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).

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

Ride to the station

This is already an experience. I thought I would leave my house with plenty of time to get to the station, take some photographs, and take care of some travel-related business. Instead, my friend picked me up at 3PM (my train was scheduled to leave at 3:40). My house is only 20 minutes from the Amtrak station, but we were stuck in traffic. 3:22PM and we were nowhere near the station. 3:28PM and we had only moved a few feet. 3:33, and we were stuck at a red light. 3:36 and we got lost for a bit. 3:40 we arrive at the station.

I am literally shaking in fear of missing my train. At the window, a lovely lady looks at me and placates my fears, “no worries…no worries. You’re all good. If I’m still here, the train’s gone nowhere. May I see your ID?” I wait for seconds that seem to turn into an eternity. “All right, the train will be here in about 15 minutes. Just go to Track Five.”

I know Amtrak has a reputation for not being on time, and unlike most passengers, I am thankful my train is late. Once the train arrives, I am assigned seat 17 (I did not know we were assigned seats; last time I traveled on Amtrak, I could sit anywhere I wanted…not this time. Thankfully, I am seated next to a lovely lady).

The Texas Eagle left at 5:02, heading to St. Louis.

Pictures of Dallas right before departure:

In Just a few Hours

My train departs in a few hours, and I am frantically trying to pack everything I will need for the next month. Anyone who knows me also knows I do not travel light. Even for a weekend I pack an entire suitcase: three pairs of shoes, about fifteen pairs of socks, three or four pairs of jeans, shorts, at least five shirts, and all the products I could possibly need. How am I going to fit all of this in one duffel bag? I have resigned myself to seven pairs of underwear, and ten pairs of socks (I am going away for a month). To top it all off, I realized last night I did not have the proper suitcase, a problem I luckily fixed with a short visit to a 24 hour store.

Everyone says traveling on a train carries with it a certain feel of romance and adventure. I am really wondering, though, whether traveling with a few pairs of underwear and socks is romantic and adventurous. I also wonder what I will do without Internet, as Amtrak has not reached the era of full modernization. Well, here I go off to St. Louis, where I arrive at 7AM tomorrow; I have no idea what I am doing once I get there, as I know no one in that city. Unfortunately, I will not be able to meet a familiar face until I reach Los Angeles on Sunday, where I will be staying with my high school friend, Grace, and where I will be able to shower after two-and-a-half days. In the meantime, I will resort to baby wipes, hand sanitizer, and cologne.