2 hours late, but I'm here

a shot from inside the Skydeck of the Sears Tower

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9.15.06 11:30am

I finally got to Chicago. The train was two hours late. To make matters worse, the last hour of that I had to pee like crazy, but it was one of those situations where everyone didn’t know when we were getting off, so everyone ends up standing by the door forever, and clogging all the easily accessible exits/bathrooms. So I held it and pushed pass the women and children as soon as the doors opened to make it to the first bathroom, which was not right by the doors to the station by any means.

Chicago Union Station was very nice. Older, and not nearly as large as Washington DC’s but nice nonetheless. The waiting area was vast, and somewhat ornate, but due to the lack of time I had in Chicago, I didn’t take any photos. I grabbed my bag from baggage claim, went back to the restroom, changed clothes, brushed my teeth(first time in since Wednesday morning) and rechecked my bag for Sacramento, CA.

out the window of the Skydeck. I think this is the amtrak station

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I had about 2 hours from this time, so I hit the streets of Chicago. The train station is right down town, a block from the Sears Tower. I was talking to my dad on the phone how I’d like to go up to the sky deck, and no sooner did I finish my conversation with him, that I arrived there. So up I went. Walked around the top took some photos. Took a photo of a guy who was up there without a camera and got his email for later. I headed down and looked for a place to eat and get on the internet. I called LB and ended up trying a panini style sandwich from Corner Bakery Café at her recommendation. It was great, cost about the same as Panera. The café was at the end corner of Jackson Blvd. I tried to get on the internet, but they had no wifi! I couldn’t believe it, a café in Chicago with no wifi! Well, I checked my watch and didn’t really have time to stop anyway. I had got my lunch to go just in case I would be in a rush, and as it turns out, I had only 20 minutes to get back to the station. I had also forgot to stop at CVS or Walgreen’s to get some snacks for this next long leg, as I had eaten the rest of mine on the last train. I was almost running now.

dave, the guy I took a photo of and will email him said photo

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I made it to the station and to my gate just as they were boarding. It was a packed train so we were told to find a seat with someone if we were traveling solo. I walked down the isle and sat with a guy who was growing dreads, and was sitting awkwardly over his backpacking gear. We were notified there would be a delay because one of the access doors to one of the cars was malfunctioning, so we waited about half an hour till it was fixed and I was on my way! 50 hours and I’ll be in Sacramento.

I did hear a rumor that we may have a slight layover in Denver though. That would be cool.

“Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me.”

- Thoreau