Vegan Menu - Saga Continues

Two days til I depart and I tried to confirm one more time that I would receive vegan food onboard. The call began just as the last two calls. I asked to confirm that I was listed for the special dietary needs requiring vegan food. I was read the very same description of vegetarian choices on the regular menu, which concludes with the phrase that this is "not suitable for a vegan-restrictive diet". However, this time, rather than arguing with me that I did not need to have a special request for vegan food, this Amtrak operator asked questions and actually read his material (I assume was on his computer or in his handbook). He actually came to understand the difference, and set me up with the proper food request.

Interestingly enough, there is no selection for "vegan" by itself. We ended up registering me as "vegan / chicken". After some argument on my part, I learned from him that the "chicken" is actually a soy version that is vegan. The only other option was "vegan / veal". To which I told him sounded too creepy and chose to have "vegan / chicken" assigned to every lunch and dinner.

For breakfast, there is no vegan option at all. I am left to my own creativity and detective skills to discover something that I can eat. I'm not worried though. I have already checked out their "regular" menu and know that I can order oatmeal or a bagel. I am bringing my own soymilk and rice milk and jelly. So I'll be able to dress them up just fine.

Speaking of the soy milk, I asked the Amtrak operator (I wish I had gotten his name) if they had any soymilk on board. He searched the supply lists for both the dining car and the snack bar. He didn't find any listed. So I said that it was okay and that I would bring my own. He asked if it needed to be kept cold, and I replied that I would bring a small insulated bag to keep it. To this he offered to put on my reservation that I would be needing ice furnished to my room to keep the soymilk. Can you believe it? This guy was amazingly helpful! I am going to attempt to give him some accolades for it. I'll write a letter to Amtrak, and hopefully they can track him down with my reservation number and the date I spoke with him. It's the least I can do.