Hour 29: I’m starting to think I should have brought some food with me on this trip. The cafe food is maybe on par with gas station food at triple the price. The dining car food isn’t much more but the menu is remarkably similar to the cafe: hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. We stopped for 1.75 hrs in salt lake city at 3 AM, but the station was under a freeway and there was nothing around. Now were at grand junction, CO for 1.5 hours due to track maintenance in the Rockies. I walked 5 blocks to a gas station and stocked up on some bad food.

Hour 10.5: We had a long stop in the middle of nowhere, now a 40 minute stop in Winnemucca, NV. There was actually a basque restaurant across the street from the station (read: gravel lot) which gave me 4 beers for $8.

Train food has not impressed me yet, I think that was the worst bratwurst I’ve had. I was hoping for a gas station or grocery store, and had we stopped in Reno this long it would have been no problem. With my quick winnings at the craps table it might have been free.

Its interesting being on the other side of Donner pass looking at the interstate. we already passed the highest point of the trip, I guess its all downhill from here for the next 52 hours. The scenery is good, but Ive seen much of it before on trips to Reno/Tahoe.

Hour 3 outside of colfax, ca. I’ve gotten pretty constant Internet thus far. There are announcements about every 10 minutes with history and sights. Colfax is quaint mountian town.

Almost time for lunch.

I’m en route to Chicago from San Francisco (well, really Emeryville) to visit my brother. I’ve got my iphone which I hacked last night to allow my laptop to use the Internet via ad hoc wireless. I’ve got 3 full batteries, so we’ll see how long I can keep the trainblog going.

Hour 1: Left Emeryville. I could see the skyline, Berkeley marina, Carquinez straight and San Pablo bay. The ATM at the station qas broken so I had to rush out and find a gas station so I could eat for the next 55 hrs. We’ll see how on time this train thing is.

I am in Beijing China this week with a Berkeley studio that is working on transit oriented development in Jiaxing, a city outside of Beijing that sits on a proposed MagLev line. The food has been impressive (some meals come with more than 25 dishes) and we’ve been treated really well and are staying in fantastic hotels.