The California Zephyr runs from Chicago to Sacramento. We rode from Chicago to Reno, where we got off the train to spend the day. We had an extended stopover in Denver, which seems to be experiencing an urban revival in the area surrounding the station. The station has been recently renovated and is lovely. To the west, significant urban residential construction is taking place.

I also had a good view of something we see frequently as we pass through the back yards of America — homeless encampments. These encampments are visible on all train routes. When I see them outside a back fence of some suburban neighborhood, I often wonder in the homeowner is aware of their outside the fence on the railroad side neighbor.

Denver’s Union Station:

The sculpture at Denver’s Union Station (and our train):

Denver construction.

The front of the train:

You can just see the back of the train (and, of course, Mr. L).

I like the mountain and the sky in this shot:

See the wires? Those are rock slide sensors designed to alert the railroads in time to stop trains from being crushed.

 

I had to show you some snow. And how about those snow-capped mountains in the distance?

 

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. This is the final entry in the challenge, but if you don’t want to lose track of this blog, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.