Train Travel from Vancouver, Canada

I thought it would be interesting to do a post on a whole new discovery of mine - that we have easy and reasonably priced train travel to the U.S.! Sure - I know that you more worldly people out there have known this for years - but not me. However, when two of our recent guests came up from Seattle area on the Amtrak train, it inspired me to check out the travel possibilities available. My husband and I love to travel by train - it's often our primary mode of transportation when we put on our backpacks and head for Europe or Asia (sigh...it's been a while!). But it's never occurred to me to look into train travel in our own back yard. I looked at the Amtrak site a few days ago and thought the prices were very reasonable, the service frequent, and the station easily accessible from almost anywhere in Vancouver. Unfortunately, I'm not finding quite the same prices today, so maybe they had a special on or I hadn't put in quite the correct information. However, what I did find today would still make for a fun few days away, without flying, without the hassle of sitting in a border lineup in your car, but with the ability to look at the scenery or read a book instead of fighting traffic for that little getaway to Seattle or other points south! I selected a couple of random dates and found that a return trip on a Friday/Sunday to Seattle was approximately $75.00 per person, return trip (I didn't check out the taxes, etc. so there may be more costs attached to the base rate), to Eugene, Oregon was approximately $230 per person, and San Francisco (one of my favourite cities in the world!) was about $400 per person. Now all I need is a few days with nothing to do but plan a trip away! Okay, I don't see that coming up any time soon so it may be next year but I definitely would like to do this!