Chicago bound!

a train engine out my window

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9.14.06 4:15pm

I’m sitting on the upper level of a two-story train. It’s in the observation deck car. It’s great! There are windows all around and comfortable seats facing the windows. Also, the added height of the car makes it sway more on the tracks, which I love! It’s more of an adventure it seems. All of the people going to Chicago, the last stop for this train, are seated in the same car. There are not a whole lot of us now, (not to say we won’t pick up a few more along the way) so there’s plenty of room.

This leg of the journey is already more interesting because the train is traveling through more suburban areas, instead of being surrounded by trees. However, there are no outlets to speak of really, so watching movies might be out of the question. I’m going to try to find some though. I’m not giving up yet.

a shot of me in the observation room, jammin

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I was seated next to a nice old man, who I found out is going to New Mexico. I don’t know much else because as soon as the train started he headed for the observation deck, and we got split up from there. He relate to me how he used to travel to New York on a steam engine and how much rougher the tracks used to be because they weren’t welded together. He also said you could get a face full of smoke when you rounded the corner if your cars windows were down because of the large amount of smoke that would billow from the smokestack. Those were the days I guess.

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

- Thoreau