The Rocky Mountaineer arrives at Glenwood Springs station for the second day of our trip from Moab to Denver.

The flags on the train had been changed to the US and Colorado ones. The red carpet was once again rolled out and the staff waved us on our way.

As we had arrived before anyone else we were able to have our photographs taken on the train steps without anyone else around.

Our second day on the Rocky Mountaineer started later than anticipated due to maintenance work on the tracks. This means we had lunch and dinner on the train instead of breakfast and lunch.

We had left our cases in the hotel room and would be reunited with them once we arrived in Denver.

I was talking to a very nice lady on the platform called Tracey who works for Rocky Mountaineer and was telling her about our delayed adventure from 2021 and amazingly she knew who I was! When I mentioned our Golden Wedding Anniversary she said “Oh, it’s you!” She had seen our name on the passenger list and how our trip had been cancelled and then rolled over twice.

We left Glenwood Springs through Glenwood Canyon.

Zach came to tell us about the route for the day and said we would reach a maximum of 9200 feet above sea level and after the Moffat Tunnel which is 6.2 miles (10km) long and cuts deep through the Continental Divide and would take approximately 15 minutes to travel through, we would then pass through 28 tunnels covering 17 miles! The tunnels were built in 1906 and cost $490 million!

The Rocky Mountaineer travels higher than any other train in the U.S. and even higher than some planes do.

We had to stop just once on the journey and that was to let an oil train pass by but we didn’t have to wait too long.

We had two lovely surprises while on the train. 

On day one, we were were given the opportunity to order Rocky Mountaineer merchandise and those who know me well know that this is not an opportunity I was likely to miss.

There was one item in particular I wanted and that was the most beautiful hand-painted Christmas tree ornament but sadly, this was the one item that had to be ordered and posted to the buyer and it is not currently possible for it to be posted outside the U.S. Well, to say I was very disappointed is an understatement.

When we joined the train next morning, Sandy and Alice, two lovely ladies we met yesterday and had great fun with, told us they had heard us talking and could tell how disappointed I was about the ornament and so had ordered one for us and would post it to us once it was received!

Well, as you can imagine, we were absolutely stunned. In addition, they refused to accept payment for the ornament or the postage.

Many thanks once again Sandy and Alice for your kindness.

People’s kindnesses never cease to amaze me!

The second surprise was when mimosas were served and everyone in our carriage toasted our 52nd wedding anniversary. Janet said she was so pleased we had eventually been able to make the trip. 🥂

If you’ve read Part 1 of our adventure you will remember that we collected our luggage labels from Deb in Moab. When we arrived to board the coach to take us to the train, we were told that she had left a card for us on the train. That was waiting for us when we boarded at Glenwood Springs and what she said in the card regarding our anniversary and the illness made us have a little cry. She was so kind. 

Once aboard brunch was served and later on, dinner. By this time I was so full I declined dinner and just had dessert. There’s only so much a girl can eat over two days. Si of course, managed to eat everything! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janet told us we would see some more ‘mooners’ so she had prepared some score cards so that we could all mark them out of 10 as we passed by! 😂

Once again, we saw some wonderful scenery, some of the canyon walls were 1300 feet tall and we even saw the lava from an old volcano.

When we reached Denver, everyone received an exclusive RTR (Red Rocks to the Rockies) pin to wear. These are only given to people who have travelled on the train. Everyone also received chocolate and a lovely card thanking them for travelling on the train but we received a special one for our Anniversary that said ‘Happy Anniversary! Thank you for celebrating on board Rocky Mountaineer’. Janet, Rae and Cheryl had all signed it. 

It’s the little things!

One thing that surprised as we approached Denver was how much graffiti there was. 

A coach was waiting to take us to Denver Union Station to collect our luggage and we were then off to the Grand Hyatt for the night before leaving next day for the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. 

We send a big ‘thank you’ to all the Rocky Mountaineer staff and all our fellow passengers for making this trip so memorable. It was the most wonderful way of celebrating our Golden Wedding Anniversary, albeit, two years late!!