Follow the yellow brick road ..................

So not so bright but very early the next day I find myself back at the patch of concrete otherwise known as Williams Junction waiting to board the Southwest Chief once more, for the longest segment of my whole trip - I will be aboard for over 24 hours, covering 1293 miles and cannot wait to climb into my bed!  My Roomette is ready and waiting and I get straight to sleep.

There will be 2 time changes before I reach my destination so my body clock is well out of sorts - the time is punctuated by mealtimes and I have to admit, a cheeky little nap after my lunch.

By the time it is light we have crossed the boarder from Arizona into New Mexico - a pretty desolate place with hardly any vegetation or human settlements.

Inhabited by Native Americans for many centuries, New Mexico has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, including descendants of Spanish colonists and recent immigrants from Latin America.

The name New Mexico, or Nuevo Mexico, is often incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the modern Republic of Mexico. New Mexico was given its name by Spanish explorers believing there were wealthy Indian cultures similar to those of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire.

The picture above shows a distant 'Starvation Peak' - said to be where travellers sought refuge whilst on the Santa Fe trail after being chased there by native American Indians.  The Indians blocked their retreat and they starved to death - nice!

The scenery remains pretty repetitive as we roll on through Winslow and Gallup and after we stop at Albuquerque I am unable to get the Prefab Sprout rendition of the same name out of my head - very annoying to say the least!  When I posted the chorus on Facebook, Mr C asked me if I could name any other songs by Prefab Sprout - I could not, indeed I could only remember the chorus of this one song which repeated repeated repeated inside my head for miles - just as it had when it was Kristina's first favourite song as a child!

Just before we reached Raton the sky turned black and the relatively unheard of happened - it started to SNOW - now this is very rare in New Mexico and caused quite a stir on the train - we crossed into Colorado, and Trinidad did not live up to its namesake - by the time we reached La Junta ice was forming on the outside of the train windows.  This didn't happen even when we were caught in the snow blizzards approaching Denver.

Weird!!!!

As darkness fell I could see little of Lamar, Dodge City or Topeka as we reached Kansas.

The train arrived in Kansas City at 7:30 am with no sign of snow or rain - just a biting, gusty wind.

"I have a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore Toto" ....... well that depends on which part of Kansas City you are in and what side of the Missouri river you stand on - Kansas City is divided by the River putting one side of the city on Kansas and the other in Missouri.

I  stayed in Kansas.  And while we are on the subject Dorothy didn't wear Red Shoes - she wore Ruby Slippers - attention to detail please folks!

The Union Station in Kansas City stands on the Missouri side and is a beautiful example of  early 1900s architecture - the 'Beaux-Arts' building opened in 1914.

Union Station made headlines on June 17, 1933, as four unarmed FBI agents were gunned down by gang members attempting to free captured fugitive Frank Nash. Nash was also killed in the gun battle. The “Kansas City Massacre” highlighted the lawlessness of Kansas City under the Pendergast Machine and resulted in the arming of all FBI agents.

After falling into decline and closing in 1985 the station was redeveloped in the mid 90s.  Union Station is now home to Science City, a family-friendly interactive science centre with more than 50 hands-on exhibits; the H&R Block City Stage Theatre, a live-action venue with productions for young and old alike; the Reginer Extreme Screen, the largest 3-D movie screen in the region at five and half stories tall; two restaurants, an upscale steak and seafood restaurant, and the Harvey's at Union Station.

The developers have done a magnificent  job as the Station retains it Old World feel and transports you back in time as you walk through its halls.

After seeing a poster advertising a tour I couldn't resist a trip to The Federal Reserve Bank!

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the nation's central bank. The Bank covers the 10th District of the Federal Reserve, which includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mexico and has branches in Denver, Oklahoma City, and Omaha.

 

 

It has an interactive money museum and a Dollar design section where you can superimpose a picture of yourself on the note and have it emailed home - just a bit of fun.

 

There is also a viewing gallery where you can watch the staff packing notes for storage in the vaults.  The crates of cash are then transported and stacked by robotic trolleys that move about the vault between sensors - very high tech.  None the less just paper to me as its always been!  They give you a bag of free money as you leave as a souvenir - $165 - shredded!

 

Kansas City's other claim to fame is that its the home town of Hallmark cards.  Created by 2 brothers back in the day, it has grown to be a multinational household brand and as I looked around the exhibition of their history it reminded me very much of the Cadbury family's ethos of community and company well being.  All staff were viewed as part of the 'Hallmark family' where they were developed and encouraged personally to achieve their potential.

 

A very interesting City to visit but alas, I soon had to click my Ruby Slippers together and return to Oz, I mean Amtrak.