We slept much better last night; probably due to smoother and straighter rails. I awoke at 5:30 am (local time – CDT) and decided to get up and shower and get ready for the day. Mom followed shortly afterward.

We had an early breakfast so we could take advantage of the lack of crowds in the Activity and Dome Cars. We sat with another “ILEAD” couple from New Hampshire, Jan and Wayne. He’s an Annapolis grad and also a USMC retired officer. But she (and he, to some extent) has been doing genealogy, so when she saw Mom’s embroidered sweatshirt with the genealogy logo, she inquired if Mom was “into genealogy.” You all know the answer to that question, as well as the consequence of asking it. Ha! We talked about genealogy and the military, but agreed to continue our conversations later so we could free the table for others waiting for breakfast seating.

Mom went up in the observation portion of the Dome Car and listened to her audio books while she watched the passing scenery. I set up the computer in the lower lounge portion and began a draft of my complaint letter to the Canadian railroad company, as well as starting today’s blog entry. While I was there, Wayne (the retired Marine we met during breakfast) stopped in looking for snacks, so we had time to trade a few “war stories.”

We had lunch with the American woman, Linda, and her father, Hugh, who we met yesterday. The lunch crowd was small today because many passengers were departing in Edmonton, so there wasn’t the opportunity to sit with many who we hadn’t already met.

After lunch at the station in Edmonton (on the train, but sitting an a siding near the station), we returned to the observation section to check out the dramatic change in scenery. It was no longer flat and agricultural, but had changed to rolling terrain covered with trees and ponds and lakes and rivers.

We had a couple of more traffic delays that caused us to fall farther behind our schedule. So upon arrival in Jasper, Alberta Province, I contacted the airline and changed our flight for tomorrow afternoon. We’re now booked on one that leaves Vancouver, British Columbia, two hours later than originally planned, but still connect with our original flight from Seattle to Pasco. Hopefully, the train will make up an hour or more to give us a little breathing room to get from the Vancouver train station to the airport. Since it’s an international flight we can’t check in any later than one hour prior to departure, so a little extra time will be appreciated.

We dined this evening while sitting on the train stopped in the Jasper station. Our table companions were Canadians from Montreal who are headed to Victoria, British Columbia, to visit children and grandchildren and celebrate a grandchild’s birthday. We immediately began talking about our trips and travel plans and forgot, again, to introduce ourselves, so we don’t know their names. But he’s old enough to have lived, as a child, in London during WW II and related some of his experiences.

We’re now sitting on a siding outside (west) of Jasper waiting for yet another freight train to pass. It’s the most frustrating aspect of our trip, because we have a set schedule to get us home and it’s pretty much out of our control. But we’ve already realized that we are on the way home and that there are other flights to get us there if we miss our scheduled flights. But changes don’t come without cost, and that’s another consideration. Nope, money doesn’t grow on trees.

I’ll close for today/tonight. When we awaken tomorrow morning we’ll have a better idea of how much frustration or chaos is in store for us.