Well, FWIW, my wife and I have already changed our thinking for the next trip (from that mentioned in the Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago blog entries)!
Our present thinking has the following up for consideration:
Using North American Rail Passes, we will fly to Toronto and visit with some relatives then take VIA's The Canadian to Vancouver (thee nights on the train).
After a day or two in Vancouver we will take Amtrak (using a bus service provided by them) to Seattle and then the Coastal Starlight to Los Angeles with a day or two stop over in San Francisco (a good friend here).
A day or two in L.A. (with some more friends) and we'll take the Southwest Chief to Chicago for another day or two.
Then, the City of New Orleans to New Orleans for yet another day or two.
After all that, we'll fly home from N.O!
Of course, this is all a dream right now and is subject to all kinds of changes! But with any luck....
