Snail Trail
I'm in the habit of writing this blog whilst in transit which is because I am spending all my other time engaged in activity and/or comatosing strangers with my incessant questioning. So on that note let's take a moment to pause and ask ourselves the following question: Great Western Rail, WHAT ARE YOU DOING ??? Mr/Mrs Amtrak just got it so right ! My first long distance experience was from New York to Chicago, and it was as pleasant as 19hrs of any consecutive travel can be. The first few hours the tracks stuck right to the edge of the Hudson river as we wound our way upstate. This is beautiful. If you're looking for a million dollar holiday home, which why wouldn't you be, then look no further - I've found you your gem.
There was then a moment when I wasn't sure what was happening, as we stopped in Albany for an hour. No one was getting on or off. Was I meant to be admiring the grand state capital ? (Nothing grand or stately from where I was sat) Was there an issue with the left falange ? Was the conductor stuck on the toilet ? All queries were left fully unanswered as we buckled back in and took off again. At some point it got dark and I was forced to stop steaming up the window, blink, and embark on all my scrupulously planned train activities. Think of the reading I'd plough through ! All those new albums I could quietly analyse ! The sudokus I'd shred in 19hrs ! The glory of travel is that there is absolutely nowhere else you're obligated to be. Though the WiFi was A+, I could easily have taken myself off the grid under the guise of "no interent". This train time was SACRED. I leant over to reach some things out my bag and suddenly....
....it was morning and I was in Ohio ! Damn my weakness to sleep. Being the moderate (broke) traveller that I am, I hadn't even considered cashing out 5 times the amount for a sleeper carriage and was instead provided with a "reclining" chair. Once I was back the full 3%, foot rest in place, I felt actually very fine. So much leg room ! Such wide seats ! I had no fellow passenger by my side until Indiana, when a real life Dolly Parton (by which I mean, if Dolly Parton partook in real life activities like riding the train through corn fields) settled in. She was so glam, and as I surreptitiously unstuck the long embedded granola from my cheek and quietly packed away my sometime discarded socks, I made many mental notes about "how to be a glam granny". Featuring highly: glitzy nail varnish, no fear of hair spray, extreme liberalism with the perfume.
The train was late, but after 19hrs, what difference does another 2 make ?! I really enjoy that when I tell people here the distance between my home and university (150 miles as the magpie flies) they ask why I didn't want to move further away. In other words - we don't know the meaning of "far". Having said that, the trains here are infamously slow. Regardless of an hours thumb twiddling at Albany, I still would have arrived significantly earlier had I been driving. Bless Mr/Mrs Amtrak, they really weren't concerned with the need-for-speed. This is a recurring conversation I've had here - would there be greater investment in faster train travel if the demand was there and people drove less, or are people forced to drive as rail travel is so snail like ? Well it's obviously a perpetuating cycle. But all the same, I've still a good 80+hrs aboard to figure it out.....
There was then a moment when I wasn't sure what was happening, as we stopped in Albany for an hour. No one was getting on or off. Was I meant to be admiring the grand state capital ? (Nothing grand or stately from where I was sat) Was there an issue with the left falange ? Was the conductor stuck on the toilet ? All queries were left fully unanswered as we buckled back in and took off again. At some point it got dark and I was forced to stop steaming up the window, blink, and embark on all my scrupulously planned train activities. Think of the reading I'd plough through ! All those new albums I could quietly analyse ! The sudokus I'd shred in 19hrs ! The glory of travel is that there is absolutely nowhere else you're obligated to be. Though the WiFi was A+, I could easily have taken myself off the grid under the guise of "no interent". This train time was SACRED. I leant over to reach some things out my bag and suddenly....
....it was morning and I was in Ohio ! Damn my weakness to sleep. Being the moderate (broke) traveller that I am, I hadn't even considered cashing out 5 times the amount for a sleeper carriage and was instead provided with a "reclining" chair. Once I was back the full 3%, foot rest in place, I felt actually very fine. So much leg room ! Such wide seats ! I had no fellow passenger by my side until Indiana, when a real life Dolly Parton (by which I mean, if Dolly Parton partook in real life activities like riding the train through corn fields) settled in. She was so glam, and as I surreptitiously unstuck the long embedded granola from my cheek and quietly packed away my sometime discarded socks, I made many mental notes about "how to be a glam granny". Featuring highly: glitzy nail varnish, no fear of hair spray, extreme liberalism with the perfume.
The train was late, but after 19hrs, what difference does another 2 make ?! I really enjoy that when I tell people here the distance between my home and university (150 miles as the magpie flies) they ask why I didn't want to move further away. In other words - we don't know the meaning of "far". Having said that, the trains here are infamously slow. Regardless of an hours thumb twiddling at Albany, I still would have arrived significantly earlier had I been driving. Bless Mr/Mrs Amtrak, they really weren't concerned with the need-for-speed. This is a recurring conversation I've had here - would there be greater investment in faster train travel if the demand was there and people drove less, or are people forced to drive as rail travel is so snail like ? Well it's obviously a perpetuating cycle. But all the same, I've still a good 80+hrs aboard to figure it out.....
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