Continuing from my previous post, number 5 is Railbookers, the Amtrak travel agent and the one I used. I asked them to do something out of the ordinary and they did the best job they could. I don’t know how they would have done if I had just done a canned trip.

Communication was the problem. I didn’t make myself clear as to what was important to me and I didn’t check the itinerary close enough. If I had I would have noticed that I was on the train at night in the northwest and would miss all the views and I would have caught that I would be on a bus. Both could have been changed if caught early. Unfortunately I didn’t get the vouchers until the day before I left and the advance trip details were not clear.

Lessons learned for next time. I still would have used them for the initial trip because it was very complicated. But next time I go I will do the planning myself.