I wanted to preface the posts to follow with a little bit of far-future editorializing. The following sequence of posts take place over a month I spent travelling the country by train, and a particularly unique and meaningful time for me.
Recently single, jobless with no immediate prospect and no deisre to return to office-life, I was 30 years old and more or less adrift. I spent a substantial portion of those 30 days, I don't know, publically alone, if you will, scribbling in journals, staring out the windows at the passing landscape and trying to make sense of where my life had gone.
It was self-indulgent to be sure, but in a very real way it was also self-care. I needed, desperately, to hit the reset button on my existence... force some kind of major change; to acquire something like the "swift spiritual kick to the head" Minnie Driver's character in Grosse Point Blank prescribes.
And I suppose I got it in some ways, if not in others. I think back to that time often. Sometimes I regret that many of the lessons didn't stick so well, but overall I feel pride at having made the effort. It was a difficult and troubled time in my life, but the trip itself was a joy. I met so many people I never would have, took time to connect in ways I'd never really allowed myself before.
I think we all wish more of our life could be so, that the balance between necessary drudgery and the sublime were shifted in favor of the latter. I suppose I still believe that's possible, even if I sometimes forget it. It's easy to get stuck in the doldrums, anxiously becalmed amidst seemingly infinite choices and needs and demands.
Anyway, I hope these posts will be entertaining, and if they manage to be occasionally inspiring to anyone beyond myself, I'll be exceedingly gratified.
-k, Mid-2013.
Volume 1 : And I'm Off... · November 12, 2008
Volume 2 : The Capitol Limited @ Waterloo, IN · November 13, 2008
Volume 3 : Union Station & Environs @ Chicago, IL · November 13, 2008
Volume 4 : The California Zephyr @ Somewhere in Iowa · November 13, 2008
Volume 5 : The California Zephyr @ Denver, CO · November 14, 2008
Volume 6 : The California Zephyr @ The Rocky Mountains, CO · November 14, 2008
Volume 7 : The California Zephyr @ Fraser, CO · November 14, 2008
Volume 8 : The California Zephyr @ The Banks of the Colorado River, CO · November 14, 2008
Volume 9 : The California Zephyr @ just over the border into Utah · November 15, 2008
Volume 10 : The California Zephyr @ Reno, NV · November 15, 2008
Volume 11 : The California Zephyr @ Truckee, CA · November 15, 2008
Volume 12 : The California Zephyr @ Emeryville Station & environs, Emeryville, CA · November 15, 2008
Volume 13 : The Coast Starlight @ northern California · November 16, 2008
Volume 14 : The Coast Starlight @ Salem, OR · November 16, 2008
Volume 15 : Portland, OR (arriving) · November 16, 2008
Volume 16 : Portland, OR (leaving) · November 18, 2008
Volume 17 : Paso Robles, CA · November 20, 2008
Volume 18 : Ventura, CA · November 21, 2008
Volume 19 : Ventura, CA (arriving) · November 21, 2008
Volume 20 : Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, CA · November 22, 2008
After Ventura, I got bad at keeping notes. I travelled from there to San Antonio through the desolation of West Texas, stopping (after El Paso) only at little clapboard or concrete stations proclaiming populations measured in the low hundreds. The conductor frequently reminded smokers to please not attempt to smoke on the train, because he would kick them off, and none of these were nice places to be stranded in the middle of the night.
In San Antonio I shared a lovely Thanksgiving with my friend James' family, then drove up to Austin to visit some other of the old Atlanta crew for a few days.
Then it was a week in Dallas, where Aaron and I got started on the iPhone app that was going to make us rich. Or, well, at least make us self-employed. It turned out to make us neither in the long term, but it was an exciting time.
I stopped again in St. Louis to visit my Uncle and Grandmère, and then back to Chicago for a couple of days with Maggie. I came back to DC on December 11, 2008. I'm not a very good rider, because I didn't keep track of milage... I suppose I could go back and figure it out, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 miles, I reckon...
Train 29 — Capitol Limited
Depart
Washington, District Of Columbia
Wednesday November 12, 2008 4:05PM
Arrive
Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Thursday November 13, 2008 8:40AM
Train 5 — California Zephyr
Depart
Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Thursday November 13, 2008 2:00PM
Arrive
Emeryville, California
Saturday November 15, 2008 5:40PM
Train 14 — Coast Starlight
Depart
Emeryville, California
Saturday November 15, 2008 10:12PM
Arrive
Portland, Oregon
Sunday November 16, 2008 3:40PM
Train 11 — Coast Starlight
Depart
Portland, Oregon
Tuesday November 18, 2008 2:25PM
Arrive
Paso Robles, California
Wednesday November 19, 2008 1:38PM
Train 11 — Coast Starlight
Depart
Paso Robles, California
Thursday November 20, 2008 1:38PM
Arrive
Santa Barbara, California
Thursday November 20, 2008 6:17PM
Train 796 — Pacific Surfliner
Depart
Santa Barbara, California
Thursday November 20, 2008 6:59PM
Arrive
Ventura, California
Thursday November 20, 2008 7:37PM
Train 774 — Pacific Surfliner
Depart
Ventura, California
Sunday November 23, 2008 9:57AM
Arrive
Los Angeles, California
Sunday November 23, 2008 12:10PM
Train 2 — Sunset Limited
Depart
Los Angeles, California
Sunday November 23, 2008 2:30PM
Arrive
San Antonio, Texas
Monday November 24, 2008 10:25PM
Train 422 — Texas Eagle
Depart
Austin, Texas
Friday November 28, 2008 9:31AM
Arrive
Dallas, Texas
Friday November 28, 2008 3:20PM
Train 422 — Texas Eagle
Depart
Dallas, Texas
Friday December 5, 2008 3:40PM
Arrive
St. Louis, Missouri
Saturday December 6, 2008 7:39AM
Train 322 — Texas Eagle
Depart
St. Louis, Missouri
Sunday December 7, 2008 8:30AM
Arrive
Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Sunday December 7, 2008 2:14PM
Train 30 — Capitol Limited
Depart
Chicago (Union Station), Illinois
Wednesday December 10, 2008 7:05PM
Arrive
Washington, District Of Columbia
Thursday December 11, 2008 1:30PM