8th May:

We were awake early again this morning so I was up and raring to go at 3.30 a.m.!

Si’s currently watching Millwall versus Blackburn Rovers on the TV! Just can’t escape the footie. 😔

We’ve already taken our cases over to the Hoodoo Hotel. They had to be there by 11.00 a.m. That’s where the Rocky Mountaineer staff have two rooms to meet the passengers and to hand out boarding passes and baggage tags. That hotel is only about 150 yards from our hotel so we’re just able to walk them over.

Cases in waiting!

A thank you goes out to our friend Ann regarding hotels. You were right, it was a very easy walk over to the Hoodoo and as we were out so early there wasn’t anyone about. Your advice was spot on! 🥰

The cases do not travel with us on the train but go on ahead by road so they are in our room waiting for us when we arrive at tonight’s hotel, the Hotel Denver in Glenwood Springs.

It’s important to make sure we have everything we are going to need during the day in our hand baggage plus we were told to carry any valuables etc. with us.

It’s just like flying!

Dress onboard is casual but is that casual casual or business casual? Who knows! It took me about six changes this morning before I could decide what to wear. We’ve been told to dress in layers and to take a light waterproof jacket as the temperatures can vary from hot to cold. I’m assuming they are referring to when we may be standing out on the viewing areas. 🤷‍♀️ I’m not anticipating that the train will be roofless!! 😂🌞❄️

When we arrive in Glenwood Springs this evening the train will stop right outside the hotel so we’ll just have a short walk from the station.

We were advised to just have a light breakfast as our first meal on the train will be lunch so that’s just what we did.

Train passengers in waiting!

View from the breakfast terrace

It feels very strange not having a car waiting for us in the car park, we feel kind of rudderless. 😂

We’ve got late check-out as we are not being picked-up from the Hoodoo Hotel until 1.15 p.m. so I think now’s the time to take a stroll along the shops just in case I’ve missed something I would like to buy! 😂

After our short, but successful shopping trip, we made our way to the Hoodoo Hotel and  met some of our fellow passengers who all seem very nice.

The coach arrived to take us to the train and there was definitely a sense of excitement in the air as we boarded for our short trip to the siding where our train was waiting.

All aboard!

Our first day on the Rocky Mountaineer has been nothing short of just wonderful and has exceeded our expectations. Everyone in our carriage are really friendly and we all got on like a house on fire and look forward to the second leg of our trip to Denver tomorrow.

In order to do the trip justice we will prepare a special post to cover the whole trip and will post that later in the week. In the meantime ………………

Cheers!

and goodnight from Glenwood Springs. 😴