This year I decided to reverse my birthday route. I would take the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles first and spend the majority of my time there. Then off to San Francisco.

One goal of doing my train trip "backwards" was to see the same terrain as last year, only at different times. This proved to be a great idea.

Once again, I left Chicago on the Chief and headed West. (South, actually, to Kansas City.) As usual, we spent the night in the prairie. The next morning, we were presented with Colorado's snow-covered exterior. Cutting the corner off the state, we entered New Mexico, only to find bleak and dreary weather. Once the sky transitioned from depressing gray to upbeat blue, the landscape looked considerably better.