vegas, New Mexico.

L.A. to Albuquerque, part 2

As I recall I couldn't argue with this combination of roomette, scenery, sunrise and reading material. One hopes it worked for Mrs. as well.