This article originally appeared in the January/February 2017 issue of AAA EnCompass magazine.

Aboard the trans-Canadian train Rocky Mountaineer, the ride is the vacation—a luxury of local meats and maple, silver service, and world-class scenery.

Riding historic trains in Colorado isn’t new to me. I grew up here, and enjoy the grit, smoke, and steam. The trans-Canadian train Rocky Mountaineer is something entirely different. I boarded on a sunny April morning in Vancouver for a four-day, three-night, eastbound excursion and felt a bit like a superstar from the beginning, uttering a “wow” or two as my friend and I wound our way up the spiral stairs to the second level of the glass-domed GoldLeaf car. It was a bright, airy space that offered more comfort than what 19th-century gold miners on Colorado’s rails could have imagined.

I arrived in Vancouver the day before departure and wandered the nearby arts district, grabbed lunch at a sidewalk café reminiscent of Paris, and explored the nearby harbor with snow-capped mountains in the distance. It was my first visit to Vancouver and I fell in love with the city’s welcoming generosity.

Joining me on the trip was a girlfriend. We are frequent travelers, but not best friends. The trip gave us a chance to talk and discover things about each other we wouldn’t usually uncover when distracted by the outside world. If I had gone with my husband, sister or family, it would have been completely different. Now I understand why people go back, booking different journeys each time.

For me, a huge bonus I hadn’t anticipated—perhaps even feared—­was that the trip is “unplugged.” The train is not equipped with Wi-Fi. I was afraid beforehand that I would miss the connected world. Once I climbed onboard, not only did I not miss it, I was glad the outside world couldn’t interfere with my experience—the peace and serenity I found in the Canadian Rockies.

Raising a Toast

As the train pulled out of the station, the city slipped past, and we lifted our glasses of bubbly. The GoldLeaf Service includes a gourmet breakfast and lunch served on the first level in the dining car both days and complimentary drinks and snacks seem to show up at your beck and call.

It’s fun to move to the dining car where white linens, silver service, fine china, and gourmet meals wait. While half of the people dine, the staff keeps the other half busy with snacks, trivia, and drinks.

I still don’t know how the chef and his team prepare such opulent, fresh meals while traversing the Canadian Rockies, but we ate like kings and queens. Dishes featured fresh local meats-elk, Alberta beef, local halibut, and fresh vegetables I’m sure came from the beautiful fields we saw along the way. Desserts were scrumptious, many including popular Canadian maple.

You don’t have to give up a moment of watching the scenery while dining because the dining car has massive picture windows. It was at lunch the second day when spotted a mama bear and her cubs. They were just feet from our dining car as we slowed down to make room for a freight train to pass. It’s one of those moments I’ll never forget. As I sat sipping a cool glass of Sauvignon Blanc, mama bear stopped to make sure both of her babies were safely out of the way of the trains before continuing their journey up the mountainside.

Climate Zones

This was a trip of contrasts: sunny, warm weather in Vancouver, then rain showers and cool weather as we climbed the Cascade mountains in the distance. The interior of British Columbia reminded me of my childhood on Colorado’s Western Slope.

We wound our way through Fraser Canyon, and I stood out on the open-air vestibule and felt the rush of wind as freight trains zipped past us only feet away. The force of it made my head spin. But just as quickly came tranquility, clean air, and an endless blue sky.

As the first day came to a close, we arrived in Kamloops, a small town that most people in the U.S. would not visit on their own. It’s a hunting and mining town that reminded me of home in Colorado. The people are salt-of-the-Earth and would open their front door if you needed something. After a dinner at one of the local hangouts and a good night’s sleep, we embarked on our final day of breathtaking vistas.

Engineering Marvel

The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven at a little spot we passed named Craigellachie, back in 1885. And just ahead would be Rogers Pass, through the Spiral Tunnels, the most impressive part of the trip. The tunnels are two three-quarter circles built into the mountain walls, carved into the mountain by hand in the early 1900s.

About mid-day, I realized I could use another couple of days onboard the train. I could step out on that vestibule and breathe in air that was fresher than anything I had ever experienced, as it blew across a glacier at the top of the world. I liked being uninterrupted by the outside world.

The lakes we passed were colors I had never seen before as they glistened in the sun. Streams tumbled past us, unbound and unstoppable from the spring runoff. I saw mountain goats climbing along the tracks, eagles soaring overhead, and watched elk grazing in open meadows. I felt free and unfettered as I put my head back and let the mountain air blow across my face. And an urgent question came to mind: How soon could I come back?