Granted, this was many years ago, but when I did the trip, there was a family that rented a car at the Grand Junction Airport, and drove (stopping along the way) to Denver, and flew out of Denver. A lot of us were jealous, as there was not much at the Grand Junction Airport back then.
About what time were you able to drive out of the Grand Junction Airport with a rental car, if we need to back into how early we can schedule a flight out of Denver if we leave on the same day? Thank you!
It's been a few years, but I'm pretty sure it was late morning. We reached my SIL's house around 4 in the afternoon after stopping along the way for lunch. You could probably check the ABD site for the Arizona/Utah FAQ page to find out the earliest recommended flight times from Grand Junction to get a better idea. It didn't take long at all to rent the car. The airport is very small.
This is a great option vs renting a car! Any chance we can get it in Moab and avoid the drive to Grand Junction?
Ah but Tobi this is Amtrak in America in 2022 where the rule of law does not apply and freight trains do not yield as required to passenger trains. This eastbound train has not been on time once in the last quarter at this station and the mean delay is a couple of hours. There have been some extraordinary delays (4 plus hours) due to weather, but the airport has also not been flying during that time either....the train seldom cancels, unlike the airlines, and does have some heat delays on extraordinary hot days if the track is solid ribbon (vs. the clicking clacking trains are known for). However, if you need timeliness, Amtrak is not for you. They just can't do it. You can pull actual train data for every station off the web, and can also pull real time train status off of Amtrak's site (this shows exactly where the train is, time to next station, and if delayed the expected time of arrival as they do try to make up time). In my humble opinion we are looking at the very end of the USA long distance trains as Amtrak management is only interested in the Northeast corridor and Washington State/California corridor. Otherwise, trains like the Empire Builder, the Crescent, the Cardinal, the City of New Orleans have lots of cancellations of trains and reservations as equipment is diverted to the high revenue routes. The Amtrak funding we just saw pass earlier will primarily go to Northeast corridor and replacing equipment on these routes as well. In the last 18 months, many routes which were running nearly full were cut from 7 days to 3-5 days to save equipment. Dining cars, where they still exist, are now limited to sleeping car passengers, and the meals have gone on most routes from chef prepared to heat and serve. Most trains still have a cafe car for snacks and light food and drink. The days of the lounge cars with movies, music, activities and games are all gone. There remains, as I understand it, one dome car left in the entire system and it is in the shop since last year. Some states (like us in Virginia) are substantially subsidizing rail and rail expansion so, for now, we have intra-state passenger rail and it appears to be running very well and is very popular here. (My twins used it even during the pandemic getting to/from college on weekends and breaks and it was usually full or nearly full. Saved my life on driving!). An Amtrak long distance train in the west has simply breathtaking scenery.Moab is not on the route of the California Zephyr. That would be just too great! You'd have to either get yourself to Green River, UT, or go to Grand Junction to catch it.
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https://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train
Also, the train leaves Grand Junction at 10:23am in the morning. When I took the trip (many years ago!) they dropped us off at the airport at 10am. There's only one mass transfer to Grand Junction, so that's probably cutting it too close. You might have to think about spending the night in Grand Junction, and heading out the next day. It's an 8 hour & 15 minute ride, arriving at 6:38pm, so you'd probably want to spend at least one night in Denver, also. Still a fun way to go! (Oh, and it leaves Green River at 7:59am, so probably not much better of an option).
Sayhello
Sorry, @Grifdog22, but timeliness was not the point of my post.
I was merely pointing out that if the train *is* on time, it doesn't fit in the ABD last day schedule very well if they are looking to get home that same day. You always have to plan for worst case scenario, which, in this case, would be the train being on time leaving Grand Junction, and then late arriving in Denver. It's always been my luck that the one day the train is on time is the day I'm late! I adore taking the train, and would totally do this if I had the time to do it.
Why drive to SLC vs Denver?
Well, it's a Delta hub, so if you were wanting to fly Delta, driving to SLC would give you more flights to choose from.
