It's my turn to pick the summer vacation this year, and I did pick a rail trip around Slovenia, Hungary, and Romania. My wife nixed it after hearing about all the Ukraine mess. I reminded her we'd be nowhere near there, but she's afraid we'll end up vacationing at the start of WW3! So, I look closer to home. I'm now thinking of driving to Winnipeg and taking the train to Vancouver. I mean, how rowdy can those Canadians get? They aren't even allowed to have any guns any more. 
I've found the VIA website and see the cost for round trip is roughly $1,000 per person. That's about our target for daily expenses, so that's doable. Trip takes about 2 & half days, and that's fine. What I want to know is how can I be sure I can ride in a dome car? We have a family of four--any advantage to getting two double cabins vs. just regular bunks? We went first class on the overnight from Edinbourgh to London (UK) year before last, but really I didn't see that much value vs. standard fare. Anyone have any info for me? When we get to Vancouver the plan is to rent a car and head for the mountains, maybe rent a few sea kayaks one day to poke around islands. Will probably fly back to Winnipeg, not sure yet. We took the train to Churchill about ten years ago and loved it, and also a train to Moosonee. Both were a great ride!
Kent in SD
