Continuing my posts in chronological order…

While there was a bit of confusion starting off at the Fairmont, it was smooth sailing or should I say chugging, once we got on the train. Now we were in the Gold Leaf car which I debated and researched before booking and reviews were mixed but I decided to splurge and I have to say it was worth it!

We had assigned seats so there was no jockeying. We found our seats and settled in. We were immediately introduced to the team on our car – Brandi, David, Megan and Alex. The took such great car of us, they definitely made the trip that much worthwhile and I am sure I will rave about them later in this post.

On the lower level was our dining car that sat only half of the group from above so while you waited for breakfast you had fresh scones and coffee and for the lunch wait there was wine and cheese. The food was AMAZING. There are actually chefs on board and they were wonderful with my gluten-free request, even making me a gluten-free cookie for a snack after a delay! Did I mention too that the spirits, wine and beer were unlimited? I enjoyed some west coast wine, Bailey’s on the rocks and even a gin and tonic as we rolled west.

Of course the trip was more about the scenery than the food and it too was superb. The teams servicing the cars have it down to a complete science radioing to each other when animals are spotted. Over the two days we saw a grizzly bear, a black bear, eagles, salmon, and elk. Sadly most of the pictures of the animals are fuzzy blobs so I don’t have any proof!

I have over 700 photos so I can’t share them all but have selected a few of my favourites!