On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter Greg in PDX.
My Back-pack, Train/Bus Tour Around The US. I set off Jun 1 from Portland, OR. 4 days Amtrak and Greyhound to Binghamton NY
Portland Amtrak Station
Taken on 2018-06-01
Portland, OR
This train station opened in 1896 and still serves Portland today. The Empire Builder (which I took) starts here…..
Empire Builder Lounge Car
Taken on 2018-06-02
Somewhere in Montana
This was my home for 4 days…I ate and slept here and met a lot of really interesting people……
Big Sky Country
Taken on 2018-06-02
Montana
View of Montana from the Empire Builder Lounge Car
Susquehanna River
Taken on 2018-06-05
Binghamton NY
This river runs right through Binghamton NY
Phelps Mansion Museum, Binghamton NY
Taken on 2018-06-10
Binghamton, NY
Downtown
Taken on 2018-06-11
Binghamton NY
Downtown Binghamton NY
Thank you so much Greg in PDX, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
OzarkHillbilly
My 5 decade old memories of travels on a train are full of nostalgia. My 3-4 decade old memories of travel via bus are full of horror stories. Except for my Mexico bus trip. On that one all those horrors were just part of the adventure.
Ohio Mom
Like a lot of people, I’ve always fantasized about taking a train across the country. Nice to have a moment to do so vicariously. Especially since I woke up way before I wanted to and can’t fall back asleep.
J R in WV
Sweet, taking the trains all the way across. I have some close friends who did this all the way.
We’ve done it from Seattle to Portland (with a drive up the coast) then to San Francisco, John Muir Redwood Forest, the harbor in SF, good food. Then the train again to Glenwood Springs CO, then across the Front Range from Glenwood Springs to Denver, visited museums, enjoyed that urban experience. This was all back in 1987 or so, our first real vacation trip.
Your pics are great fun, and help us imagine the trip across the continent!! What a great trip!
Thanks for posting!
JPL
I visited Binghamton 40 years ago, and it looks the same. Thanks for the photos.
debbie
All you need to do to remember all your train memories is see one of those benches. I’ve spent hours on them.
rikyrah
Loved the pictures. One of my favorite trips was when my whole family went West on the Empire Builder. The whole family- we were going to a family reunion in Seattle. We were 75 strong. It was so much fun. They didn’t get a lot of Black people on that route, so we sort of were a shock to people ?
Amir Khalid
Binghamton, New York was depicted in a first-season episode of The X-Files that I saw 25 years ago. It was shot in some obscure corner of Vancouver that looked nothing like these beautiful photos.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
VERY cool.
MelissaM
Love the shot of the old station. They had a beauty!
I just took the Southwest Chief to/from the Grand Canyon, and on the way back, there was a very pissy lounge car worker saying that you could not sleep there, could not store your bags there, etc.
stinger
Great photos, and what a wonderful way to travel! I’ve only ridden on trains when in England, but I’ve always wanted to take an Amtrak ride somewhere.
Barbara
What a great trip! This is such a neat thing to do if you have the time to do it. The longest we’ve ever done is DC to Minneapolis via Chicago.
Steve in the ATL
Looks like a fun trip!
Though your photo selection suggests that there is nothing worth seeing between North Dakota and New York. There are a lot of Chicago natives here who might take offense….
Barbara
@Steve in the ATL: You have to remember that at least half the trip took place when it was too dark to take photos!
kattails
Thanks Greg, I’ve always wanted to do this. Good photos. That old Amtrak station looks gorgeous.
I’m old enough to remember when sleeper cars were common, curtained berths and all. I just googled “train with sleeping kitten” and got Chessie, the mascot for the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, a memory from my childhood.
Origuy
I took Amtrak from San Jose to Tacoma one time. The Coast Starlight left SJ in the evening and passed Mount Shasta around sunrise, which was gorgeous. Then you go through the Cascades in the afternoon. The coach seat was comfortable enough to sleep in, but the tracks are not in great shape. From Sacramento I was dreaming of being in an earthquake.
J R in WV
We had a sleeping compartment between Portland and San Francisco. I splurged and got a family room, with a double bed. After dinner, when we got back downstairs to the bedroom, there was champagne, the bed was made and turned down, it was actually swell. Don’t know if it’s still like that.
I can’t sleep sitting up… but I slept well in the bed that night, all tucked in.
Greg in PDX
@Steve in the ATL: It was night for most of the ND to Chicago trip….I was only in Union Station for a few hour then it was night again out of Chicago! I lived in Chicago for 5 years so I just crashed in the day lounge…It was $20 but well worth it!…