Ride to St. Louis

The train ride to St. Louis promises to be long and full of surprises. As soon as I settle on my seat, my companion and I begin to share stories. Within thirty minutes, she’s explained her work before retirement, her travel plans, and some family stories. A mother puts her baby on the floor so that he can crawl, and my companion looks at me in disbelief, “oh my God. That’s filthy! Would you put your baby on the floor?” We laugh about parenting, make fun about the lady next to us listening to loud music, and drop our jaws when we see a woman who has taken off her wig and placed it next to her seat, on top of a little stand. If this isn't picturesque, I do not know what is.

“Why the train,” I ask her.

“Well, it cost me 22 dollars from Dallas to Shreveport. You can’t beat that. I can’t even fill up my tank for 22 dollars!” It only takes the first few minutes of my ride to make me realize that many others are traveling on Amtrak because, for them, Amtrak is the most inexpensive option. A high school student and I converse for a few minutes, and I find out he makes the inexpensive trip from Shreveport to Little Rock every other week. Towards the end of the night, I meet an eight-month pregnant mother whose only option is the train (doctors do not allow traveling by plane after the third trimester).

I go to bed around 1AM and wake up at 5:30--the seat was rather comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. Surprisingly, my train arrives in St. Louis thirty minutes earlier than planned (at some point, we were about 1.5 hours behind).

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I am now in St. Louis, meandering around downtown. Below are some pictures: