Introduction to overnight train rides

Hello from the Windy City!

Last week it was in the 80s and humid in DC. This morning when I arrived in Chicago it was 32 with the windchill. But I came prepared with that one long-sleeved shirt I own!

Anyway, back to the beginning. Yesterday I woke up in DC on an air mattress in my sleeping bag. I had forgotten to set my alarm, which is only relevant because I thought they may come pick up my storage container before I got my air mattress and sleeping bag inside. They had not. I did tetris the crap out of my container, though. I could have brought more things!

I then taped and painted my bedroom a nice light green. John likes it. I did not have time to take a photo. Or clean up. Or pack my knives. Oops. But I made it to Union Station with just enough time to reserve the last two legs of the journey, buy a sandwich for dinner and settle in to my seat.

First hour of the ride was pretty uneventful. Talked with the man seated next to me for a while. He was on his return trip to Chicago, having been to Memphis. The elderly couple across the aisle waved to every person we passed until it got dark. You can see a few in the photo, crossing the Potomac into Harpers' Ferry, WV.

It was slightly before this that I discovered there was not one, but two small children in my car. How, you ask? Because they both started crying. Excuse me, not "crying" so much as "shrieking at the top of their lungs." For over an hour. The longest break from crying for the rest of the trip was the 3 hours of night between 2am and 5am, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. Mostly, the photo below:

Rural America at its finest! The beginning of WV was all like this. Some spectacular sunset views reflecting off the river, but none presented good photographic potential. Then we hit darkness and coal country. Everything after that was less entertaining. Rolled through Pittsburgh around midnight. As is true of any approach to that city, great views of downtown on the way in. There was also Cleveland and Toledo during my insomnia.

But eventually the sun came up and we came to rest in Chicago. I bundled up and walked a few blocks to meet my gracious host, Steve, and get his keys. He and Michelle have an amazing place in Wicker Park (let's be honest, we all knew they would have an awesome place). I took a shower to feel like a real person again and the rest of today has been catching up on work and trying not to fall asleep on my computer.

Whew. The rest of these posts will be shorter and have more pictures since I now have Blogger on my phone. Until then, listen to some Ha Ha Tonka.