October 17, 2004

Riding Around America: Epilogue

Click here to view the photo gallery.

I promised some final photos and thoughts about my trip around the country a few months ago so here they are. Well, the photos anyway. All of the photos in this gallery are shots taken from the trains or are photos of the trains themeselves. Overall, I'm very happy with the way that some of them turned out. In most cases the windows acted as filters and the tint actually enhanced some of the colors.

Withdrawl has been hard, especially considering that I have a view of the Hell's Gate railroad bridge from my apartment here in NYC and occasionally see trains crossing it. But, if everything goes well, there are only nine months until I'll be riding the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Asia.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about in this entry you can read the whole story of my rail journey around America.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 2:47 PM

August 31, 2004

Riding Around America: The End

That's it! It's over. After travelling 8,000 miles around the country on the train, I'm back home. I'd like to thank the NYPD who turned out in force this afternoon at Penn Station to welcome me back, the German Shepherd who boarded the train at Albany to make sure that the train I was riding on didn't have any bombs on it, and the armed soldiers who patrolled that stations and tracks along the Hudson River.

But seriously, I really do want to thank everyone that played a role in the trip: Josh, Sherri, Bruce, mom and dad for providing food and shelter; and everyone that I met on the train and in the cities I visited.

A general wrap-up of the trip and some final photos will be up soon.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:54 PM

August 30, 2004

Riding Around America: Layover in Chicago

Either I'm overreacting because I'm a bit bummed out that this trip is ending or I really did have the most annoying children sitting behind me on the train on my way into Chicago. It was unbelievable. I've never seen such badly behaved children on the train before. Crying and crying and the grandmother doing nothing to stop it. Oh well. It's over now and I'm sitting in Chicago's Daley Plaza. In front of me is a Puerto Rican festival, on my right is a fountain, behind me are workers carving up the concrete, and to my left I have Puerto Rican music blasting from some speakers. It's probably a good thing actually, since my ears need to get used to loud city noise again.

It's a bit depressing to think that this next train ride into New York will be my last for quite some time. I guess I will have to savor it as much as possible. Despite all the travelling I've been doing, I haven't found myself sick of riding on the trains at all. In some cases, like Seattle, it's been a welcome respite from a city that I spent too much time in, and it has certainly never been boring.

However, all this noise here in the plaza is getting on my nerves a bit - maybe it's the jackhammers behind me - so it's time to pack up and head back towards the station, hopefully grabbing some food on the way, then onward to New York and the familiar surroundings of my neighborhood.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 5:00 PM

August 29, 2004

Riding Around America: The Last Ride

It's almost over. About eight hours from now I'll board the Empire Builder once again and ride to Chicago, then it's home to New York City aboard the Lakeshore Limited. When I get to New York on Tuesday afternoon I'll be entering perhaps the most secure zone in America as I arrive at Penn Station, which sits underneath Madison Square Garden. That's the site of the Republican National Convention, in case you've been living under a rock for the last few days. I'm expecting long delays and security checks when I arrive, and will be surprised if I get back to my apartment before dark, even though my train is supposed to come in at 3:25 in the afternoon.

I've done the Minneapolis-New York route once before and the lounge car on that trip (back in January) was the most friendly and sociable atmosphere I've ever experienced on a train before. I'm hoping it will be that way again, since I've yet to experience that on this trip at all, but I'm predicting the opposite due to the craziness in the city right now.

I'll save the big trip retrospective, train tips and rail photos for later this week, when I'm settled back in at home and the massive pile of mail that is undoubtedly awaiting me has been read.

Of course if I'm able to find a wireless access point along the way, there will be entries posted from the train or a station. Now would also be a good time to let you know that my NYC.photo.BLOG, on hiatus since mid-July, will be churning out photos once again in just a few short days.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:23 PM

August 26, 2004

Riding Around America: Minnesota Baseball

Since I've been writing about all the ballgames I've attended during my current rail journey, I think it's only fair to write about the Minnesota baseball experience. If you've been following along, I'm a Minnesota native so I am certainly no stranger to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the Twins ballclub. In fact, I can rightly say that I know more about the Metrodome than most Minnesotans because I actually worked there, as a part time maintenance man, for a few months last year.

The Metrodome enjoys the dubious distinction of being perhaps the worst baseball stadium in the major leagues. It was opened in 1982 and is a multi-purpose stadium which means it is used for baseball, football, basketball, concerts, trade-shows, conventions and other big events that come to town. It's most distinguishing feature is the roof, which is made of 10 acres of Teflon coated fabric, held up by air pressure.

The biggest complaints about the Dome are that it's ugly (it's all unpainted concrete and plastic), the generic seating plan provides unsatisfactory views of the action during baseball games, it's a multi-purpose stadium that's not actually good at hosting any type of event, the turf and concrete floor underneath is tough on the knees, the white roof makes it hard to see flyballs, and a host of other things - the list is long.

Most of the major complaints about the Dome are true. However, after spending several months learning the workings of the place as an employee and seeing three Twins games there this season (keep in mind I live in NYC), I've decided that the Metrodome is actually endearing. Yes, you read that right.

First and and foremost, it's unique. There are no ballparks like it and there never will be, ever. Watching a game at the Metrodome is as unique as watching a game at Fenway Park or any of the highly rated ballparks, past or present. Watching a game at the Dome is a completely new experience for a baseball fan who has never been there, just as an outdoor stadium is a new and strange experience for a Minnesotan who has never watched a ballgame not under a roof.

This same theory applies to the opposing team as well, which brings me to reason number two: homefield advantage. There are few teams in baseball who can claim a distinct home field advantage due solely to their stadium. All ballparks in baseball, with a few exceptions, provide the same advantages and disadvantages to both teams who play in them. At the Metrodome, opposing teams can not only lose the ball in the bright white of the roof but they might have try and catch it after it has bounced off of a speaker. At the Metrodome it is even possible for a ball to defy the laws of physics and not come down at all. Another component of this Dome-field advantage occurs during big games, when players are subjected to astonishing volumes of crowd noise. A playoff game in late innings at a jam packed Metrodome is the last place opposing teams want to be, especially when the noise levels are comparable to a jet engine (125db) and are enough to cause hearing damage if sustained long enough. Even during the regular season, opposing pitchers routinely step off the pitching rubber to compose themselves during tense situations when crowd noise is bombarding them from every direction. When filled with fans during a major sporting event it is the loudest stadium in America - possibly the world.

I've seen dozens of games at the Metrodome throughout the years and, despite all it's shortfalls, I love it. Believe it or not, I get that same mushy feeling and quickening heartbeat when I see the flourescent green turf as I did when I saw Wrigley Field for the first time last week. I still, after all these years, look up at the roof and am amazed that air is holding up all those heavy speakers and sheltering us from the rain and snow. When I worked at the Dome I walked past the main control room every day and marvelled at the dials and switches and toggles that control the blowers that hold up the roof. And who doesn't enjoy being thrust out of the building by the release of air pressure when exiting the building?

These are not what you would call "traditional" baseball experiences. Of course the Metrodome is no Wrigley Field, Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium (which I hate). But it's still baseball, and it is most definitely Minnesota baseball.

Plans are underway to build a new ballpark for the Twins. Although the effort is bogged down in the state legislature as of this writing, the new stadium will become a necessity in the next ten years if the Twins are to remain a competitive team. I am OK with that. A new, modern ballpark that gets more Minnesotans excited about the Twins is definitely a good thing. But I'd be lying if I said that I won't miss that big concrete and plastic monstrosity known as the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 1:59 AM

August 23, 2004

Riding Around America: Chicago Photos

These have been delayed for days but I've finally put up photos from Chicago. There were quite a few so I divided them into two sets:

• Chicago Baseball: photos from the Cubs game and the White Sox game I attended
• Chicago: these are general photographs taken around the city

permalink | comments (2) | posted at 8:32 PM

August 22, 2004

Riding Around America: Mississippi Travels

I have now entered the family portion of my trip which includes much relaxing at my parents place just outside Minneapolis. Yesterday morning we went out for a drive, heading south along the Mississippi River and into Iowa and Wisconsin.

The first attraction we hit was Spook Cave in McGregor, Iowa. It has 6"-2' of water in it and is fairly small, so groups of eight (plus one guide) are taken in on rowboats powered by trolling motors. At several points we had to duck to avoid scraping the ceiling, and there was a bit of tomfoolery in the back seats when some people splashed the extremely cold water on others - I won't name names. Our guide had a head of flaming red curly hair (like Carrot Top the comedian) and, judging from the way he talked, was very bored. Not only that but both of the tour guides on other boats that we passed in the cave spoke the same script and even used the same bored-sounding inflection in their voices!

