Aside from Denny's having wifi unexpectedly, and a slight issue with the cab to the Amtrak station that was totally my fault, things were uneventful in the overnight hours. Considering how much of that weird imported dancing game I'd played right before I went to Denny's, I couldn't even finish my fried cheese melt and fries. I felt kinda guilty for sitting there so long, so I tipped well - about 80 percent of what my bill was. I got the attention I needed, just an occasional refill on my raspberry tea.
Tired of camping at Denny's, I called the cab at about 6:30am. Ended up getting a copy of the fall 2010/winter 2011 timetable, and killing off a bit more of my computer's battery making an archive of some of the text messages I'd received so far on the trip. 351 got to Ann Arbor four minutes early and arrived to Chicago 41 minutes late. Not a problem to me, considering I got a lot more sleep this time and how much time I still had till the connection to the Eagle. We arrived on track 16 and I guessed that the Superliner sitting on track 18 was getting prepared to head out as 21. I went to the Relay upstairs in the food court and got the keychain I wanted, then got Pizza Hut Express for food and cheese popcorn from Nuts on Clark for later.
Upon lining up to head out to 21, I got my confirmation that it was on track 18. Boarding went as expected, and ended up being glad I booked 321 instead of any other options I had. Sat in my seat till the attendant wrote out a STL seat tag, aside from a few stray pictures from still in the car. Eventually went to non-refurbished lounge car 33046, got an e.a.t. pack and Sierra Mist, and tried to get a lapel pin for my fez. I'm kinda sad that not even the long distance trains have them on a consistent enough basis, as I was hoping to not have to order one off the Internet for once.
Hmm, are all the cafes in non-refurbished lounges like this one? I like the setup, even though if it gets crowded enough theft would be a possible issue.
... There I go speculating on stuff that doesn't even apply to me. Anyway, I admit I wasn't paying much attention to the lounge car before hitting the cafe, so I didn't notice that now distinctive lack of wood paneling till I sat down with my purchases and my computer.
Next stop is Bloomington-Normal in about a half hour. I'll pause here for the moment.
10/28
Considering the lack of like-minded individuals sitting there and short daylight hours compared to last time I was in one, I didn't spend near as much time in the lounge. Turned out being a good thing. I didn't see him pass me to head to the window (I was within five rows of the back, on my preferred side), but soon enough I caught someone getting video out the back, with an earbud in one ear that turned out to be connected to a scanner. I walked toward the window stood behind him for a minute or so, just enjoying the view, then he noticed me and invited me to an uninterrupted view. I declined on the basis that he had a video camera out, and we talked a little. Turns out that even with my low post count, I'm becoming a little well known, and now I can count Fredevad among the Amtrak Unlimited people I've met.
After Fredvad left, I went back to killing time with my computer till a bit past Alton (the original plan to get picked up at Alton backfired), turning down the option of a dinner reservation (as tempting as the thought of the veggie burger sounded). Around the announcement of "We're almost to St. Louis, please make sure you have your stuff" I packed up and stood staring at what I could through the railfan's window. At my first sighting of The Arch, I posed a tweet saying "Stupid Arch ", and Piotr responded with "I guess you did not want to go back home." When I caught the response, I responded with "Never do, dude lol".
After the announcement of "We're about ten minutes from St. Louis", I started to head downstairs. I paused briefly at the window next to the stairs, taking a picture through it for the heck of it even though I knew it probably wouldn't turn out because of the double issue of night shot from a moving vehicle and dirty vehicle windows. I gather I was spotted (at least my flash, because I forgot to set it to off for the shot even though I wanted it off for less odds of the shot getting totally ruined), because when the conductor came downstairs and saw me there, he opened the window so I could try getting a better shot. It still didn't quite work, but that was quite awesome of him. Also for a short part of the distance (I remember running parallel to the Metrolink tracks) he had the door fully open and was holding on to the rail by the door. I admit, that kinda blew my mind a bit, given the general safety standards I have hiding in there on occasion.
