Weathered

Posted by: J on: January 17, 2009

• In: doings | travel
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Last night (and into the morning) was a small adventure in waiting patiently.

Weather can play havoc with all methods of travel, including train travel.

My dad came over to Kewanee yesterday afternoon to drive me to the train station in Princeton. The train was due to arrive at 5:01 pm. How do they get this down to the minute? After about an hour of waiting, I decided to check the train status through Amtrak’s 800 number. The word there was the train was running late and would arrive at 8:18 pm.

The train got in the station near 10:30 pm. Things were already backed up a bit because of an previous derailment earlier in the week that had one track closed. Add that to switches freezing and you had a recipe for delays.

Fortunately the station was warm and had seats, I had packed some snacks and plenty of things to keep me occupied, and Dad was willing to go grab me a salad later when my hunger got to be too much. That food run seemed to be the catalyst to get the train there, because I’d just started eating when the word came that the train would be there in minutes.

The lounge and dining cars were still open when I got on. So I headed down to the snack bar on the lounge car to supplement my salad with a cheese and cracker tray. I sat, ate, and read for a bit then headed back to my seat.

Upsides: I finished reading Mary Poppins while we were hanging out at the station. I got to spend a bit more time with my dad. I still made it to KS and had a delicious omelet for breakfast. And I made it in safely.

Downsides: Trying to sleep in my seat. If I ever actually planned an overnight trip on Amtrak (which I’d like to do someday), I’ll definitely pay for the sleeper. I’m just not a good seat sleeper.

So, I’m in KS. I’ve been sleeping on and off most of the day, but it’s been with dogs and/or DH beside me, so it’s not wasted time.

I started reading Slaugherhouse Five while on the train and am about halfway through. Good book!