After the exciting boat trip we hit the road again and went to Effigy Mounds National Monument, also in Iowa. There we saw a demonstration of the atlatl, a prehistoric throwing weapon, and walked a short portion of their 11 miles of trail, which go to the bluffs above the Mississippi River. The mounds themselves were created by Native Americans all over the midwest, but only in this part of Iowa were they consistently created in animal shapes.

Next we made a beeline up the road to our hotel in LaCrosse, WI because they serve free drinks between 5:00 and 7:00 each evening. All four of us took advantage and managed to put away a half dozen beers plus some vodka, Kahlua and Bailey's. We walked it off around 8:00 and had dinner at a Cajun place - yes, a Cajun restaurant in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

This morning and afternoon we meandered back home and had a nice picnic in Red Wing along the way. It marked the third time I have been in Red Wing on this trip (the Empire Builder passes through) and I'll go through it one more time on my way back to New York at the end of the trip.

And by the way, I haven't forgotten about the Chicago pictures. They'll be up soon.

permalink | comments (3) | posted at 12:26 AM

August 19, 2004

Riding Around America: Backtracking to Minneapolis

There's probably not much sense in writing about my trip from Chicago to Minneapolis because I'm backtracking but I'm putting this up simply to maintain the continuity of the travelogue. Basically, the ride on the "Empire Builder" was pretty uneventful. I found myself thinking of the eight hour trip as "short" which shows how my perceptions of train travel have changed.

I am in Minneaoplis now, staying with my family. It's always nice to be back in the area where I grew up. To emphasize that I am back in my "hometown", I'm attending an eighth grade reunion tonight (my first reunion of any kind) which I'm a little nervous about.

I don't consider the trip over, just because I'm here. Actually, I'll be seeing a few things this weekend in LaCrosse, WI and maybe dipping into Iowa and Illinois briefly. It will be nice to travel with the family like we did back when my brother and I were kids.

Although I won't be riding on a train again until the end of the month when I go back to New York, the travelogue will continue. In the next couple of days I'll be sorting through my Chicago photos and putting up a gallery of selected images. I'll also be writing a little retrospective of the trip and posting ten tips for travelling by train. So, there's much more to come. Stay tuned.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:32 AM

August 18, 2004

Riding Around America: The Other Chicago Ballpark

Yesterday was Pepsi half price night at U.S. Cellular Field, formerly known as Comiskey Park so I picked up a ticket for a seat in the upper deck for a mere $8. Originally built in 1991 to replace the original Comiskey Park, the stadium was renamed last year and has had a host of improvements recently which make it a pretty good place to see a ballgame.

When I arrived, the Detroit Tigers were taking batting practice. They had just finished when dark clouds started to roll in and the few fans in the ballpark were treated to thunder and lightning. Soon, rain was falling and I was experiencing my first rain delay. The grounds crew pulled a large tarp over the infield, the fans ran for cover and we waited. Around game time the skies really opened up and the downpour made it look like the game would be cancelled. After taking some photos of the rain I stood in one of the entrances to the upper deck and watched the Twins game on the big screen in center field. Of all the ballparks I’ve been to, U.S. Cellular has the biggest and best jumbotron I’ve ever seen. Watching the Twins while waiting for the game to end was a pleasure.

As quickly as it had begun, the shower ended and the clouds drifted off over the lake. The grounds crew rolled up the tarp and fans started brushing the rain off their seats. The game started off with a bang when the Tigers hit the second pitch of the game into left field for a home run. There were lots of Tigers fans in the crowd and they all cheered. This made me feel good because I, being a Twins fans, was naturally cheering for the Tigers also.

In addition to having a great scoreboard, the stadium also has some really nice grass. This may seem like a strange thing to say but I am fascinated by baseball fields and the stadium has beautiful deep green grass, neatly mowed in straight vertical lines.

This game was the first time that I’ve kept score, which was a nice way to stay “in” the game. Keeping score also appeals to my obsessive-compulsive side. Although I was concentrating on filling in the scorecard it was impossible not to miss the large group of loud fans in my section. These guys were hilarious. They were all drinking and yelling and screaming. When a kid nearby had his birthday displayed on the big screen in center field, the group, who didn’t know him beforehand, chanted his name and sang Happy Birthday to him in the eighth inning.

Eventually the White Sox bats came alive, the game ended up being quite a slugfest and I was finally able to see the famous exploding scoreboard in action. The term is actually a misnomer however because the scoreboard itself doesn’t actually explode. It did at the old Comiskey Park but these days that’s probably a lawsuit waiting to happen. Today’s scoreboard does have spinning pinwheels and flashing lights which are complemented by fireworks that explode over left field when a homerun is hit, which happened twice last night. The fireworks added a nice touch to the ballgame and the fans love them.

During this game I found several reasons to dislike the White Sox (as if I didn’t dislike them enough already). Basically, they look sloppy. They show no hustle on the base paths or when taking the field which is why, in the end, the Tigers prevailed.

Overall, U.S. Cellular Field is a common ballpark. It’s a nice place to watch a ballgame but it isn’t spectacular like Wrigley Field or Camden Yards. The fans are fickle and didn’t hesitate to boo when the White Sox made bad plays. They also went home in the seventh and eighth innings despite the fact that the Sox had rallied to within a few runs of the Tigers. But despite all this, U.S. Cellular Field is a nice place to watch a Chicago baseball team, especially if you refuse to pay exorbitant ticket prices to see the Cubs.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 11:03 AM

Riding Around America: Science, Industry and Architecture of Chicago

I still had a lot of things on my list of things to see and only had one day left, but I managed to fit the big things in. First, I went downtown to take an architectural walking tour. The Chicago Architecture Foundation leads about a dozen different tours of the city, highlighting different time periods and buildings. It was tough to decide which tour to take but I eventually picked “Historic Skyscrapers”. I took a year long course in college on the history of architecture which is what sparked my interest so I was looking forward to seeing the world’s first skyscrapers on the tour.

I won’t mention all the buildings that the two hour tour covered, but we probably hit at least a dozen. Almost all of the buildings we saw were some of the first in the world to be considered “skyscrapers”, a term which can be applied only to buildings that are over ten stories tall and have a steel skeleton rather than load bearing walls. The highlights for me were the Marquette, Field, and Rookery buildings.

I would highly recommend the tour for anyone that has even a slight interest in architecture. The guide that our group had didn’t go into excessive detail and kept his explanations simple and in laymen’s terms but was knowledgeable enough to answer more specific questions while walking to and from the buildings. The tours also incorporate a lot of Chicago history because events in the city, especially the Great Fire, are part of the reason that the skyscrapers exist.

The tour ended just after noon and I caught a southbound bus to the Science and Industry Museum. It has changed a bit since I was last there, which was when I was a kid and my dad took me to Chicago for the weekend. I basically remembered two things from the museum: the German U-boat and the coal mine. I ended up seeing neither on this trip. The U-boat is closed because it is being restored and moved indoors to a new exhibit space. The coal mine was in operation but I chose not to go inside. I have an image in my head of what it was like and, in a sort of cheesy and sentimental way, I don’t want to taint that image by seeing it as an adult.

There were a couple of exhibits that stood out at the museum. First is the Pioneer Zephyr, an extremely fast train that ran between Denver and Chicago. It’s a slick, aluminum skinned machine in the style of Gulf Airstream campers and trailers. The Amtrak trains of today are nice, but I would have loved to be able to ride the one on display at the museum when it was in operation. The other cool exhibit was also about trains (you’d have thought I would have had enough of them by this point) and is a gigantic model train layout meant to symbolize the route of the Empire Builder. Both Chicago and Seattle are modeled, skyscrapers and all, in some detail. Trains that run through the layout include the Empire Builder, the Cascades, freight trains, and Chicago’s mass transit system.

The part that I enjoyed most at the museum, however was not any of the exhibits, but the film I watched in the Omnimax theatre. “Lewis and Clark” is a sweeping 40 minute film about the expedition, narrated by actor Jeff Bridges. It’s a documentary with the bird’s eye views of western scenery that Imax films are famous for, interspersed with scenes of Lewis, Clark and their crew. Some of the scenes are simply amazing and the entire production is uplifting, informative and patriotic without being cheesy. It conveys the magnitude of the undiscovered parts of North America and the extreme danger that the group faced along the way.

