Amtrak, St. Paul to Boston, Last Summer (2005)

This is a diary about a trip I made last summer with my daughter, Lily, who at the time was 11 years old. It represents about half the trip...I am posting this just to practice, aware of the fact it is no great literature, but maybe somewhat interesting to someone, who knows. We took the Amtrak train from St. Paul, MN to Boston, spending one night in a motel in Washington, DC. On the way back we stayed in New York, another night in Washington, and then Chicago. The point of this trip for me was to visit some old high school friends who had achieved a greater measure of success in their lives than I have. They were all happily married and had jobs. The point was that I wanted to give my lagging self esteem a boost of some kind. None of this shows up in the following narrative, but in the end I did feel incredibly good and as though my old friends still loved me and were willing to make my short visit a priority. As this tale begins, my mother, Marilyn, is dropping us off at the Amtrak station in St. Paul. (Anyone who feels a desire to help me pay off the credit card bills I obtained while on this trip may send me Paypal money at dheltzer@paulbunyan.net)(Thank you!) July 11, 2005 - The first day I woke up at 5am. Actually Marilyn turned on the radio at 4:30am but then I fell back asleep until 5. I was sleeping with Lily and she pushed and flailed so it wasn't a great night's sleep. Anyways, our train has just started moving. We are both in a state of disbelief. Marilyn said goodbye to us a the gate. She had left her purse in the car with her camera - my camera was an "outdoors only" type but we took a couple pictures in the lobby with it anyways. Then as we were standing in line outside to board the train we saw her approaching, camera in hand, and she walked right up to the track and took a picture! She was joking about the lack of security, but I wasn't laughing because we had just seen two armed guards walk past. I thought hey would come back and arrest her. So now 8:55am we are following the Mississippi River south. We had walked down to the diner, but it was full and we were not that hungry. Lily wants me to dig for her CD player. 10:15am I managed to sleep 10 minutes before we pulled in to Red Wing. Then the cafe opened and Lily got skittles and pretzels. Then the phone rang and it was John! (My new sweetheart who at 61 is ill will lung cancer.) The train is still going past a large fat river. Keegan, Lily's friend, just called and he is in Texas with Dan, the semi-truck driver dad. They might show Because of Winn Dixie at noon in the lounge car with the big windows. 2:07pm They were at the end of the movie when we arrived. No video only sound. Anyways we sat there from 12:30 to 2pm. Lily brushed and braided my hair. We enjoyed looking at Wisconsin Dells from the big windows. Now she is eating pretzels. It is just slightly cold, it was warmer in the other room. I recently figured out we will be on the next train for 18 ½ hours. That is a real long time. I hope we can do a lot of sleeping. July 12 / Tuesday 9:15 Eastern Time Well we are travelling through the hills and valleys of West Virginia, nearing Washington DC where the complementary USA Today says it will be 95 degrees and an healthy air quality. It was a real hassle transferring in Chicago. We pulled in probably more than an hour late, Lily couldn't decide on food, finally she settled on McDonald's french fries, and I took her picture there with an outdoor comera. Even though we never made it out of the train station, she kept saying "I Love Chicago!" We were there just at rush hour with people all moving in the other direction to meet commuter trains. And I had 3 heavy suitcases on my trolly we had purchased last minute in St. Paul. Lily left her diary under her pillow so I was just trying to call there to find it but couldn't get through. Well, the little sleeper we have is quite sufficient and the diner breakfast was expensive but good. My travelling food is just about expired and I will be ready to eat by the time I find food in Washington DC. Lily seems to be having a great time. I'm glad I brought all this stuff even though getting on & off the train is a bit of a hassle. I'm really missing my chiropractor. When we get to DC (probably less than 3 hours) I will first trek to the motel near the zoo. And then catch food and then do the zoo. July 12 - 11am They put up our bed and although I should try to nap before we arrive I can't. Lily is listening to her ipod and repeatedly applying lip gloss. The cell phone says "No Service" on it. The train is not travelling really fast. We are in the lounge where 2 little black children are squeeling their heads off. Perhaps I will read "Cooperative Grocer". July 13 almost noon Well, we are now on the train to Boston. When we arrived in DC it was a real struggle hauling the luggage on the metro - it wouldn't fit through the turnstile but it was OK the rest of the way. Lily went swimming but I had to haul her out of the pool at 3pm so we could go to the zoo, about a 4 block walk. It was hot, but we did almost the whole zoo. The panda exhibit was closed (because of a panda birth) and part of the zoo was under construction, so at first it seemed like there was nothing worth seeing, but then we started to have fun. The sloth bear looked like a big dog, panting with his big tongue out, and the giraffes were beautiful and there were many Indian elephants. The buildings closed down at 6pm and we tried to get out, but by that time we were just pooped and I still needed to get to Whole Foods. We walked and walked until we were back at the motel about 6:40pm. We rested until 7:15pm, cooled off in air conditioned comfort, then we got our sore feet back on, with different shoes, and walked to the Zoo Metro stop and went one down to Dupont Circle where we had to walk about 6 long blocks to the Whole Foods. It was crowded there and they had no frozen ground turkey. I bought 3 potatoes and some cherries and grapefruit and a bottle of olive oil and a bag of dried figs. Lily wanted a soy ice cream bar and then