DC-Chicago = Exactly on time
Chicago-Denver = 50 minutes late
Denver-Emeryville = 40 minutes early
Emeryville-Los Angeles = 30 minutes early
Los Angeles-Portland = 7 minutes late
Portland-Minneapolis = 22 minutes late
Minneapolis-Chicago = 27 minutes early
So far, Amtrak's doing pretty well.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Dinner with Julie Anne Peters
I was sitting on the train today (I know, how unexpected!) and I realized I never blogged about having dinner with Julie Anne Peters! It was fabulous, by the way. Julie Anne Peters writes LGBT young adult fiction – she’s written Luna, Keeping You a Secret, Between Mom and Jo, Far from Xanadu, and a bunch of others. She’s one of my all-time favorite authors, so getting to have dinner with her was a pretty big deal.
A friend of mine does some website stuff for Julie, and because he was going to be in Denver for Creating Change, she invited him to dinner. I think I got to come too because I was just really excited. (And another friend of ours came, so there were three of us going to dinner.) Julie picked us up at the conference hotel, and we drove to her house where we got introduced to her partner, had really good guacamole and chips, and then some sort of bean lasagna, which was pretty good. We talked about the conference, about her books, and just about ourselves in general. Julie lives in a suburb of Denver with her partner, and a ton of cats. Seriously, they are like foster parents to like an entire animal rescue shelter for cats. It’s really cute.
It was great to get to meet Julie and her partner, and it was great to be able to escape the conference and get a home cooked meal. Basically, it was a really enjoyable dinner.
A friend of mine does some website stuff for Julie, and because he was going to be in Denver for Creating Change, she invited him to dinner. I think I got to come too because I was just really excited. (And another friend of ours came, so there were three of us going to dinner.) Julie picked us up at the conference hotel, and we drove to her house where we got introduced to her partner, had really good guacamole and chips, and then some sort of bean lasagna, which was pretty good. We talked about the conference, about her books, and just about ourselves in general. Julie lives in a suburb of Denver with her partner, and a ton of cats. Seriously, they are like foster parents to like an entire animal rescue shelter for cats. It’s really cute.
It was great to get to meet Julie and her partner, and it was great to be able to escape the conference and get a home cooked meal. Basically, it was a really enjoyable dinner.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Why Union Station?
After posting about my confusion at the names of the different train stations, I was emailed this explanation:
Why do so many cities have a Union Station?
Although, I'm now in Minneapolis, where the station is named Midway Station, so I guess there is variation.
Just as a side note, the Union Station in Los Angeles was the prettiest and best-designed one that I have been in so far.
Why do so many cities have a Union Station?
Although, I'm now in Minneapolis, where the station is named Midway Station, so I guess there is variation.
Just as a side note, the Union Station in Los Angeles was the prettiest and best-designed one that I have been in so far.
Best Story Ever
I have had some really good moments on this trip, and also some really bad ones. Here’s a really good story:
I am taking the Empire Builder form Portland, OR to Minneapolis, MN. It’s about 38 hours – 2 nights, 1.5 days. Before I left Portland I got some new snacks for the train, and I also got a sandwich and a pint of ice cream for dinner the first night. I have been craving ice cream for the last week. Not eating any for several weeks has just made me want it! And when you are traveling, there really isn’t any good way to make it happen. Here’s where the story gets really good.
In North Dakota, the roads are really bad right now because of the snow and ice, so a lot of people are taking the train only a couple of stations, just to avoid the roads.
We had 20 minutes to walk around during our stop in Minot, ND.I asked a couple of people who were going to Minot what the station was like, and if there was a Dairy Queen nearby. I’ve seen a lot of Dairy Queens recently, but they have all been through bus or train windows where I can’t get to them!
Anyways, one man was like “Nah, there’s nothing but McDonalds and Wal-Mart in Minot.” And that was the end of the conversation.But a little while later, this man comes up to me and asks if I had been asking about Minot- he wanted to know if I wanted some sort of food or something. I was just like “nah, not really, I just wanted ice cream, so a Dairy Queen or something.” He called his wife, who was coming to get him, and asked her to go to McDonalds and get me a sundae! And I also got to ask him a bunch of questions about what it was like to live in a state like North Dakota that had so few people, and what school systems were like here. It was very good.
In Minot, I got a lovely sundae with hot fudge and caramel from this nice man and his wife. It was great. Although North Dakota is like zero degrees right now, which made it a little weird.
I am taking the Empire Builder form Portland, OR to Minneapolis, MN. It’s about 38 hours – 2 nights, 1.5 days. Before I left Portland I got some new snacks for the train, and I also got a sandwich and a pint of ice cream for dinner the first night. I have been craving ice cream for the last week. Not eating any for several weeks has just made me want it! And when you are traveling, there really isn’t any good way to make it happen. Here’s where the story gets really good.