After seeing most of the museum it was 5:00 and time to catch a bus to Comiskey Park - I mean U.S. Cellular Field, to see the White Sox play the Detroit Tigers.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 9:46 AM

August 17, 2004

Riding Around America: Chicago

I've spent two full days in Chicago now and have seen a few interesting things. Sunday evening after the baseball game I went downtown to the new Millenium Park which just opened in July. The Frank Gehry designed bandshell is somewhat forgettable since it looks like all his other buildings. There are two other pieces of art in the park that captured my interest however. The first consists of two 50-foot tall blocks with a shallow pool between them. One one side of each block, a videoboard displays photographs of everyday people. I saw the sculpture, designed by Jaume Plensa, at night, and kids were playing in the pool and having a great time. THe pool is only about an inch deep which gives the impression that people walking in it are walking on top of the water. The changing video boards providing an interesting backdrop and light up the entire area. I stood watching the sculpture for about 15 minutes and eventually a spout of water shot from the mouth of the people on the screens, much to the delight of the children below who danced around in the spray.

Equally attractive is the large, smooth, unnamed steel sculpture which has been dubbed "jelly bean" by visitors, for good reason. The surface is like a mirror, and it reflects the skyline beautifully. Crowds of people were gathered around the sculpture, posing and photographing themselves and others in the reflection.

A much smaller display of family photographs is displayed off to the side of the park. A photographer (whose name escapes me right now) travelled the world taking photographs of families. Each photo is accompanied by a short description and the exhibit as a whole is fascinating.

Yesterday morning I went up to the Chicago Historical Society which had several interesting exhibits. In the main gallery was an exhibit about Leopold & Loeb, two criminals who kidnapped and murdered a boy named Bobby Franks. I will write a little bit more about the exhibit later (I'm running out of batteries), which features the work of my favorite songwriter Billy Corgan. Another interesting exhibit is "Teen Chicago", which shows what the lives of teenagers have been like throughout the 20th century.

Yesterday evening I took the Green Line train out to Oak Park and looked at a few Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings, including Unity Temple, whose dreary gray concrete exterior was unspectacular.

Today I'm taking an architectural tour, visiting the Science and Industry Museum, and seeing a White Sox game if the weather holds. I'd write more but I'm losing battery power and need to get going. More details and photos will be posted tomorrow morning before I catch the westbound Empire Builder to Minneapolis.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 8:33 AM

August 16, 2004

Riding Around America: Baseball at Wrigley Field

After checking the Cubs schedule yesterday morning and realizing that I would have to see them that afternoon before they hit the road, I got on the red line train and headed north to Wrigleyville. I knew from the website that tickets had been sold out long ago so my only hope was to purchase a ticket outside the field before the game. I arrived at Wrigley at noon, which would give me over an hour to buy a ticket. No problem, I figured.

One hour later I was still without a ticket. I had walked around the stadium half a dozen times and walked down some of the side streets. The cheapest ticket I had found was about $80. The problem with buying tickets for an event in Illinois is that it’s one of the few states that allows ticket “brokers” to resell tickets significantly above face value. I discovered this a few years ago when I was attempting to purchase tickets to the final Smashing Pumpkins concerts.

So I continued looking for a ticket. At 1:20 the game began and I was still outside. Brokers had dropped their prices a few dollars but it was still more than I wanted to pay. A few of the unlicensed ticket sellers had pulled me aside wanting to negotiate. At this point, they were willing to sell tickets for $40 but it was the fourth inning and the game had been going for a full hour. I knew the Cubs had scored a couple of runs due to the roar of the crowd. I started to think that I should probably give up and leave.

I was literally walking down the street towards the El to go back downtown when a guy came up to me and asked if I needed one ticket. He showed me the ticket and said he wanted $40. I talked him down to $30, then $25. I made my final offer: $20. He started to walk away but his partner in crime eventually convinced him to give me the ticket for $20. He wasn’t too happy but I slipped him the twenty and he gave up the ticket. I was in!

I rushed up to the gate, handed over the ticket and walked into 90 year old Wrigley Field. It took me awhile to get my bearings but I eventually started upstairs to the upper deck. I had no idea if the seat was any good and I really didn’t care; I just wanted to see this place before the game ended. I walked up a bunch of ramps, stopped quick to buy a cold beer to celebrate my good fortune, and walked out into the stands along the right field line.

My first impression of Wrigley? It’s tiny! I knew immediately why it’s known as the “friendly confines”. I looked around in amazement for a few minutes and then asked an usher for directions to my seat. Section numbers are on small, unobtrusive signs but I eventually found my section and started hiking up the stairs to row nine. I got to the top of the steps and there was row nine with a chain link fence behind the seats and the Chicago skyline beyond. I found my seat, sat down, and took my first long look at the field.

I must have sat there with my mouth open for several minutes. Although I was in the last row, I was very close to the field. I was sitting in the upper deck but the players didn’t look like ants. From what I could tell, every seat in the place is good. Another great thing about Wrigley is that it actually feels old. Old wooden beams hold up the roof, which is also wood. The wall around the field itself is red brick. Ivy covers the outfield walls. The main scoreboard in center field is hand operated. Every so often you see a number on the board disappear and someone in a red shirt puts up the new one. There are only three small electronic scoreboards in the entire place. There is no Jumbotron. Beyond the ballpark, rooftops are crowded as people watch the game from their homes. The field is actually uneven in places.

As I watched the game I came to the realization that baseball really is timeless. By looking at the field and watching the game it felt like it could have been 1914. There is very little that has changed at Wrigley and that’s why watching the game there was so incredible. The ticket I bought was worth every penny.

In the end the Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the cold wind coming through the chain link fence behind chilled all of us in the top row to the bone - but that was secondary. For me, just being inside the ballpark and seeing the game was most important.

After the game I walked around the stadium. The ushers were in no hurry and they let me walk down to first row, right next to the field. The stadium is so intimate that I was only a few dozen feet away from home plate. The low brick wall in foul territory was barely taller than my knees. Fans lucky enough to sit that close could have a conversation with the player in the on-deck circle and look right into the dugout. I can only imagine what it must be like to sit that close and what those tickets must cost.

I filled my camera with photos and left the ballpark, walking out under the sign that simply reads:

Wrigley Field
home of
Chicago Cubs

Short, simple and too the point. Like baseball is meant to be.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:00 AM

August 15, 2004

Riding Around America: Empire Builder

After one too many days in Seattle, I was looking forward to the 2200 mile ride on America's most famous train, the Empire Builder. The route was named for James J. Hill, the ultimate railroad tycoon, who built the Great Northern Railway. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the famous route and also the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I would be riding the entire length of the route - Seattle to Chicago. I prepared by stocking up with the food supplies and by cracking the book I had brought along specifically for this leg of the journey - "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose, a popular book about the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The train was crowded from the start and I was seated next to woman who was very excited to hear about this website ("I love stuff like that"). She was a former park ranger who had worked at Steheiken in Washington and she made me wish that I had done some hiking while I was there. Now I'm going to have to go back sometime and check out everything that she recommended.

The ride east from Seattle was some of the best scenery yet as we sped up, over and through the Cascade Mountains. We passed through wilderness areas and national forests. The train labored slowly up a steep 2.2% percent grade at one point, with a nearly vertical rock face on one side and a pine forested valley on the other. We also went through the longest tunnel in North America which measures nearly 8 miles long. I was going to time how long it took us to get through but I fell asleep just a few minutes in. So much for my chance to see how fast we were going.

I fell asleep before Spokane, and slept well apart from the jolt at 12:30 in the morning as extra cars were added to the train. I woke up as the train approached Glacier National Park. Fog lay low along the river and amongst the trees and slowly burned off as the sun rose higher. A few minutes after I woke up, the train stopped at Whitefish for a 15 minute smoke break. It was still early but I didn't want to miss the chance to get a breath of fresh air so I decided to go outside. I was jolted awake as I stepped off the train by the cold outside air and steam came out of my mouth. I stayed outside as long as possible, enjoying the clean fresh air before the two short blasts of the train's whistle signaled the all aboard and we were off again.

I spent the remainder of the day dozing, reading the paper and starting the Ambrose book. I had lunch in the dining car with a couple who were in the middle of moving from Portland to Vermont, with their four week old baby, Sam, who was very well behaved as the three of us talked and ate.

I fell asleep that night a few minutes after the train went through Devil’s Lake, ND and had an even better sleep than the night before because I now had two seats to myself which allowed me, after much blanket arranging and seat tilting, to get into a comfortable sleeping position. I slept through Grand Forks and Fargo, woke up briefly in St. Cloud and then de-trained for some fresh air in Minneapolis. I dug out some quarters, bought a copy of the Star-Tribune and made the local call to my parents to say hi. They weren’t home, or they were still asleep – I had forgotten that it was Saturday, so I got back on the train and soon we were off again.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. I got through a large part of the Lewis and Clark book, met a nice girl from Holland who was traveling around the country with her sister as a break from studying to be a teacher, dozed off a few more times, and arrived in Chicago last night only one hour late.

