We are at home now and have become evangelists for seeing the country by train; you can relax and see America out the window while avoiding driving, interstates and the same chain restaurants. I still have some paintings I want to create (from my photos) and share with you over the next couple of weeks. I will post them in the order we traveled: the train from Seattle to Los Angeles, a couple of scenes from L.A., and finally our train trip from L.A. to Chicago across the heartland of America.
The Coast Starlight is the Amtrak train which took us from Seattle to Los Angeles. It travels for a couple of hours through the Salinas Valley, where agriculture bring in $9 billion each year. Strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, and spinach are the dominant crops in the valley, as well as broccoli, cauliflower, wine grapes, artichokes, and celery. Due to the intensity of local agriculture, the area has earned itself the nickname “America’s Salad Bowl.”