In North Dakota, the roads are really bad right now because of the snow and ice, so a lot of people are taking the train only a couple of stations, just to avoid the roads.
We had 20 minutes to walk around during our stop in Minot, ND.I asked a couple of people who were going to Minot what the station was like, and if there was a Dairy Queen nearby. I’ve seen a lot of Dairy Queens recently, but they have all been through bus or train windows where I can’t get to them!
Anyways, one man was like “Nah, there’s nothing but McDonalds and Wal-Mart in Minot.” And that was the end of the conversation.But a little while later, this man comes up to me and asks if I had been asking about Minot- he wanted to know if I wanted some sort of food or something. I was just like “nah, not really, I just wanted ice cream, so a Dairy Queen or something.” He called his wife, who was coming to get him, and asked her to go to McDonalds and get me a sundae! And I also got to ask him a bunch of questions about what it was like to live in a state like North Dakota that had so few people, and what school systems were like here. It was very good.
In Minot, I got a lovely sundae with hot fudge and caramel from this nice man and his wife. It was great. Although North Dakota is like zero degrees right now, which made it a little weird.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Chilling in Spokane
So, I'm here in Spokane, at 1AM in the morning. I'm taking the Empire Builder train from Portland, OR to Minneapolis, MN. I started at 4:47PM on Thursday, and I'll be getting off this train at 7:05AM on Saturday. The Empire Builder starts both in Portland and in Seattle, and then it meets in Spokane. My part of the train got here first, so I got to step off the train and see the conductors combine them. It was pretty cool, and very loud.
One of the conductors let me step of the train in Wishram, WA so that I could say that I had now been to Washington State! (I was planning on being asleep for this stop in Spokane.) Wishram has one of the smallest stations I have seen so far on this trip, and only one family got on there.
The scenery on this route is supposed to be rivaled only by the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr (which I've been on) and I can already see why. Tomorrow we're going to be passing right through Glacier National Park in Montana (I went there two summers ago, and it was gorgeous!) and through North Dakota (I've never been there, but I'm very excited to!) However, the problem with seeing all of this amazing scenery is that I start to think this is normal, and expect it everywhere. I need to remember how spectacular it is, and really appreciate it.
One of the conductors let me step of the train in Wishram, WA so that I could say that I had now been to Washington State! (I was planning on being asleep for this stop in Spokane.) Wishram has one of the smallest stations I have seen so far on this trip, and only one family got on there.
The scenery on this route is supposed to be rivaled only by the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr (which I've been on) and I can already see why. Tomorrow we're going to be passing right through Glacier National Park in Montana (I went there two summers ago, and it was gorgeous!) and through North Dakota (I've never been there, but I'm very excited to!) However, the problem with seeing all of this amazing scenery is that I start to think this is normal, and expect it everywhere. I need to remember how spectacular it is, and really appreciate it.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Union Station
Every single train station that I have been to so far has been named "Union Station." I understood this in Washington, DC and even Chicago. But it was puzzling in Denver, Emeryville, Los Angeles, and Portland. So, any ideas about why this is?
Berkeley
About a week ago I was in Berkeley, and I loved it. I had originally planned to spend just a day there, but I got sick in Denver, and by the time I arrived in Emeryville, I was really sick. I ended up spending a little under a week in Berkeley, where I stayed with a friend of mine who lives in a co-op. While I only left the co-op once, I loved my one trip out. I took the BART into San Francisco, and I bought mangoes and avocados from stands by the side of the road. The weather was great, and I just really liked the overall city. Maybe I'll move there sometime.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Amtrak's On-Time Record Update
Just a quick update: Today I took the train from Emeryville (near San Francisco) to Los Angeles, and I was a half hour early to LA. Which brings my experience with Amtrak's on-time record to:
DC-Chicago = Exactly on time
Chicago-Denver = 50 minutes late
Denver-Emeryville = 40 minutes early
Emeryville-Los Angeles = 30 minutes early
*Later*
Los Angeles-Portland = 7 minutes late
DC-Chicago = Exactly on time
Chicago-Denver = 50 minutes late
Denver-Emeryville = 40 minutes early
Emeryville-Los Angeles = 30 minutes early
*Later*
Los Angeles-Portland = 7 minutes late
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Pictures!
I have started a Flickr account where I'm posting pictures from my trip. Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34689442@N05/
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Amtrak’s On-Time Record
Amtrak has a reputation for always being late, and this is backed-up by actual evidence. Yet, so far on this trip, only one of my trains has been late. My train from Chicago to Denver got stuck behind some BNSF trains in Nebraska, and we were about an hour late arriving in Denver. However, Denver had just had a huge snowstorm, and everything was running late, so I didn’t miss my connecting bus to Colorado Springs. My train from Denver to Emeryville was actually about 30 minutes early. I’m very curious to know if this reputation of Amtrak’s holds true for me.