And that’s a brief summary of my pleasant journey on Amtrak’s Empire Builder. Now I have three days to explore Chicago before backtracking to Minneapolis to spend time with my family and then heading back to New York at the end of August. This journey around America is far from over.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 10:47 AM

August 12, 2004

Riding Around America: Goodbye Seattle

Click here to view the photo gallery.

I'm sitting in the library again, killing some time before my train, the Empire Builder, leaves for Chicago at 4:45. I've decided that three and a half days in Seattle was too much. Yesterday there wasn't anything of major interest for me to see. Or at least nothing that I was interested in. I think I may have lost some momentum here in Seattle due to all the traveling I've been doing. Not that I didn't have a good time here, I'm just looking forward to being back on the train again and getting to a fresh city. Chicago has more places to visit and more baseball to watch - both the Cubs and White Sox will be in town. Other things I'll be visiting are the Art Institute, Science & Industry Museum, and the other usual suspects. If any readers have suggestions for more obscure places or attractions to visit, please let me know.

The Seattle-Chicago leg of my trip is the longest and perhaps the most historic one yet. It's over 2200 miles, passes through seven states, and makes up over 25% of the entire journey. Speaking of distances, by the time this whole thing is over I will have travelled 8000 miles. According to an air distance calculator I found online, this is roughly the distance between New York City and Calcutta - or Seattle and Singapore. In other words, it's a long way but I'm stoked, stocked (with food and books), and ready to go.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 1:04 PM

August 11, 2004

Riding Around America: Baseball in Seattle

Click here to view the photo gallery.

I approached Safeco Field with some trepidation yesterday at 5:00 pm to see my beloved Minnesota Twins take on the Seattle Mariners. The outside of the stadium with it's boring brick facade doesn't look like much but thankfully the inside of the park is another story. I entered at the home plate gate, my ticket was scanned by a friendly gate attendant and I proceed inside, underneath a giant bat (of the Louisville variety) sculpture, and up the stairs to the first level.

As I reached the concourse my eyes were immediately drawn to the field where I saw the Mariners taking batting practice and the Twins stretching and throwing in front of the dugout. I walked down and joined the crowd of Twins fans who were watching the team and looking for autographs and there they all were: Hunter, Koskie, Jones, Rivas, Guzman, Lecroy, Ford, Stewart, Santana. The whole team, standing right there, hanging out, joking around and clearly having a good time.

Soon the Twins were up for batting practice and I stayed down by the field, watching them spray hits all over the field. Corey Koskie launched several baseballs into the upper deck in left field, to ooohs and aaahs from the crowd.

Eventually the grounds crew started to clean up the field. The batting cage was pulled away, ground covers were picked up and water was sprayed onto the infield dirt to keep the dust down. There were still a few minutes before the game so I took a quick walk around the stadium. The right field concourse provides an interesting view due to the stadium's retractable roof. When the roof is open, it sits out beyond the confines of the park, over the railroad tracks. I noticed this when I arrived a few days ago when the roof blocked out the sun as my train rolled into Seattle. The roof is interesting from a technological standpoint but it's location above the tracks provide atmosphere as well. At several points during the game the roof made passing train whistles echo into the stadium and the trains could be seen beyond the right field bleachers.

Finally I walked up several flights of stairs to my seats in the upper deck behind home plate. Section 329, row 4, seat 10. For $24 the seat provided an excellent view of the field. The Seattle skyline loomed in the background, the sky was clear and the temperature perfect. A perfect day for a ballgame.

Before the game began a short tribute to Edgar Martinez was shown on the video board in center field. He had just announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season and the crowd gave him a standing ovation for a full three minutes. He was obviously moved as he stood out in front of the dugout tipping his hat to the fans who supported him during his 18-year career. During the first inning he showed why he's a fan favorite when he hit a two run homer to left field much to the crowd's delight.

Sitting next to me for the entire game was Dave, a Mariner's fan who knew a lot about baseball. Dave was a twitchy, analytical fan who had a laugh somewhere between a guffaw and a grunt that sounded like he was trying to clear his throat. He was a nice guy and our conversation covered the downfall of Kirby Puckett, the problem with the last place Mariners, financing for the stadium, September 11th, politics (he was a Libertarian) and education. The woman sitting next to him was Peggy, a friend of his brother's from Connecticut who was a social studies teacher and Yankees fan. Between the three of us we had a lot to talk about which was just as well considering the lack of excitement on the field after the Mariner's four run first inning.

The game ended in a Mariner's victory which wasn't too disappointing to me. I told Dave, "You guys have such a horrible record that we have to let you win once in a while." He smiled and nodded because he knew it was a lucky win, then we sat back down and continued talking until most of the other fans had left. Fwe shook hands all around, went our separate ways, and I was reminded once again why I love baseball.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 2:00 PM

Riding Around America: Seattle History (or not)

Yesterday I went out in search of history. Seattle seems to lack a major history museum so I was forced to search for the history of the city in other areas. I had read about Bill Speidel's Underground Tour in my excellent guidebook and picked up a brochure at the hotel. Since I'm a sucker for anything that's abandoned or underground I decided to check it out.

The tour cost $10 and starts in a saloon called Doc Maynard's. The saloon was jam packed as the presenter began telling all 150 of us a bit about the history of Seattle. The initial presentation was about 20 minutes long and was perhaps the most abbreviated history of a major city that I have ever heard. Between the little bits of history there were a lot of jokes about different types of people, especially those who were from Tacoma. That's all well and good and I appreciate a good joke as much as the next guy so at this point I still had hope that the underground portion of the tour would be better. The large group was then split up into three groups of fifty and we were handed off to our guide, Gael, a funky woman with an annoying voice.

The first stop on our tour was out in the middle of Pioneer Square where Gael decided to start her stand-up routine. I say stand-up because this woman had no qualms about making a joke nearly every sentence. It was ridiculous. I hoped that maybe she was just warming up the crowd, and getting people excited about the tour so I was disappointed when the jokes continued, and even got worse, for the remaining 90 minutes of the tour. Maybe Gael was just trying to be entertaining but this was preposterous. Here's a breakdown of the tour:

• Jokes that had no relation to the history of Seattle 70%
• Jokes relevant to the history of the city 15%
• history of Seattle 10%
• silly audience participation that added nothing to the tour 5%

Yes, it really was that bad. I realize that the attraction is meant to be more entertaining than historical but what people that run places like this don't realize is that the history is entertaining. There are an infinite number of stories in history that don't need jokes to be entertaining and that stand up on their own as being interesting. Gael inserting a joke every 30 seconds was completely unnecessary and insulting to those on the tour like myself who thought they might get a nice, albeit brief, little history of the city.

To be fair, here's a summary of what I did learn:

• Seattle had lots of prostitutes back in the day
• Some parts of the city have underground passages due to the levelling of the ground after a big fire
• There is a tip jar near the exit

Yep, that's pretty much it. I will admit that the underground area was interesting, however, even though we only saw three blocks. After the big fire mentioned above, city planners decided to take the opportunity to level the city by destroying the cliffs surrounding the city, letting all the rock and dirt tumble down to the waterfront, and building everything on top of the rubble. Business owners were instructed to rebuild their structures with grand entrances on the second floor, which would eventually become the ground floor after the streets had been filled in. While the streets were being filled in, walls were built so that people could still walk on the sidewalks which were now below street level. Then brick vaults were built to cover the original sidewalks and new sidewalks were built on the new ground level, formerly the second story of the buildings. On the underground tour we walked along those original storefronts, just underneath the current sidewalk. Unforunately we only walked three blocks of what must be a much larger underground area and had to endure a disgusting amount jokes along the way.

Feeling depressed that I had wasted $10 to hear an underground stand-up routine, I immediately headed to nearby Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park to get the real story. The park is made up of several units (the main one is in Skagway, Alaska) which are located along the trail that prospectors used when they headed north to the Alaskan Gold Rush. The Seattle unit is just a small visitor center but in the small museum, in 15 minutes, I learned more about the history of Seattle than I did on the entire underground program.

