It took me 96 hours to ride an Amtrak train from coast to coast. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

There are lots of ways to cross the country by train. The journey I chose isn't the longest by route miles, but it is one of the most popular.

The Empire Builder, as it's known, crosses 10 states, through some of the most beautiful - and desolate - parts of the country. I chose this route over the others simply because it passes through four states I had never seen.

I had reported on some big changes on (some of) Amtrak's dining cars east of the Mississippi, so I was mentally prepared going into dinner - and that proved to be a good thing.

I found an open seat next to Hal, many decades my senior, who was on his way home to Montana from a family reunion in Vermont, and Peggy, also an Amtrak veteran of many more years than I've lived, who was headed to California to visit her son.

There are basically two types of people who ride these long-distance trains, Roger Harris, Amtrak's chief commercial and marketing officer, said in an interview a few days before I set off on this journey.

"They have very, very different characteristics," he said. "People riding coach tend to travel a few hundred miles, while people in sleepers tend to be much more end-to-end. There are people who get on in Albany and get off in Cleveland, or get on in Cleveland and ride to Chicago."

Those intermediate markets, sometimes called "city pairs" by people in the industry, are a big focus for Amtrak going forward.

Twenty-four hours behind schedule, I headed back to Union Station for attempt No. 2 to board the Empire Builder to Seattle.

Unfortunately for the beautiful station, Amtrak, again, loves lines. I followed the signs to find a snaking line of unhappy travelers leading to the boarding gate.

I also had a choice of two seats in this spacious bedroom, depending on which way I wanted to face.

This was conflicting enough in the first room, but now I also had to choose which side of the train to look out! Admittedly, sitting on the toilet wasn't as comfortable, so I mostly stuck to the side with actual chairs.

Dining on Amtrak is an interesting affair, unlike any restaurant I've ever been to.

Each passenger fills out this form, which appears to have general categories for menu items, like "poultry entree" or "healthy menu option." I assume these let the company track what's being ordered, while allowing for some flexibility.

"They've said computers are coming for the entire 12 years I've worked here," the waiter said when I asked whether the forms were eventually scanned into a computer or somehow tallied.

There were a lot more choices on this train too. But alcohol, unfortunately, was not included in my reservation.

I was getting pretty restless. Eager to get to Seattle (and off this train), I settled in for an early bedtime (and more reading).

Seattle's King Street Station, like Chicago's, is beautiful.

Google Maps says this journey would have taken just 42 hours to drive, compared with my 96 hours on a train.

Sure, it took a little bit longer. But if I had the time to do it, I'd cross the country by train every time.

As Peggy, my first dinner companion, said the first night, "you just can't see anything from 30,000 feet."

Some 3,000 miles later, she couldn't have been more right.