The Day(s)
Started out nauspisciously as I was dumb enough to miss the Metra commuter train (by 10 seconds) that would take me to Union Station.  Thankfully I was smart enough (or dumb-lucky enough)  that the next train would still hopefully get me there in enough time.  And Dennis was good enough to not get mad at me for adding unnecessary stress to the beginning of the trip.  Ended up making it there on time, and due to our experience and Dennis’s help, had my bike boxed in literally three minutes.

The train ride was uneventful, but about as pleasant as a 20 hour train ride can be.  Taking advantage of the power outlets, used my phone to listen to music, track our route, write this entry, watch a movie ((500) Days of Summer, pretty good), and read half a book (Nights In Rodanthe, intriguingly bad).  Felt like I got a fairly good night’s sleep too.  Not to much to see until we turned south at Albany and followed the Hudson River through the hills.

And then we were in New York! Stepping off the train, had to immediately dodge dripping water, then walk up a broken escalator.  What a craphole of a city this is! Ok, my first impression was fixed when one of the first people we talked to (a woman watching us put our bikes back together) said “fugheddaboutit” several times as part of conversation.  Yeah.  Then had fun riding with the taxis and buses and bikes and pedestrians to our hotel.

For dinner, went to an Italian place next door, where we met up with an old friend,  Ivan.  We hadn’t seen him since, let’s see… Friday?  Yes, we came all the way to New York to have dinner with a guy who sits 8th feet away from me at work. But that was cool (he was in town to see the U.S. Open)

Real ride starts tomorrow, can’t wait!

The People of Amtrak
The Imaginary Friend Guy: on the full train, tells every train employee that “his friend” is coming to take the empty seat next to him.  Even after the train has left the station.  Amazingly, he pulled it off, and had the one empty seat in the whole car.

The Amish:  Amtrak is a bit like jury duty: it’s an opportunity to see people who normally are not.within the range of your social radar.  It makes me realize that even the most broad-minded and inclusive among us probably still have too narrow and self-centered picture of who “Americans” are.   When is the last time a cable news analyst has asked “Health care reform, illegal immigration, bank bailouts: what do the Amish think of that?”

The Indians: There were two entire bogies on this train that could have been picked up from an Indian Railways train that went way off course.  Just part of the Indian affinity for railways? No, because I’d never seen such a concentration of Indians on Amtrak before.  Rather, I think it’s Niagara Falls.  I get the feeling that Niagara Falls is a very prominent North American wonder in the minds of Indians, as if it’s featured in every 4th grader’s geography class.  Or maybe it’s just a convenient place to do a Canadian border crossing for visa renewal. Either way, after the Buffalo stop, those cars were ghost towns.  I was reminded of the latter possibility when the border/immigrations officers came on board (hint: if you tell them you’re an American citizen, they won’t ask for your passport or anything else like they do if you say no.  Yeah, it’s not quite Arizona here yet)

The singing waitress at the breakfast car: “Imma bring you another orange juice, so you better not be nursin’ that one!”

The conversationalists: sharing a booth in the lounge car, two newly-met gentlemen of obviously different backgrounds, talking for hours on subjects ranging from taxes, to Venezuela, to the value of a college education. All with good humor, and like the jurors mentioned above, without rancor.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 4th, 2010 at 9:53 pm and is filed under 2010 Bike Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.