I had my doubts about the accuracy of the underground tour so I struck up a conversation with the lone park ranger on duty. I mentioned that I worked for the NPS in previous summers and then pressed him about the underground tour. He lowered his voice a bit and confirmed my suspicions that some of the stories they tell "are just plain wrong". He then recommended a good book about Seattle ("Skid Road" by Murray Morgan) which gives a more accurate account of the city's history. So I'd like to thank the ranger on duty, who shall remain nameless due to incriminating comments about Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, for giving me hope that someone is telling the true story of Seattle.

permalink | comments (5) | posted at 1:29 PM

August 10, 2004

Riding Around America: First Days in Seattle

I left Portland Sunday afternoon aboard the Cascades, which is almost like a commuter train between Portland Seattle. It was a short trip at only four hours and it was the most unique train I've traveled on so far. It makes several trips back and forth between the two cities each day and has an engine and baggage car on each end of the train for quick turnarounds. The cars are regular size, not double deckers like the Superliner's and are much nicer. Each car has several televisions which show a route map and current location of the train, like trans-oceanic flights do. The seats have much less leg room, however, which is justifiable considering the short duration of the trip. I slept msot of the way and missed a lot of scenery unfortunately and the trip was pretty uneventful until the train reached the Seattle-Tacoma area. As we were riding past an airfield the conductor directed our attention to a huge crowd of people looking up in the sky. Apparently there was an airshow going on and the Blue Angels were flying around. I caught a glimpse of them several times as they flew low in the sky, making elaborate smoke patterns in their wake.

I headed to the hotel when I got off the train and eventually found it. It's located right in the center of downtown, a short 12 story building amongst skyscrapers. I unloaded at the hotel and, since it was a nice day and still early, I decided to go up in the Space Needle, Seattle's famous landmark.

The Space Needle was built in 1962 for the World's Fair and looks as good now as it probably did when it was built. It's impressive from all angles, and looks as if it could have been built just a few years ago. I walked around underneath it for about an hour, looking at the other buildings nearby. The Experience Music Project sits next door, in a multicolored blob-like building. It's interesting, but it's still a blob. Another remnant of the '62 Fair is a large, earth shaped fountain. It shoots water over 30 feet in the air, and little kids were dancing around in it.

Finally, I bought a ticket for the Space Needle and went inside. After a short wait in line, a group of us jammed into an elevator and shot up to the top. I say shot because the elevators actually go pretty fast. They also have windows in them and a guide points out some of the sights on the way up. The enclosed platform at the top has multiple levels. The bottom is taken up by a rotating restaurant which is powered by a 1.5 horsepower motor with a very high gear ration. The upper level has a small exhibit about the history of the Needle, and then of course there's an outdoor viewing platform. The view from the platform is simply spectacular. It was a brilliantly clear day and Mt. Rainier stood out clearly, despite being nearly 100 miles away. The mountain is so huge that it looks fake and the view of the mountain and the downtown buildings combine to make Seattle one of the most beautiful skylines I've ever seen. The view of Seattle from the Space Needle is better than the view of New York from the Empire State Building and certainly better than the view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower. It really is that spectacular.

After taking in the view for nearly a half hour I went back down to ground level and then walked along the Seattle waterfront. it was Sunday and late in the day so not much was going on in the city. The famous Pike Place Market was closing down and there weren't many people on the streets so I went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. That was Sunday.

Yesterday the first thing I did was walk to the Seattle Public Library. The central branch is two blocks from my hotel which is very convenient because the library has free wireless internet access. The library building itself is brand new and just opened a couple of months ago. I won't say much about the library know because I plan to devote an entire entry to it in the future but I will say this: it is stunning. After a couple of hours of catching up on emails and walking around the library I went down to the waterfront and walked out on some of the piers. I grabbed some "chips and salmon" for lunch which was pretty good and then went back to the Pike Place Market.

Although the market isn't quite as large as I expected, it was much busier than it was the day before and the stalls were filled with merchants selling everything from paintings to fish to fruits and vegetables. I bought a small painting of the Seattle skyline from one of the artists which will look nice on my wall back home.

Next I went to the Pike Place Fish Market which is semi-famous for being the place where the workers throw fish around. There was a crowd of several dozen people standing around watching these guys do their thing. The workers throw big fish to each other for packaging and let members of the audience hold the fish for photo opportunities. It's fun to watch and I got a few good pictures which I will post later.

I walked around downtown for a few more hours and went to a grocery store to pick up some food before heading back to the hotel, and then back to the library before it closed. Can you tell that I really like this library?

Today will be filled with more tourist type activities. I'm going to try and hit three things today: Klondike Gold Rush National Park, a Russian submarine, and an underground tour. Then tonight I'm going to Safeco Field to see the Seattle Mariners take on my favorite baseball team, the Minnesota Twins. So far, it looks like a great day for baseball.

permalink | comments (3) | posted at 11:26 AM

August 9, 2004

Riding Around America: Portland Impressions

Click here to view the photo gallery.

Now that I am in Seattle with a bit more time on my hands I can write little bit more about Portland. Even though I was only able to spend one full day in the city I left with a favorable, and contradictory, impression.

I mentioned most of the positive things before. The transportation system seems to be excellent. The light rail trains are probably the smoothest thing I have ever ridden. They glide along the streets and don't seem to cause any traffic problems, although it was Saturday so I may have a false impression. I also stayed in the downtown area most of the time so I'm not sure how viable public transportation is for those who live in the suburbs.

In addition to living up to it's reputation of having good public transit, the city is also great for walking. Downtown is not a very large area and city blocks are small compared to other cities which makes it very pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

The contradictory aspect of the city is it's people. From what I could see, there are two types of people in the city: the younger population (20s and 30s) is hip, middle class and tatooed, and everyone else is homeless. Of course I'm generalizing here but the number of transients that I saw during my short time in the city was astonishing. I realize that there are homeless in every city but I didn't expect to see so many in Portland.

In general I think Portland is one of those cities that is better to live in than visit. From a tourist's perspective there isn't all that much to see. For me, this was no problem because I like the everday stuff just as much as I like tourist attractions. For example, I spent the better part of my afternoon walking along the river and looking at the bridges, as you can probably tell from the photo gallery.

My impression that Portland is midwestern-ish stuck as I saw more of the city throughout the day. Since I've spent most of my life in or around Minneapolis I couldn't help comparing the two and there are some similarities. They have a similar vibe. The only differences are that Minneapolis is larger, more congested, and has worse public transportation. Maybe they aren't so similar after all, actually. Or maybe Portland is what Minneapolis wants to be.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:31 AM

August 7, 2004

Riding Around America: Wandering Around Portland

My one day in Portland is nearly over and here's a brief recap. Brief because I still need to get something to eat before everything closes around here.

After writing this afternoon I went across the street to go to the bathroom at Nordstrom's. Too much detail? Sorry. No need to mention that I suppose. Anyway, I walked over to Powell's Books and sold some of the books that I had finished. They gave me a grand total of $5.00, but that's better than nothing I suppose. So I bought a couple of new books and a magazine which ought to keep me occupied for the rest of my trip. Powell's deserves the reputation it has because it really is huge. It literally takes up an entire city block and they provide free maps of the store for a reason. After I had wandered around and gotten lost a few times I went across the street and had a slice of deep dish pizza at a place called Rocco's.

Too walk off the massive amount of cheese and dough in my stomach I went to the Saturday Market, which was jam packed with stalls selling everything from magnets to artwork. I bought two small pieces of the latter from an artist who's last name is Work. This makes him very hard to find on the internet especially because I can't remember his first name, and that's why I haven't provided a link to his website. I think the two pieces are the first artwork I've ever purchased.

I walked across the Burnside Bridge next and walked the esplanade along the Willamette River. It provided a great view of the city and I could also see at least half a dozen bridges from that vantage point.

It was actually getting relatively late by this point and I had wandered around quite a bit so I went back to the hotel to rest up for an hour or so, dropped off the paintings, and then headed back out. I went to the same spot across the river and got what I hope are some good photos of the sun setting behind the bridges and the buildings.

I'm not putting up any photos yet because I still have to sort through and resize a lot of them. I'll probably do that on the train tomorrow and then post them tomorrow night if all goes well. I'll also try and write in more detail about my impressions of Portland. I'm writing this in a bit of a rush right now because I want to get to bed at a decent time. My train to Seattle leaves tomorrow morning at 8:45 so I'm going to have to get up a bit early. Apologies for the lackluster post tonight. I'll make it up with the next entry.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 10:20 PM

Riding Around America: Arrival in Portland

I arrived in Portland last night a few hours later than scheduled but that was no surprise. The sun was setting as I checked into my hotel downtown so I didn't go out except to get a late night salad from McDonald's down the street.

This morning I went to the Oregon Historical Society and saw their excellent exhibit of the history of Oregon. Unfortunately, that was really the only thing of interest on display right now in the museum. A Lewis & Clark exhibit opens in September. The interesting fact I learned about Oregon is that it was attacked by the Japanese during World War II. The coast was shelled by a submarine and, more strangely, the forest was firebombed by a Japanese balloon contraption that was launched from a submarine. It's one of the few times in history that America has been attacked from the air.

