26-27 July
We had an afternoon four hour flight from Panama City to Atlanta, Georgia. Our last flight, before arriving back in Europe. This allowed us to enjoy a leisurely morning croissant and purchase something at the patisserie to eat later, on the plane.
Our taxi to Panama’s Tocumen International Airport passed the city’s high rise apartments and office buildings, that we had seen on the skyline from our hotel, on a fast, raised highway and took little more than 20 minutes.
At the airport, we had to go through a second security control to enter the gate. This meant that we couldn’t have drinking fluids until we were on board the plane. With excessive temperatures, especially on the jetty, this is a practice regulators will need to rethink.
We flew across the Caribbean, skirting Cuban airspace, marvelling at the long sandy beaches and waterways near Panama City, Florida! We saw our last views of the Pacific Ocean, the permanent backdrop to our travels for the last 2 months, that is, apart from diversions to the Canadian Rockies, Monteverde and the Grand Canyon.
Wow, this reinforced to us that we’re about to embark on the homeward stretch along, and across the Atlantic, after we leave New Orleans in a few days’ time. We had swum recently in the beautiful blue and warm waters of the Pacific. It was easy to forget the cold weather of the Northern Pacific, as we left Yokohama, heading North.
When we landed, Atlanta’s, Hartfield-Jackson International Airport was pretty empty. It took fifteen minutes to walk to Border Control and only two minutes to get through it. No forms to complete, a delight and, of course, no further wait for our luggage, after such a long walk.
We were in mid-town Atlanta much sooner than we had expected, with time to check-out tomorrow morning’s walk to the Amtrak station. We even found a Mexican restaurant for some sustenance. We almost thought we were still in Central America as Spanish worked better with the serving staff than English!
Our station was the other side of a six-lane road bridge crossing a twelve-lane and four-lane highway, so really easy to walk to. An inspired overnight selection by Peter.
…just over the bridge… Busy highway
Our Amtrak train, number 19, The Crescent, was coming from New York and was nearly two hours late leaving Atlanta. We had upgraded to a roomette, courtesy of the voucher we received on account of our severely delayed train from Flagstaff to LA. We won’t forget in a hurry, trying to sleep overnight on the wooden benches in Flagstaff station!
VIP waiting area All aboard
The Amtrak trains in the East are slightly different, a single decker, with a toilet and wash hand basin in each roomette. The biggest difference, for which we were unprepared, was the lack of dining car and the use of pre-prepared, prepackaged food. All the lunch and dinner options contained garlic, except for the brownies!
We had eaten so well on the West Coast trains, this came as something of a shock. This was Lynne’s first day without the after-effects of food poisoning. She was obliged to eat a Greek salad without dressing and olives for lunch, and a cheeseburger for dinner (dry – no relish), from the cafe menu! We shall be better prepared for our return leg in four day’s time, which will be a longer journey.
‘Like a chemistry experiment Dry ‘burger – no garlic
Private roomette Private facility
Our thirteen-hour journey arrived just after 11pm, and by the time we got our rucksacks, it was midnight before we arrived at our small hotel in New Orlean’s French Quarter. The area was alive with music and people enjoying a few drinks. That would wait ‘till tomorrow.