According to the tracker, we got in six minutes late, and it still left on time heading toward Poplar Bluff. I got Jack in the Box on the way home and proceeded to vanish from the Internet for the next couple days between work and the lack of sleep I got on the trip. Finally, almost a week later, I think I'm caught up as completely as I'm going to be on sleep.
Tired of camping at Denny's, I called the cab at about 6:30am. Ended up getting a copy of the fall 2010/winter 2011 timetable, and killing off a bit more of my computer's battery making an archive of some of the text messages I'd received so far on the trip. 351 got to Ann Arbor four minutes early and arrived to Chicago 41 minutes late. Not a problem to me, considering I got a lot more sleep this time and how much time I still had till the connection to the Eagle. We arrived on track 16 and I guessed that the Superliner sitting on track 18 was getting prepared to head out as 21. I went to the Relay upstairs in the food court and got the keychain I wanted, then got Pizza Hut Express for food and cheese popcorn from Nuts on Clark for later.
Upon lining up to head out to 21, I got my confirmation that it was on track 18. Boarding went as expected, and ended up being glad I booked 321 instead of any other options I had. Sat in my seat till the attendant wrote out a STL seat tag, aside from a few stray pictures from still in the car. Eventually went to non-refurbished lounge car 33046, got an e.a.t. pack and Sierra Mist, and tried to get a lapel pin for my fez. I'm kinda sad that not even the long distance trains have them on a consistent enough basis, as I was hoping to not have to order one off the Internet for once.
Hmm, are all the cafes in non-refurbished lounges like this one? I like the setup, even though if it gets crowded enough theft would be a possible issue.
... There I go speculating on stuff that doesn't even apply to me. Anyway, I admit I wasn't paying much attention to the lounge car before hitting the cafe, so I didn't notice that now distinctive lack of wood paneling till I sat down with my purchases and my computer.
Next stop is Bloomington-Normal in about a half hour. I'll pause here for the moment.
10/28
Considering the lack of like-minded individuals sitting there and short daylight hours compared to last time I was in one, I didn't spend near as much time in the lounge. Turned out being a good thing. I didn't see him pass me to head to the window (I was within five rows of the back, on my preferred side), but soon enough I caught someone getting video out the back, with an earbud in one ear that turned out to be connected to a scanner. I walked toward the window stood behind him for a minute or so, just enjoying the view, then he noticed me and invited me to an uninterrupted view. I declined on the basis that he had a video camera out, and we talked a little. Turns out that even with my low post count, I'm becoming a little well known, and now I can count Fredevad among the Amtrak Unlimited people I've met.
After Fredvad left, I went back to killing time with my computer till a bit past Alton (the original plan to get picked up at Alton backfired), turning down the option of a dinner reservation (as tempting as the thought of the veggie burger sounded). Around the announcement of "We're almost to St. Louis, please make sure you have your stuff" I packed up and stood staring at what I could through the railfan's window. At my first sighting of The Arch, I posed a tweet saying "Stupid Arch
", and Piotr responded with "I guess you did not want to go back home." When I caught the response, I responded with "Never do, dude lol".After the announcement of "We're about ten minutes from St. Louis", I started to head downstairs. I paused briefly at the window next to the stairs, taking a picture through it for the heck of it even though I knew it probably wouldn't turn out because of the double issue of night shot from a moving vehicle and dirty vehicle windows. I gather I was spotted (at least my flash, because I forgot to set it to off for the shot even though I wanted it off for less odds of the shot getting totally ruined), because when the conductor came downstairs and saw me there, he opened the window so I could try getting a better shot. It still didn't quite work, but that was quite awesome of him. Also for a short part of the distance (I remember running parallel to the Metrolink tracks) he had the door fully open and was holding on to the rail by the door. I admit, that kinda blew my mind a bit, given the general safety standards I have hiding in there on occasion.
According to the tracker, we got in six minutes late, and it still left on time heading toward Poplar Bluff. I got Jack in the Box on the way home and proceeded to vanish from the Internet for the next couple days between work and the lack of sleep I got on the trip. Finally, almost a week later, I think I'm caught up as completely as I'm going to be on sleep.
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