The museum only took about an hour to walk through and now I am sitting in a Starbucks in Pioneer Square, a public area which seems to be the focal point of the city. Starbucks of course has a wireless internet service which is provided, for a fee, by T-Mobile. However, since the Starbucks is located right in the Square, I'm connected to the free network which is provided by the city.

I think I'm really going to like this city. It seems very midwestern in style and mannerisms of the people. Everything is very clean and the area I'm in right now is a somewhat trendy, but not overly. The light rail trains are running along the street right next to me. Public transportation here in the downtown area is free and there is no sales tax in the entire state. It's going to take more exploring of course but I think I could see myself living here.

Speaking of exploring, there aren't many touristy type things to see here in the city that I'm really interested in, so for the rest of the day I'll just be wandering around. I plan to hit Powell's Books, the esplanade that runs along the other side of the river and the Saturday Market. The city has at least half a dozen bridges that go across the Willamette River so I'll be checking those out as well.

Depending on how late this place is open, I'm going to try and stop in here again later tonight to write more and maybe post some pictures as well. I'll write more about my impressions of the city then.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 12:15 PM

August 6, 2004

Riding Around America: Coast Starlight

This was written while on the train and was posted on August 7th, I just pre-dated it to avoid confusion with today's entry.

Approaching California/Oregon border... 9:30am

I have a window seat so I woke up almost immediately when the sun rose over the mountains at 6:30 this morning. I didn't have my glasses on but I knew the view was beautiful. Red and orange cloud streaks seemed to be coming out of the mountains and I could see green pines trees jutting out of volcanic rock and poking up against the horizon. This was quite a change from when I went to sleep last night.

The scenery of yesterday was made up of gradual, soft mountains and rolling foothills. As always, it was the colors of California that struck me. Brilliant blue sky unblemished by clouds, marked by the light brown grasses of the hills, and then the deep green of crops in the valley: strawberries or lettuce or some other type of leafy plants. It's that well defined color palette that I will remember about California.

After the brieft stretch of pine trees and volcanic rocks and snow capped Mout Shasta earlier this morning, we now slowly ride through a valley, surrounded on all sides by hills, about to pass through the last town in California, then through a tunnel into Oregon.

Approaching Albany, OR... 5:30pm

We're running even later now and I'm just chillin'. I wish my iPod hadn't been stolen.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:50 PM

August 5, 2004

Riding Around America: On to Portland

I'll be leaving in just a few short hours so this will be a short entry. Yesterday Sherri and I went to her favorite dive, a place called the Rudder Room which sits right on the beach. We met a colleague of hers and her husband there for drinks and had some cigars also. It was a good time. They're going back tonight but I will be gone by then and well on my way to Portland. I arrive tomorrow at 4:00 in the afternoon and will try and write a post then if I can find a wireless access point. Portland is pretty good when it comes to wireless so that shouldn't be a big problem. So that's all for now. The next entry will be written from Portland or from somewhere in between if I'm lucky.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 9:56 AM

August 3, 2004

Riding Around America: Channel Islands National Park

Click here to view the photo gallery.

Today Sherri and I went out to Channel Islands National Park which is just off the coast about 12 miles. We started out this morning around 9:00 am on a boat run by Island Packers. It was gray and chilly as the boat cut through the ocean and we saw several pods of dolphins swimming alongside and jumping through the air. Eventually we arrived at Anacapa Island, one of the smaller ones in the chain, and got off the boat.

We had over three hours to explore the relatively small island, which was the perfect amount of time. We took a volunteer-led walk around the island and learned about some of the plants and animals of the island along the way. The guide likened the Channel Islands to the Galapogos and it's easy to see why. The island is a beautiful, undeveloped preserve containing 1400 unique species and is home to a large population of endangered brown pelicans.

The guide made sure not to forget the island's cultural history also which was nice. A native American group called the Chumash used it as a hunting ground and it has been used for a light station throughout the 20th century. But even apart from the natural and cultural aspects of the islands, the aesthetic value is priceless. By the time we reached the western tip of the island the weather had cleared and we had a beautiful view of the other islands in the chain. The photos in the gallery barely do this place justice.

During our stay we had a nice conversation with Bill, the law enforcement ranger on the island, who answered all of my questions about the lighthouse and foghorn. He even showed us around inside the keeper's quarters which is his personal residence. We were literally walking around in his living room! He also mentioned that, where it not for the fear of disturbing the pelicans, he would have let us climb up to the top of the lighthouse.

At 2:00 we headed back down the cliff to the dock to take in the "underwater diving video". For this, three divers went into the water in the cove with a video camera and swam around underwater, telling us what all the plants and animals were as we watched it on three big televisions. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this was. In all the national parks I've worked in and visited I have never seen or heard of a program like this. It was, hands down, the most unique interpretation I have ever seen. It felt like we were almost right down there with him as he pointed out fish, lobsters, sea urchins, kelp and even a shark. I think my mouth was hanging open the entire time. It was one of the most effective and well done tours I've ever seen.

Eventually we had to leave the island but not before cruising around the back for a close up of the sea lions and a gigantic stone arch which stands offshore. It was an experience that I can only hope to explain through the photos, which don't even begin to do the place justice.

On the return trip we briefly questioned the wisdom of consuming beer on a boat pitching and rolling across the channel, but in the end threw caution to the wind, and ended the beautiful day with two cold ones.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:28 PM

August 2, 2004

Riding Around America: A Day at the Beach

There isn't much to report from today but I feel it is my obligation to keep my few readers informed. This afternoon Sherri and I spent a couple of hours at the beach. I had a very bad experience with the sun when I was here last time so I lathered up pretty well with sunscreen and avoided getting burned, except for the tops of my feet. I think I will survive. It was a nice relaxing day which is good because I'm told the boat ride out to the Channel Islands is physically exhausting. But it should be well worth it and I am looking forward to it. We'll be leaving at 8:00 tomorrow morning and will be gone for most of the day, but you can expect a full account here tomorrow evening.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:12 PM

August 1, 2004

Riding Around America: Sunny California

I'm staying with my godmother Sherri and her husband Bruce here in Oxnard, CA and yesterday was jam packed with beautiful scenery and a castle. We headed north up the coast early in the morning and went to Hearst Castle, home of William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper publisher and politician back in the early 1900s. I had been to the castle as a child but had forgotten how beautiful it is. We took a tour, the only way to see the castle, but it almost felt like we were wandering through on our own because the tour guide spoke softly and had so many cheesy jokes that even I was groaning. It was difficult to hear what he said but Sherri and Bruce took up the slack by telling me all the interesting stuff they had heard on previous tours.

After the castle, and an excellent lunch of "tri-tip", the meat cut of choice here in CA, we headed back to Oxnard looking at some beautiful scenery along the way. The day had started cloudy and chilly but in the afternoon the weather was nearly perfect. Blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. The great weather made for some beautiful scenes along the coast and in the mountains. I'll be seeing more of that scenery on Thursday because my train to Portland goes through the same area.

Today we went out for lunch in Ventura and walked around downtown, then caught the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" a whacky MTV production about a very strange high school kid. It was just plain weird.

This evening we had some excellent steak which was cooked outside on the grill and I got to know Homer better. Not the author or the Simpson but the dog. I used to cringe at the thought of getting slobered on by a dog but I've gotten over it now and am having a good time playing with Sherri and Bruce's pet, "Homer-dog", as they call him.

The rest of the evening was very laid back and tomorrow will be also. On Tuesday Sherri and I are taking a boat out to the Channel Islands, a national park offshore. The weather report is predicting strong winds and the trip can be pretty hairy, according to Sherri and my mom, so I'll get the chance to figure out if I get seasick in choppy seas. And of course, you'll be able to read a full account right here.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:22 PM

July 31, 2004

Riding Around America: Tucson Photos

Click here to view the photo gallery.

My current location is Oxnard, CA where I have another steady internet connection and can write more updates about my journey so there are a few photos from Tucson up in the gallery now. I ended up leaving Tucson yesterday morning at around 8:00. The 12 hour delay didn't bother me very much because without the delay I wouldn't have been able to track snakes with Josh in the Tucson desert (see previous entry).

By the time I arrived in Los Angeles I was 14 hours late and had missed all northbound trains so Amtrak put me in a van with a few others and we headed up the road to Oxnard. Good, I thought, this shouldn't take too long. There was a mother and her two children in the van with us who very hungry so the driver suggested we stop and grab some fast food. This sounded reasonable to me considering how long we had been on the train so I agreed that we should grab something quick. The driver headed towards Burger King which was literally across the street from the station but the kids were having none of it. "Mommy, lets go to McDonald's instead," they told her. So we ended up driving several miles down the road in search of a McDonald's. Finally we found one and eventually I ended up in Oxnard around midnight, approximately 12 hours after I was scheduled to arrive. So my warning to all of you is: beware the Sunset Limited because it is never on time. Never.