hated it, but she did eat 2 pieces of bread. Anyways, on the way home we found ourselves on the wrong side of the track and had to go over 2 stops before we could crossover, so when we finally got back to Dupont Circle it was 9:20pm and gettin' dark! We went up to 616 and truned on the All Star Game, with everything we owned on the floor. And we took off our clothes and went to sleep pretty soon when the score was 5-0 American League (Final: 7-5). In the morning I took a shower and packed while Lily slept. It took a long time to pack. Lily had a $25 room service breakfast: Belgian waffles, bacon, applejuice. I ate the last of my turkey burger which had finally found refregeration in the room. I took out the frying pan and it was delicious with the fresh cherries. Also I ate grapefruit. So to avoid a hassle at the metro station we took a cab ride for $14 to the Amtrak station. (Lily says I should tell you what actually happened at the metro station the first time. Well first I just bought one ticket for $5 thinking we could share it but we couldn't. Then my luggage cart was too wide. So I had to dismantle the luggage assembly, and push the suitcasaes through one by one, and then the staiton master had to open the emergency door for me so Lily and I could reunite! This was somewhat stupid but I learned from it! The train was about 20-30 minutes late leaving Washington DC which is good because we got there about 25 minutes before it was initially supposed to leave (10:30) and I really needed a moment to settle. We are on a one level train with snack car in the front. We travelled over an inlet and my thought was - "we're crossing the great lakes!" and then I remembered we were no where near the great lakes - we were just north of Baltimore! Lily had a hot dog/chips/root beer/snickers bar (now we are stopping in Wilmington, Delaware). When I was walking to the snack bar one of the train men said "SOX!" to me as I passed him and I didn't know what he was talking about - I had my socks on! And then I remembered I had a Red Sox shirt on! I finally smiled, gave him a thumbs up or something and he said "they won last night" And I was likd "Oops, really?" and he said the All Star game was 7-0 when he turned it off and I asked him what was the final? And he said 7-5! I feel a little shy talking to these East Coast people and Lily can't understand them at all, she was ordering something at McDonalds in DC and she kept saying "What?" and they would repeat, reluctantly in better English, and she would still say "What?" which sort of ruined the fun of the transaction for them. 5:20pm 7/13/05 The day goes by somewhat effortlessly on the train, although we still don't have a map or schedule of stops and I wish I did. I have a sore throat and haven't eaten much. I was sleeping and Lily woke me up to steal the pillow! At least she is sleeping now so maybe we'll be able to stay up later... I don't know what to expect at Mindy's house. I called her once to tell her we would be arriving late, but now it is even 20 minutes later than that. We are going by a lot of little harbors with cute little boats and the gore and darkness of NYC is well past. 7/14/05 the Best Bastille Day ever!! We woke up and I cooked the meat we bought at Whole Foods last night, venison and organic chicken theigh and leg. Then I did the laundry and packed up the chicken and off we went to Boston. We bought a Boston shirt and one of those weird scarfs (moa boa) at Fanuil Hall, then we went to the aquarium, then we saw this 3D shark thing in the IMAX theatre, then we went on a 90 minute cruise of Boston Harbor. Then It was 5pm! And very hot and tired we made our way on the train to Aulwife station, the north end of the red line, where Mindy picked us up 20 minutes later. Actually we exitted in exactly the wrong spot and had to pay another $2.50 of Mindy's tokens to get back to the auto pick up drop off area, when still early I bought a newspaper for .25. Cheap! Many, Many dollars were spent but I put as much on the credit card as possible. Then Mindy and Rick went out for dinner as I made myself broccoli and venison. And strawberries. Lily also ate quite a bit - noodles/sauce, wild rice, potatoes, even a little corn. And celery with peanut butter. Then we sat in the back yard, in a little netted room, and talked for a long time, first just Mindy and I, then Lily joined us, and then Rick. He is so well suited for Mindy, a perfect match, a romantic. An intelligent person who has practically all of Harry Nillson's CDs. I had him put on Save the Last Dance For Me, but then I was embarrassed to sing it in front of him, desiring to flirt, but not wanting to destroy the positive feelings. So I went into the dining room and sang to myself. Tommorrow we will go see Shark Boy and Lava Girl (3-D again!) and then apparently it is off the New Hampshire where Rick's Beach Boys cover band is playing for free on some beach. 7/16/05 - 11:30am Yesterday we went to a bad movie at 11:20am and then it was off the the beach. Hampton Beach is just about an hour from Boston and is a huge ocean beach with shops on the boardwalk, we also went on a water slide (Lily did I mean). I loved standing in the ocean and letting the water slap up on my theighs. Each wave is different (as they say in surfing) and when Lily got just a little in her mouth she was spitting! Then Rick's band, a Beach Boys band, started playing at 7pm and finished about 9:40pm. Lily found 2 girls to play with, about 9 years old, Jenny and Lila. We danced quite a bit. Mindy had friends there, a fat guy named "Naha" I think with funny round glasses, I danced with him a little, His last name was Naharagiarian or something. Then we rode home with Christine I think her name was, a patent attorney. I took a shower to wash sand out of the crevices and finally had a relatively good night's sleep. Just now we are on the train to New York. I'm thinking I'll get a cab to the Skyline Motel, because the luggage is too much of a hassle. I am still coughing, but I don't feel as sick as I did 2 nights ago... My story comes to an abrubt end here! Thank you for reading.