By the time I reached the Portland, Oregon, Amtrak station on Tuesday afternoon, I had completed the drive from Crater Lake, boxed and mailed the items I had purchased during the trip that I didn’t want to carry with me on the train, cleaned up eight days of mostly living in my rental car and turned it into the Enterprise dealer in Portland, then gotten a free ride to the train station from Enterprise.
(BTW, my compliments to Enterprise for their service throughout the rental process. I’ve been using them for years and will continue to do so.) When we pulled into the station, I had to take a couple of pictures of the tasteful, old-fashioned building.
A few of the things I learned from using Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass are that service is, indeed, sometimes “you get what you pay for.” One has to ask for assistance that is regularly available with more expensive ticket options. I was lucky on the trip back that the staff at Portland went out of their way to get me seated in the lower car level, which is for those who need accessible seating. Also, the conductor of that section on the Portland to Chicago route made it his business to check on me at mealtimes to see if I needed anything. My appreciation for this kind of service only grew when I experienced the opposite quality of customer service elsewhere using the Rail Pass.
Considering all that had happened over the past eight days, I had expected to go to sleep immediately after I settled on the train. Instead, I got a number of photos of the woods and waters as the train passed by Mount Hood National Forest and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Then, yes, I was out for the count.
I woke up just in time to see the train reach the Amtrak station in Whitefish, Montana, one of the tourist towns bordering Glacier National Park. Having segments available on my USA Rail Pass actually gave me the option to depart the train and spend time at the park. However, between needing to be back in Washington, DC, by Friday and my lingering exhaustion, getting off the train was not going to happen that time. However, I got several pictures of the glaciers and scenery visible from the train (sorry, the window was kinda dirty, though). Some are below, and the rest are available at https://singin1.click/piwigo/index.php?/category/17:
Gerry, my youngest brother, picked me up from Union Station in Washington, and we tried to maneuver through the early Friday afternoon/weekend rush hour traffic towards North Carolina.
The party we attended the next afternoon was to celebrate and honor Frank E. Fortune as his 90th birthday approached. Mr. Fortune and his wife, Patricia, had been like second parents to my sibs and me.
He was one of the first African Americans who integrated the Greensboro, North Carolina, fire department in the 1960s and 70s. The city sent a representative to the party to present him a proclamation designating May 4th as “Frank E. Fortune Day.”
The surprise party took place at a local establishment, The Magnolia House Hotel, which was near the firehouse where Mr. Fortune had worked. As many times as I have passed the structure over the years, I’m embarrassed to admit that I had no idea of the role it played in American music history. The Magnolia House had served as a “home away from home” for a multitude of popular musicians who toured the “Chitlin’ Circuit” during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, when segregated accommodations refused housing or meals to African Americans.
I want to check further to see if there is more information available about this beyond the placard on display in the house.
The trip ended uneventfully (thank the Lord) on Sunday with a drive back to the DMV. I suspected that I would take advantage of the few days before I was scheduled to drive SB to Memphis, Tennessee, to present a paper in order to get some rest.
Sure I would!!
As always, I thank the Lord for granting me the stamina to make the trip, the damn good reflexes to steer the Silver Bullet (SB) as she needed to be guided, and the ability to enjoy His handiwork as it whizzes by my windshield.
I don’t have much to say about the drive from Lake Crater to Portland that doesn’t fall under “too much information.” Except that the music I played from the variety of playlists I have created over the years really made the difference in my ability to get everything done that I needed to do.
I am going to write an afterthoughts post next, so stand by.