Enjoy the Tucson photo gallery. There will be more on the way in the next few days.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 1:30 AM

July 30, 2004

Riding Around America: Last Day in Tucson

Josh and I started our day early, planning to get out to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum while it was still "cool" enough for the animals to be out but were delayed for quite a while when I realized that I was missing something - my iPod. It was gone. I either forgot it on the train or, more likely, someone snatched it when I was away from my seat. I put in calls to Los Angeles which is where the train was cleaned and serviced but they did not have anything matching the description. It was in a little case along with a nice pair of headphones and my Belkin digital camera link. The total value is over $350 so it's a big financial loss. I consoled myself with the thought that it could have been much worse, considering all the other gadgetry I have with me. But life goes on.

I had heard of the desert museum from several others besides Josh, including the older couple I had lunch with a few days ago. They said it was the best museum they had ever been too. I probably wouldn't go that far but it definitely ranks high on my list, which is surprising since I'm more interested in history than nature. The word "museum" is a bit of a misnomer. The place is more like a zoo, but not in the traditional sense. The museum is a near perfect representation of a desert environment and it largely outdoors. They go to great pains to conceal any sort of human intervention which contributes to the feeling that these animals are in their natural environment. Virtually all animals that dwell in the desert are represented, from bobcats and bears to spiders and snakes - they have everything. With Josh as my tour guide I learned a tremendous amount of information during the several hours we spent at the museum.

Next on the agenda was a tour of AMARC, the aircraft "boneyard" at Davis-Monahan Air Force Base. The facility holds roughly 5,000 aircraft and they have several purposes. Some are slated for destruction, others for spare parts and still more are kept in flying condition in temporary storage. It's difficult for me to explain the size of this facility. It is entirely outdoors. The desert environment is perfect for keeping the airplanes in good condition and so they just sit there. Rows upon rows of every type of aircraft imaginable, from every branch of the military service. F-4 Phantoms left over from Vietnam, old transport planes, B-52's, B-1 bombers, F-14's, training jets, helicopters, A-10 attack planes and piles of equipment including ejection seats, jet engines, missile parts and fuel tanks. Everything. The most fascinating part of the facility were the rows of planes which are literally chopped into pieces. As part of various treaties with Russia, many planes with nuclear capabilities are being destroyed. The terms of the treaty stipulate that planes be chopped into several pieces to render them unusable. The facility uses a 13-ton steel guillotine which they drop from a crane to accomplish this. Next, the planes sit for 90 days to allow Russian satellites to photograph the severed planes and verify their destruction. Then the planes are melted down and the resulting metals are sold as scrap. It's a fascinating facility and my mind still boggles at the number of planes that just sit out there in the desert heat.

As dusk approached we grabbed some excellent pizza at Josh's favorite spot near the university and, after checking that my train was "significantly delayed" - that's Amtrak speak for "your train is hopelessly late and will be arriving about 12 hours late" - headed up into the foothills for an evening of snake tracking.

Snake Tracking in the Sonora Desert

I suppose it would be a good idea to explain how I ended up smack in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night under a full moon looking for snakes. I never would have had the opportunity to do something like this if it wasn't for Josh, a friend of mine from college. He moved to Tucson last year to work on various herpetology projects. Basically, he is unable to resist any type of work, paid or volunteer, that involves snakes, lizards, toads, and especially turtles. His current project is tracking Tiger Rattlesnakes in a sparsely populated housing development to determine the effects of human development on the animals.

We drove up to the development, which turned out to be not at all what I expected. It's a gated community and apparently some very wealthy people live in the area. The development has maintained much of the natural environment and the houses are spread thinly. Throughout the entire evening we never even got close to the buildings and many of the plots have not been built on yet.

There are about 300 snakes that are being monitored, 22 of which have radios inserted in them so that they can be located for data gathering. Josh and three others go out as often as possible to locate the 22 snakes and enter the data into a spreadsheet on their Palm's. Later, the data will be analyzed to figure out what effect the development is having on the snakes.

We arrived just as the sun was setting and the full moon was already shining brightly. Josh gathered up his equipment: Palm Pilot, GPS locater, thermometer, headlamp, snake tongs and telemetry gear and we started trudging off into the darkness beside the road. Josh took the lead, holding a four-pronged antenna above his head and listening intently to beeps on the radio hung around his neck. The sound of the beep indicates the proximity of the snake.

The moon and stars shone brightly in the cloudless sky as we walked around in the hills. Josh deftly made his away around the cactus with me close behind. After a bit of searching and waving the antenna in various directions, we came across the snake, or a snake. It actually wasn't the one that Josh was looking for but a different one. It lay on the ground, coiled up, waiting for something to come by that it could eat. Although it wasn't the one he was looking for, Josh had to bring it into the lab to gather some information so he pulled a large pillowcase out of his backpack, picked up the snake with long metal tongs and dropped it in. I stood watching in amazement.

Next, Josh resumed the hunt for the snake that he was actually looking for, which he found close by in a burrow. While he began collecting data I, somewhat reluctantly and after a bit of encouragement, crouched down and stuck my camera in close to the burrow and took a few photos. The snake is only visible in one and he's looking right at the camera with eyes glowing from the flash and tongue flicking out.

When Josh finished we drove to a different site to find the other snakes he was looking for. Along the way we stopped to check out a big toad who was sitting in the road. We hopped out of the truck and Josh grabbed him so that I could take a look. It was a Sonora Toad and it was about the size of Josh's fist. He held it up in the light of our headlamps so we could get a closer look. Believe, it or not, it's the type of toad that you can lick to get high. And here I thought that was just an urban legend.

We continued down the road and this was my favorite part of the evening. The other snakes are "controls" which are outside of the development on a hill on private land. To get there, we opened a barbed wire fence and proceeded down a ranch road which was barely a road at all. The previous day's rain had swept sediment down the road and it was a succession of little dips with trees and cactus on all sides. I quickly learned to pull my hand inside the truck as we went down the "road", jostling up and down with cactus and shrubs scraping along the sides. Josh referred to all the scratches on his truck as "Arizona pinstripes". We were far from habitation and as we headed deeper off road it reminded me of the stereotypical horror movie where the villain drives the victim into an abandoned spot far off the road to kill him.

We arrived at Josh's "parking spot", a small clearing, and set off to the find the remaining snakes. It didn't take Josh long to find two only a few meters away from each other. He gathered the data while I got as close as I dared and took some photos. Continuing on, Josh spotted a tarantula walking across the desert floor in front of him and kindly corralled him with his antenna so I could get some pictures.

The last of the snakes took more effort to find. Because they were up on the hill, the signal was bouncing around and it took a while for Josh to pick them up on the antenna. At one point we were at the top of the hill with the desert floor and the lights of Tucson twinkling miles away. Because of the moon, the mountains and tall cactus on all sides of us stood out vividly against the horizon. The night was still and quiet. No traffic or airplanes noise; just a heavy silence and a beautiful desert view. So far, it's been the best moment of the trip and I'll always be grateful to Josh for showing me a part of the country that I never would have seen before, in a way that I never could have imagined.

After finding his snakes and gathering his data, we headed out, back down the "road" and onto pavement again. We had spent part of the evening talking about how Josh had never seen a mountain lion or bobcat while tracking even though others had had several sightings. Then, as we drove along, highlighted in the headlights, we saw a bobcat bound across the road. We came to a quick stop and hopped out of the truck to get a better look. Josh grabbed a spotlight and we walked over to the side of the road. The bobcat was walking slowly away from us but then it turned around and looked right into the spotlight, eyes glowing. It was an amazing sight and it was a beautiful animal. After a while it got bored with us and walked away. Josh walked a few feet off the road to find it but it was gone. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get a picture. We headed back, both of us excited that we had seen the cat, and me very glad that I stopped in Tucson on my ride around America to hike through the desert with my friend Josh looking for snakes. I may like history and airplanes, but the snake tracking has been my favorite thing I've done on the trip so far. So thank you Josh, for giving me a proper introduction to the desert.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 12:00 AM

July 29, 2004

Riding Around America: First Day in Tucson

It's been a busy couple of days here in Tucson so I'll do the best I can to relate everything that's been going on, starting with this brief post about yesterday. Pictures will be on the way in the next day or so.

