Murphy's Law

Murphy was on this first tour ... Murphy's Law, that is. What could go wrong with the train did. We didn't have air conditioning for most tof the trip, a passenger was taken off the train for dehydration. We had to stop the train in the middle of nowhere becuase the guy drank many a bottles of wine the night before and he hadn't been drinking any water. We were 12 hours behind on our way to the grand canyon because we had troubles gettting the Amtrak crew here on time, then we had mechanical issues. We then decided to have our day on the rails on the grand canyon day instead of the day after. We were then traveling through the Mojave desert in the scorching heat. It was record temps in Las Vegas. I took a group to the Valley of Fire in 105 temperatures. We cut the tour short because the bus's air conditiong couldn't keep up with the heat. We then got back to the train after it was sitting in the heat, and it wasn't any better. Needless to say, we had a lot of passengers who were unhappy with the train experience. The good thing about the tour was that many of the passengers said the tours and train service was the best they ever experienced.

Oh, and on the second day of the tour, I was yelled at by one of the guests because he wanted to sit up front on the bus tour. He told me that people are selfish and that I need to get a backboneto keep the same people from sitting up front. And he said that these people were too fat and needed nutri system to be on tour. The funny thing was he was always sitting near the front. I had to move him a few times because he would park himself in the front seat where the local guides needed to be. He didn't like me all that much. His wife did tell me that he had a rough year with his health and that he wasn't himself. That made me much more understanding.

Then we started our second tour, and we were to begin moving by 7p.m. but we didn't leave until midnight because Amtrak derailed one of its engines while trying to get us going. And since the train is split in two while parked in Albuquerque, guests had to cross the tracks to get to theh dining cars. Then when they were attaching the train, some were stranded in one side of the train for a couple hours.

Yesterday's tour of Bandelier National Monument went really well, and everyone enjoyed the Pueblo cliff dwellings. We then went into Santa Fe. We do have people with mobility issues that are pitching fits. On the first night one woman told me that she's never walked so much in her life trying to get from one place to another and that the halls of the train were too narrow. I guess some don't realize when the brochure says you need to be mobile to ride the train, they don't believe it. The train does rock and roll and we're seeing a lot of remote areas where walking is involved.

I'm still having a great time. The few odd balls are not ruining the tours. I've met some very lovely people that roll with the punches. There are those that have fun stories, good humor and adventurous attitudes. Those are the ones I visit with the most, but unfortunately the ones that yell at you make the strongest impressions.

I've written this in between talking to guests, so I hope it makes some sense. Look for pix after June 2.