My Tips for Riding Amtrak
1) Step off the train at all the “smoking breaks.” The fresh air is really nice, as is the chance to walk around some.
2) Get out of your seat. Go sit in the Lounge Car, the Café Car, or just explore the rest of the train.
3) Bring your own food. You’ll like it better than the train food, and it’ll be cheaper too.
4) Bring super-insulating headphones. It’s nice to not have to hear the other people
5) Brush your teeth and change into pajamas every night. It really helps with staying clean and feeling good.
6) Talk to the conductors. So far, all of the conductors I’ve encountered have been very chatty, and have loved to talk about the route we’re traveling, Amtrak, and just themselves in general.
2) Get out of your seat. Go sit in the Lounge Car, the Café Car, or just explore the rest of the train.
3) Bring your own food. You’ll like it better than the train food, and it’ll be cheaper too.
4) Bring super-insulating headphones. It’s nice to not have to hear the other people
5) Brush your teeth and change into pajamas every night. It really helps with staying clean and feeling good.
6) Talk to the conductors. So far, all of the conductors I’ve encountered have been very chatty, and have loved to talk about the route we’re traveling, Amtrak, and just themselves in general.
California Zephyr
Time is just flying for me on the train. These long haul trains that I was really worried about before I began my trip are nothing. Actually, they are pretty nice. I get time to myself, and can work on postcards, reading, or anything else I need to do. Or I can amuse myself by just looking out the window. It’s so gorgeous on this route. Really, I could just look out the window all day long. Today, I spent several hours in the Lounge Car (it has enormous windows) and I also:
Crossed over the continental divide
Went through 30 tunnels (the longest was 6.2 miles)
Entered Utah
Took a nap
Had at least 30 cough drops
Had 5 bottles of water, a CapriSun, and a mug of tea (I’m sick, remember?)
Crossed over the continental divide
Went through 30 tunnels (the longest was 6.2 miles)
Entered Utah
Took a nap
Had at least 30 cough drops
Had 5 bottles of water, a CapriSun, and a mug of tea (I’m sick, remember?)
Monday February 2, 2009
Whew. Creating Change is over, and now, predictably, I am sick. Although this time I’m pretty sure that I am legitimately sick, and not just conference exhausted. Creating Change was wonderful this year. I got to see a whole bunch of people who I hadn’t seen in up to a year, and got to meet many new amazing people too. Workshop-wise, I went to a lot of workshops on development work. This was completely not intentional or planned- it was just what I turned out to be most interested in. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to go into development, but it’s weirdly compelling and interesting to me. I also presented a workshop, which I thought went ok (it was a good workshop, but I was pretty sick by then) but the guy who collected the evaluations said that they were very good.
Chicago Amtrak Station
In order to get from Washington, DC to Denver, CO you have to go through Chicago. As a matter of fact, in order to get most places on Amtrak, you have to go through Chicago (I will be going through Chicago three times on this trip.) Chicago has a Metropolitan Lounge, which is only for Sleeper and First Class passengers. However, I could have sworn that riders with USA Rail Passes could use it too. Apparently, I was wrong. I ended up talking to a variety of different Amtrak staff and pleading my case. Eventually, the Station Manager just let me in (I’m guessing I looked nice?), and I spent the remaining time of my six-hour layover trying to download my email. The Met Lounge was a disappointment though – from what I could tell, it was exactly like the regular lounges, but the chairs were upholstered in leather, and there were a bunch of TVs, neither of which was a big draw for me.
Sunday January 25- My first train ride
My first train ride was really nice. I’m hooked now, and looking forward to the rest of this trip! The seats in coach are really big and comfortable, and there was no one sitting next to me, so I could spread out. It was really as big as a real bed, and I had my sleeping bag with me. I’ve been getting off at the smoking breaks every couple of hours. I don’t smoke, but it’s nice to get off the train, and I’m seeing really interesting parts of the country this way, and getting to chat with so many different people. The smokers are definitely more talkative than most of the other people on the train.
I think I’ve got my email worked out. I’ve been trying to get my yahoo account to forward to my Apple Mail client, and I finally figured out how to do that! So hopefully now I’ll stop missing emails, and also be able to just download all my email when I have internet and respond later.
It’s a little surreal to be traveling without my family. For instance, I grossly misjudged how much food I would need- I have enough to feed a family of five for a train ride, but it should last me much longer. Just little things like that keep coming up.
I think I’ve got my email worked out. I’ve been trying to get my yahoo account to forward to my Apple Mail client, and I finally figured out how to do that! So hopefully now I’ll stop missing emails, and also be able to just download all my email when I have internet and respond later.
It’s a little surreal to be traveling without my family. For instance, I grossly misjudged how much food I would need- I have enough to feed a family of five for a train ride, but it should last me much longer. Just little things like that keep coming up.
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