Thanks. The Coast Starlight is a special, once a day train. When we took it a few years ago, it was the same train all the way from Seattle to LA. I never mind a stopover in Seattle and maybe there will even be a soccer match to catch there en route!
The Coast Starlight experience is pretty sweet by Amtrak standards. If you book a berth or bedroom all your meals are included in the price in a separate dining car. You also have a special dome car for viewing. There was a projection room for watching movies and there were events like wine tasting and trivia contests: all included in the price.
The scenery is great and I love the routine of riding a train. I did way too much flying in younger days so I avoid planes when there is a better option.
Them be fightin’ words. I’ve had some excellent wines from near Kelowna (if you mean Okanagan). To be fair, I’ve had some excellent wines from those other regions too.
You have to know which vineyards to go to in the Okanagan!
I have done wine tasting in the BC, WA and ORE interiors and have enjoyed them all. I expect I would enjoy the CA tasting since they have the same soils, climate and care in production. Hard to beat sitting on a terrace having some excellent wine with lunch or dinner while overlooking a vineyard (and a lake, in the case of the Okanagan).
At first I thought they meant expanding the pitch (given that they were quite a bit smaller than those used in the Euros) and thought 50% is a bit much.