Let the Adventure Begin!

Just in case!

Okay, so maybe a 27-hour trip on the train without a sleeper car wasn't the best idea, but hey, now I know.  (I'm not so sure my father feels the same way).

We took Amtrak from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA.  It was by far the most reasonably priced way to travel; the bikes only costing $25 to ship ($15 for the box and $10 fee).  We packed dinner for the first evening and some snacks for the rest of the trip, including smoked trout and caviar.  Yes, caviar - my parents have a small stash of lumpfish caviar.   Evidently they're old stocking stuffers.  We ate both with Ritz crackers - the snack of royalty.

There was a guy across from us, who I called "Into the Wild."  He started the trip by telling his seat mate all about his train travels around the country and how great it was and blah, blah, blah.  A few hours later he was complaining to either his girlfriend or his mom (because a guy would only whine like that to a woman) about how everyone was calling him, and he just wanted to be alone.  He was young.  That's probably the best thing I can say about him.

I slept maybe three hours and my father slept about four.  My father can sleep anywhere.  It's kind of annoying.  Nonetheless, I didn't feel that tired the next day although I was kind of tired of sitting on the train.  We played cribbage and Rummy 500.  I worked on a pair of socks (yes, I brought knitting); my father read Zeitoun, which I'd lent him awhile ago.

When we got New Orleans we had an adventure with our cab driver - he was pretty cranky about having to a) take bike boxes and b) take us to our luxury accommodations (EconoLodge!).  Thankfully my father did the negotiating because I seemed to piss him off when I questioned his fare.  I let it go, not wanting to be dumped on the side of the road and really just wanting to get some sleep. It was a little like negotiating with cabbies in Morocco, except our man in New Orleans ran three red lights at about 5 miles an hour.

New Orleans was lovely.  We ate well, saw some friends, walked around a lot.  (I know, the synopsis is scintillating).  What can I say?  We rode over 50 miles today.  It was 80F at one point and pretty humid. Only two drivers tried to kill us.  I'd say that was pretty good.

But let's look at the lovely things we saw yesterday.

Okay, so we're sleeping on the grounds of the rec centre in Gramercy, LA, after all the Little League games.  The Chief of Police is also going to make sure at least one of the bathrooms is left open (thanks!) and that no one bothers us (double thanks!).  And  thanks to the St. James Parish Public Library.  I love the library.

I'm feeling a little delirious now.  I need a beer.  That should help.