Sustainable Road Trip to Sustainable Brands4:45 AM – Even the birds are rolling over for another hour of sleep. The taxi shows up to take me to the Main Street Station for my 5:30 bus to Seattle, and as though by design, it’s a Prius hybrid. Vancouver’s Terminal Station looks proud in the rising eastern glow of a cloudless travel day. The Sustainable Road Trip is officially underway.

We’re in Seattle by 9am. After checking in, I venture forth seeking sustainable caffeination. Two blocks from the station, Zeitgeist Coffee provides organic espresso, a Ryan’s All Natural Non-filtered Cider and a non-organic banana in a funky heritage warehouse  atmosphere. Thus far, the purity of my sustainable biomass is relatively untarnished.

9:30 AM – I board the Coast Starlight Express at King Street Station. The building was originally constructed in 1906, and is being restored, but it’s not there yet. The imperturbable superiority of the conductors and staff, however, remains untarnished.

Laying back on the Coast Starlight ExpressNestling into car 1112, seat 49, the first thing that strikes me is the legroom. With my back in the seat I can’t even reach the chair back in front of me. As I marvel at this, our Train Car Attendant comes by to hand out pillows. Touché.

So far, the score is Amtrak 2, Airlines Zero. And I certainly don’t miss having to take my shoes off in supplication to some surly Hun at security.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.


Previous: «
Next: »