Finally we're in the Rockies. Somehow I thought the ride through Glacier National Park would be more spectacular. It is nice, but not that dramatic (yes, I am a terribly spoilt child). It's raining. Just after crossing the Continental Divide, there's a rainbow to the north. It looks quite amazing. Definitely the highlight of the Rockies for me.

Soon after that I fall asleep. And I sleep all the way through that tiny little bit of northern Idaho (darn, I wanted to be able to say that I've seen at least a bit of Idaho). Again I wake up to the sunrise. It seems like I'm the only one awake on the train. I don't even know where we are at first. Checking the train schedule, adjusting my watch to Pacific Standard Time and a peek into my atlas, reveals we're somewhere in eastern Washington. It looks pretty. Funny, I never heard at uni that there were vineyards in Washington. There are. And orchards, too. We cross the Columbia River. Nature seems to be waking up right now.

I am just hours away from my destination. Too bad, I am enjoying this train so much. It doesn't feel like it's been almost 46 hours.

I think of all the places I passed as we're going south along the Pacific coast to Seattle. It is a lovely sunny morning. I see a dead seal on a rock on the beach. Wow, are those the Olympic Mountains?! And that must be Mt. Rainier! I think that's the first volcano I've seen in my life. It looks so mysterious, like it's not attached to the ground but floating in the air.

I'm getting excited and sad at the same time. I'm happy to reach Seattle, but don't want to leave the train.

- BR, 2004, Slovenia -

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