Palm Springs to Tucson on the Sunset Limited

Friday, Jaunary 8, 2010, 4:50pm, Palm Springs Amtrak Station; Having spent the day running between movies at the Palm Springs Intl Film Festival, we had barely enough time to grab a dinner at 'Jack in the box' to eat on the train. Figuring from our previous experience we figured the train would be around 30minutes late, so we decided to picum-nicum on the station platform until some one yelled “It's coming round the bend now” Oh Christ, I'm gobbling down fast food...Train stops and people begin to move, faster, faster, chew, chew... people began to board. Stuffing food for chewing later I continued forward. The conductor asked me which destination and I had no room for words to make the 5 inches from the back of my throat to my lips they were so stuffed with food. Looking like a chipmunk in September, I grabbed my tickets and stuffed them Into his hands. He gives me a strange but mildly empathetic nod and guided us to our seats.

5:30pm and on-time the Palm Springs to Tucson segment of the Sunset Limited rolls toward Tuscon seven hours to the southeast. Running at night, the Limited passes through the desert towns which we can only see twinkling across the landscape as we head into the night for a 1:05am arrival in Tucson. Since we traveled in the dark there wasn't much to see but from the lights off in the distance it was obvious the terrain is flat and extends far out from the train tracks so perhaps it was a good choice to travel at night as we gather there's not much to see but Mexico twinkling far off in the night. The seven hour trip was grueling in coach, more so for Bob who is 6'2” and a man who does not contort very well in the contours of the coach seats so he tossed and turned throughout the trip trying to get comfortable. The next time we do this, anything over a five hour duration will mandate a sleeper coach so we can stretch out and relax. Nice idea but practicality says on runs less than 24 hours the proper traveler joins the little people in th evack of the train, While Bob did complain about the lack of sleeping comforts compared to what we had experienced on previous segments Amtrak of the journey where we had sleeping accommodations, he didn't realize he was snoring most of the way.

We had also encountered another 'gabber' coach person who never stopped talking. Imagine someone jumping up and down in a crowd yelling your name all the while everybody else is looking at you wondering who the heck is that person yelling for. Well, we no sooner sat down than a women turned from her seat with bulging eyes glaring and yelled out, “Weren't you the guys who traveled from LA to Palm Springs on the same train I did? Sure you were. Don't you remember me?” I held my breath hoping he wouldn't do it but, no, Bob speaks up and says, “Oh, yeah, you were heading to Tucson to visit your sister?” “That's right” she beams back and then jumps out of her seat and stands in the aisle next to us asking us a bazillion questions. “Oy Vey!” Kindness to strangers can get to be a bit taxing at times but... we chatted and then were lucky enough that she pulled the ear off of a forlorn young gentleman sitting aside of us who was as gregarious as she and wanted to tell her about his tales of woe having just been dumped by his girlfriend. So she found a new traveling companion and it wasn't long before they bounded down the aisle together to the snack car where they could chew each other's ears off. When our train arrived in Tucson, we purposefully grabbed our gear and sped off the train to avoid being stopped to rattle on and out of the station we dragged our luggage and headed to our hotel which was conveniently located directly across the street. Believe me when I say, at 1:00am there are few other criteria beyond convenient one can be thankful for when finding accommodations at that hour.

Saturday, January 9, 2010, Tucson, AZ, 1:05am; The Hotel Congress is stumble-drunk-into-the-front-lobby-convenient to the train station and we thought a historic hotel would be fun. It's a great idea to try and save these old buildings and to give guests a chance to step back to the golden age of train travel. The Hotel Congress is owned by a young team who have really done an outstanding job of turning the public spaces into restaurants, and bars with a variety of energy and entertainment venues. Be sure and specify a room well away from the noise of these venues or pick-up a pair of ear-plugs from the front desk as the bar patrons party until after 1am.

Had the box springs on the beds not been torn and dingy looking and rodent traps not found under the bed, we would have nothing else to complain about. We would have liked a TV in the room only to watch to wind down after the long train ride. Friday, Jan 9, 2010, we found out the the room we were promised which was away from the noise and chatter was not what we were given. Bob went down to the manager that morning and spoke to her about it and told her we were checking out a day early but wondered if the payment for that could be applied to our return visit on the thirteenth. She was very accommodating so we didn't lose the cost for the one night. After checking out we grabbed our rental car and headed to Phoenix. That way we could see the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe which we did not think we'd have enough time to do. Now we would.

We had a rental car delivered from Enterprise rent-a-car, which is a very convenient way to obtain transportation in, through and around a strange city. By 11:30am we were heading North East from Tucson to explore the back roads from Tucson to Phoenix. If we have the time, we prefer scenic back roads to the faster, more sterile Interstate Highways. So today we decided to take State Route 79 to 77 then take US 60 into Phoenix.

I think we were prepared to be wowed but this was beyond our wildest imagination. Shortly after heading North on 77, the road parallels the front line of the mountains delivering vistas which are almost other wordly. A few miles further rolling hills begin to stretch east to west from foothills to foothills with low rise houses tucked into each valley and hilltop.

Soon we leave this behind to be replaced by cactus, sage brush and little else in the vast empty spaces of sunshine and desert. About 30 miles out of Tucson we see the sign for 'Biosphere 2'. I've been a science and technology junkie all my life and remembered very well the experiments in the early 90's where a team of Scientist were sealed away for 2 years in this self-contained environment... I had to see this! Long story made a little shorter, we spent about 2 hours at Biosphere taking a full tour and being totally amazed at 'Big Science' in action. Bob was prepared to be bored but when he saw all the plants and environments he was asking all kinds of great questions of the tour guide and was totally enthralled by the entire facility.

Follow the link to Biosphere 2 for more information on this amazing place on the cutting edge of environmental science. biosphere 2

We continue on route 77 being amazed by each new vista and other earthly skylines full of mesa's, pinnacles, valleys and horizons that are as tortured as a rusted old whip-saw blade.

As 77 begins to head northwest the highway passes through the Saguro National Park bringing back memories of those cowboy movies from the 50's and the huge cactus with their arms upraised. Some of these cactus are gigantic and beyond anything we have ever seen or even imagined. Mile after mile across undulating hills and extending along mountain tops, these magnificent and endangered species are making their last stand in these hills.

The road splits in Haynes becoming route 79 as it heads more northwest toward city of Mesa. Just out of Haynes we spot an unusual mesa which is the size of a mountain but appears man-made. A few miles up the road we see one which runs for miles in several directions. Bewildered by what mining process could create spoil heaps this large, we finally come to an observation sight where all is made clear as we peer down into one of the largest holes on earth, the ASARCO copper mines abound which are enormous beyond description. We see a huge digging machine nearby and another one across the great pit but the latter looks like a Tonka toy in comparison because it's so far across the other side of this gigantic pit. I'm very sure the local environmentalist fight a huge battle with the ASARCO over these operations. But it is clear, the environmentalist are not winning as man made mesas are popping up along the desert landscape to stockpile the rock byproduct of the copper mining operations.

Just beyond the copper pit mines, the road climbs steeply and at a point where it seems it will explode right out of the mountain top, a vista opened that was so vast and beautiful only one word comes to mind,...'Spiritual'. It is very clear why the Native Americans so revered this land. It is a vista many have seen in travel posters but until you see it for yourself, a thousand pictures cannot express that feeling of coming through that pass in the mountains.

The drive into Phoenix was uneventful compared to what we had already seen. Settled for the night, we took out the maps and began to plan for the trip tomorrow up to the Grand Canyon. This will be Bob's second trip there and my first and it is hard to sleep thinking about it.