Great pictures!
I did it in October, so the scenery was a bit different. There was a thunderstorm the night after the first day... and when we got above Cresco, snow! It was really cool. The pictures of the cows reminds me of a lot as well. I was amazed that just about everywhere we got off the train, there were cow pies on the right of way! As a farmer with cows, I tend to notice that stuff!