Hi friends! I'm writing this from a hostel in San Francisco. Yes, after 17 hours on a train, 30 mins on an Amtrak bus, 15 minutes on a Muni bus and a half-mile walk, I'm finally, finally here. And all I really want to do is sleep. Truth is, you wouldn't be getting this bit of bloggery goodness if the good people at the hostel weren't making me wait until 3pm to check in. Let's all shake our fists at them now.
So the train...was...amazing. Seriously. I didn't want it to end, I wanted to lock the door to my compartment and just stay on until LA, maybe even stay in there until it got all the way back to Portland. It was so cozy, and not in an uncomfortable way, but in a very safe-feeling way. I had my little sliding door and I could shut it and lock it and keep out the world while I hung out in my compartment and watched a movie or read a book or effed around on the internet. I loved it. I only ventured out of there to go to the dining car for my prepaid fancy meals. Some people don't like the dining car because they make you sit with people you don't know, but I love that. Force me to make friends out of perfect strangers, Amtrak. I got this. During dinner I sat with a fellow from the Oregon Historical Society and we had a discussion that ranged from Portland to writing to historical journals to Wordstock to the cult of Apple (you guys already know how I feel about that). Never in a million years would this gentleman and I have spoken two words to each other if we hadn't been forced to by the dinner situation, and we both enjoyed ourselves so much we sat together at breakfast this morning too.
I want a nap so bad right now.
I spent most of the beginning of the trip writing a paper for my Buddhism class. I know, I was going to do that before the trip but unsurprisingly, that didn't happen. Anyway, it was fun having an official-looking task to do. At least it made me look like an adult rather than the giddy schoolgirl I felt like inside. Man, when you have a sleeper they treat you soooo nice on the train. All the hot coffee you could possibly want...good stuff too. Tiny bottles of champagne. Fresh fruit. A newspaper. Turn down service, wake-up calls, whatever you could want. I could even have asked them to serve me meals in my compartment. Incredible. I'm going coach on the way back, no sleeper, so we'll see how spoiled I've become (my guess: very).
Hey, did you guys know it's kind of rainy in San Francisco? Like a lot? It was only cloudy and gray when the Amtrak bus drove over the Bay Bridge but once we got to Fisherman's Wharf the sky opened up and pretty much soaked me to the bone. Luckily the folks at the hostel were willing to let me take a shower even though I can't have a bed. Y'all, that was the best damn shower. There was no changing area or anything so I had to get all naked in the showering area but I tell you what, by that point I did. not. care. Didn't care. I just wanted to wash the traveling and the rain off me, feel warm and clean for a moment. So I did. And the, again, selectively nice people at the hostel let me stow my big backpack in a locked closet so I don't have to babysit it until I get a bed. And now I'm killing time in the lounge/lobby area in my pajamas wondering how I can trick someone into bringing me food or letting me sleep in their bed for just a little while. Because man, I am depleted. Just worn out.
Four more hours...
So the train...was...amazing. Seriously. I didn't want it to end, I wanted to lock the door to my compartment and just stay on until LA, maybe even stay in there until it got all the way back to Portland. It was so cozy, and not in an uncomfortable way, but in a very safe-feeling way. I had my little sliding door and I could shut it and lock it and keep out the world while I hung out in my compartment and watched a movie or read a book or effed around on the internet. I loved it. I only ventured out of there to go to the dining car for my prepaid fancy meals. Some people don't like the dining car because they make you sit with people you don't know, but I love that. Force me to make friends out of perfect strangers, Amtrak. I got this. During dinner I sat with a fellow from the Oregon Historical Society and we had a discussion that ranged from Portland to writing to historical journals to Wordstock to the cult of Apple (you guys already know how I feel about that). Never in a million years would this gentleman and I have spoken two words to each other if we hadn't been forced to by the dinner situation, and we both enjoyed ourselves so much we sat together at breakfast this morning too.
I want a nap so bad right now.
I spent most of the beginning of the trip writing a paper for my Buddhism class. I know, I was going to do that before the trip but unsurprisingly, that didn't happen. Anyway, it was fun having an official-looking task to do. At least it made me look like an adult rather than the giddy schoolgirl I felt like inside. Man, when you have a sleeper they treat you soooo nice on the train. All the hot coffee you could possibly want...good stuff too. Tiny bottles of champagne. Fresh fruit. A newspaper. Turn down service, wake-up calls, whatever you could want. I could even have asked them to serve me meals in my compartment. Incredible. I'm going coach on the way back, no sleeper, so we'll see how spoiled I've become (my guess: very).
Hey, did you guys know it's kind of rainy in San Francisco? Like a lot? It was only cloudy and gray when the Amtrak bus drove over the Bay Bridge but once we got to Fisherman's Wharf the sky opened up and pretty much soaked me to the bone. Luckily the folks at the hostel were willing to let me take a shower even though I can't have a bed. Y'all, that was the best damn shower. There was no changing area or anything so I had to get all naked in the showering area but I tell you what, by that point I did. not. care. Didn't care. I just wanted to wash the traveling and the rain off me, feel warm and clean for a moment. So I did. And the, again, selectively nice people at the hostel let me stow my big backpack in a locked closet so I don't have to babysit it until I get a bed. And now I'm killing time in the lounge/lobby area in my pajamas wondering how I can trick someone into bringing me food or letting me sleep in their bed for just a little while. Because man, I am depleted. Just worn out.
Four more hours...