Westward Ho Hum...

Due to an annoying lack of internet connection on the train this blog is being posted from Colorado Springs after being written in word.

Hah! So there Derek! My spirit of adventure is not to be taken lightly! I will not be thwarted! Even as I type, I am whisking…well, more like trundling slowly really, towards Colorado Springs on the 10:39 pm California Zephyr Amtrak, bound for points west. My beloved daughter and granddaughters have declared it long past time for a visit from Nana and I have agreed. The other day on the phone Eden, who is 2 ½ going on 16 asked me if we could have a webcam tea party this week and while I thought this was a lovely idea, I so preferred the thought of a real, in person tea party that I jumped the train and will be in Denver tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. I like traveling by train. People just don’t know what they’re missing. The seats are wider with considerably more leg room than airplanes and you can get up and wander around any time you want without a single sky marshal sizing you up or tackling you in the isle. Not that this has ever happened to me…really. The only downside to the California Zephyr, Omaha to Denver run is that it is always in the middle of the night. 10:39 is actually just a very loose number that they use as a place mark for the real departure time which is never before 11:30 pm. I don’t why they don’t just admit that the train will not be leaving until 11:30, but they don’t. The really interesting thing is that somewhere between Omaha and Denver there is obviously a worm hole because no matter what time the train actually leaves here, it will invariably arrive in Denver at the exact time originally stated on the schedule. This is proof that people in Nebraska are far less punctual than our Coloradan neighbors.
Anyway, I’ve derailed already (I thought you might appreciate the train pun). My point was that though the trip is always accomplished in the middle of the night, I don’t really mind it. Though I love riding the train through the countryside in daylight, seeing pastoral scenery and quaint towns whizz past, the truth is none of these things exist between here and Denver. It is easily the most boring stretch of country anywhere in the United States…well…except Texas…the whole state. Truckers traveling this stretch of countryside have been known to gnaw their own arms off just to keep from being driven mad by the truly boring scenery.
No, what I really enjoy about this night ride is the train itself. There is a rhythmic lull that is incredibly peaceful. It’s like Zen travel. The gentle rocking motion of the train lulls you into a peaceful tranquility. Late at night, the train is dark and quiet…okay, quiet except for the guy snoring raucously in the seat in front of me, waking occasionally just long enough to hock up a good spit wad. He is not quiet. I would like to suggest he seek a doctor’s referral for a sleep study as I’m certain he has sleep apnea. And before I get back to my blissful Zen train ride, can I just mention that the guy in the seat across from me is sleeping half on and half off his seat in an extremely uncomfortable looking position and has carried the ‘half on/half off’ theme all the way to his trousers, which are literally bunched up around his knees. Yes…I mean his knees! And I don’t mean from the bottom. I mean from the top. The waistband. IT’S AROUND HIS KNEES! Praise be, he is wearing boxers, but his trousers themselves are literally off his butt and around his knees. I am officially appalled. I’ve put up with the baggy trousers look for 11 years. Since we first moved back to the states from England as a matter of fact and I’m done. I’m ticked off and I’m not going to take it anymore. I have decided just this moment that whenever I see someone who’s pants are about to fall off I’m going to help them along. Just drop ‘em to the ground right then and there. The pants, not the person. I will probably be arrested and sent to jail for doing it, but at least there, they make everyone wear jumpsuits that completely cover your backside! Where was I? Something about Zen and peaceful quiet. Thanks guy in seat 57 B. The Zen has left the building. Okay. Once I have the picture of his tush hanging out into the isle out of my head and the other guy as stopped coughing stuff up, I will be back to explain about the peace and Zen of train travel. In the meantime I am going to watch a movie so that I can stifle the urge to pull this guys pants off.
Its 3:30 in the morning and the impossible has happened. Snoring guy is fast asleep and quiet. I’ll assume he’s still live, and boxer guy…well, I’m just not looking in that direction. I have finally achieved that train Zen that I began to soliloquize about earlier in my journey. Gazing out the window into the inky dark only yields the occasional light pinpoints of civilization off in the distance. The train sways and bounces along the tracks gently. The sounds are soft and muted and the sound of ours and other train whistles are like a lullaby. It feels like I’m in a library and should be whispering, but it doesn’t matter because it’s already silent. I have slept comfortably for three and a half hours which is about two thirds of my normal night’s sleep anyway. I am excited to see Samantha and Mark and the girls in a few hours. Today Eden has a dentist appointment, but tomorrow we will have a very grand tea party, just Mantha and Eden and Autumn and I.