The train did not make up any time at all as we rode through Texas and New Mexico so I ended up arriving in Tucson a ridiculous 8 hours late. Josh picked me up at the train station at about 5:30 in the morning. We went back to his place where he gave me a quick tour and then I went to sleep for a couple of hours.

Later in the morning we went out for breakfast and then decided to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum, one of the largest in the country. Along the way we started talking about baseball at which point Josh realized that the Twins were playing the White Sox on ESPN. So we took a detour, found a sports bar and watched the Twins sweep the White Sox in the final game of the series.

After the game we headed out to the museum and took a tram ride around the site, while our tour guide told us about some of the planes. Unfortunately, it started raining and our guide cancelled the rest of the tour so we missed some B-52's and the rare Migs (Russian jets). The museum was OK but the price of admission is a bit steep. Before we left we arranged to take a tour of the aircraft boneyard. More about that later.

Next we went and saw a sneak preview of the movie "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" which one of Josh's friends had obtained tickets for. It was surprisingly entertaining and very funny. Maybe even worth actually paying for. So for a free movie it was pretty good. Time will tell if it does well at the box office.

After the movie the plan was to track rattlesnakes, which is part of Josh's job as a herpetologist here. Unfortunately, he had loaned the tracking gear to someone and couldn't get it back in time so were out of luck. So we decided to do the tracking tomorrow since my train will probably be late again and we can go out at dusk.

We headed back to Josh's place and then decided to go out with a few of his friends. We ended up hitting about three bars and had a pretty good time. In the first bar we caught a bit of live music which was alright. We closed out the evening with some Mexican food at Losbetos. It was pretty good and I haven't had the ill effects the following day that I was warned about which is good. I'd like to thank Josh, John, Mary and Erin for showing me a good time in downtown Tucson.

It will be sad to have leave this place. The scenery here is beautiful. Various mountain groups surround Tucson on nearly every side. There is virtually no grass and residents decorate their yards with gravel and stones. There are prickly pear and Saguaro cactus everywhere and palms trees are prevalent as well. The weather is hot and dry but the evenings are clear, crisp and cool. It's a beautiful place.

I will end this post and summary of yesterday's events here but will write again in the next couple of days to bring everything up to date. Right now I just don't have time due to all the things we have planned before I leave. So stay tuned and thanks for reading!

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 4:31 PM

July 28, 2004

Riding Around America: New Orleans Photos

Click here to view the photo gallery.

As you can probably tell from the previous entry, I'm in Tucson finally and now have a steady internet connection, so here are about 30 selected photos from New Orleans. I'll try and write a little something about Tucson soon and include some photos but right now I am off to see a movie and then going to track some rattlesnakes. Yes, rattlesnakes. My host, Josh, tracks rattlesnakes and we'll be going out tonight if the weather stays good.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 8:39 PM

Riding Around America: Riding to Tucson

The following was written while on the train in the past few days. I did finally make it to Tucson.

Near the Texas/Louisiana border... 11:00 pm

The thing that you need to expect about Amtrak if you're planning to travel with them, is that they are nearly always late. This morning, before leaving my hotel, I called the automated train status toll free number to find out if things were running on time. The automated voice on the other end, "Julie", informed me that the train was six hours late, but that they were expecting to make up time along the way and should be departing New Orleans at 2:15. OK, I figured, that's not so bad. I can handle a two hour delay. So I waited until the last possible moment to check out of the hotel, and headed over to the station.

Guess what time we actually departed New Orleans? 5:45. I finished the Crichton book and read the entire Sunday edition of the New York Times, had a Subway sandwich, banana and a bagel. It could have been worse I suppose, but I wish I had known the train would be that late because I could have found a coffee shop with internet access and posted the New Orleans photos. So it was a waste of a day but not the end of the world. Like I said, you have to expect these types of problems when travelling Amtrak.

It seems that a big part of the problem is, not surprisingly, the lack of tracks. Amtrak has to use the same rails as freight trains and the freight gets the right of way. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it's a law or has to do with ownership of the tracks. If anybody out there knows the reason, let me know by writing in the comments of this entry (at bottom). This is the type of thing I would usually look up myself, if I had an internet connection that is.

I think this trip will be very nice, however. The cars on this train are double-deckers and are probably a bit newer than what I was riding on before. In coach class, the bottom level holds luggage, bathrooms, and seats for the disabled, while the upper level is where the regular seats are. There are lots of advantages to this. First, the seats themselves are over 20 feet off the ground which makes for a great view. I'm basically on the same level as the rooftop of a one level house. Another advantage is that there is more space for passengers and more space for bathrooms. The bottom level of each car has three bathrooms plus a lounge for the ladies which has additional sinks and a big mirror with stools in front of them. And by the way, I only know this because someone left the door open.

Finally, and this is perhaps the best part, is the double decker lounge car. This thing is awesome. The upper level has floor to ceiling windows and skylights. It really feels like the car is clear plastic. It's like something you'd expect to see in Star Trek with futuristic looking pedestal type seats and all. The lower level of the lounge car contains a very well stocked snack bar and bench seats with tables.

Because we left so late, I didn't get to see much before darkness fell. The big highlight occurred just outside of New Orleans when we crossed the Mississippi over the longest railroad bridge in the world, the Huey Long Bridge, which measures an astounding 4.5 miles from end to end. The reason it's so long is because it needs to be high above the river so that the cargo ships can clear it. Because of it's height the approaches to the bridge are very long so that the train can rise up to such a height. On the bridge approaches it felt like the train was flying through the sky because, from the second level, I could see nothing to either side except the ground far below. It was cool but a bit scary not being able to see what was holding us up.

After clearing New Orleans we passed through southern Louisiana which seemed to me to be entirely swap. In most cases we were riding on top of a little embankment with water just a few feet to either side of the train. To our right, I could see the highway, which is built on pylons above the level of the swamps. The amount of water on the ground wasn't surprising. At some point in New Orleans I learned that the city gets an average of 65" of rain per year. The record was 18" in six hours! The only other notable part of the landscape before darkness fell were the sugar cane fields and rice paddies to the south of the tracks.

So now we are moving along, not very fast I might add, towards Texas. I can see streetlights and houses as we go through the towns. The guy sitting across the aisle from me brought a bottle of Southern Comfort on the train and is mixing it with iced tea. He offered me some but I politely declined. I'll probably be trying to sleep soon and waking up in Bush Country.

Pulling out of Del Rio, TX... 1:00pm

Twice today I've tried to connect to access points in stations, once just now in Del Rio and once in San Atonio. Both times I've been unsuccessful and I'm not really sure why. Each time it's been able to connect to the access point but not to the internet. Oh well. Maybe later.

Last night I slept quite well. I think it was because I had two seats to myself and could "stretch out", if you can call it that. I only woke up a couple of times between 1:00 and 8:30 am which is better than I've managed to do in the past.

This morning has been pretty uneventful. I've fallen asleep a couple times since breakfast, read a little, and talked to the car attendant, Mike. He is doing a good job considering the train is so late and he's gotten so little sleep. When he heard what I do for a living he asked if I was a priest which I found amusing. He's been working for Amtrak since May and doesn't seem to like it very much.

The scenery has changed rapidly in the past few hours. Now we are riding through rolling ground with white rocky soil, little scrub plants, small round cactus, and a few trees. There's a little of trickle water here and there but it's white and murky. The ground has the consistency and color of oatmeal with lots of rocks on it. There are no animals but every once in a while I can see a dirt road or windmill.

The dining car just opened for lunch and I think I'll go and see what they have to offer.

Approaching El Paso, TX... 9:30pm

I should have been in Tucson by now. Instead, we aren't even out of Texas yet. That means there are still two states to go before I'll be getting off this train. I wouldn't be bothered except that my gracious host in Tucson will be very inconvenienced by my lateness. Other than that, I don't really mind.

For lunch I had a burger with a couple from Salinas, CA. They were returning from Little Rock, AR and their 50th high school reunion. We had a good time and I had cheesecake for desert which was nice and filling.

After lunch I enjoyed a movie in the lounge car. I forget the title but it was about a town called Mooseport and a hardware store owner, played by Ray Romano, runs for mayor against a former president, played by... Gene Hackman I think. It also had one of my favorite actresses in it, Maura Tierney, who plays Abbey on ER. It was a pretty good movie.

The scenery has changed quite a bit, and there are now some beautiful mountains on both sides of us. I think I've got some good photos as the sun went down. It's almost completely dark now and I can see the headlights of the cars on the highway in the distance and, beyond that, flashes of lightning on the horizon which silhouette the mountains.

I'm going to shut down now to conserve battery power. Of course I'll try and connect in El Paso so I can post this.

El Paso, TX... 12:00am

Holy delay Batman, this is ridiculous! It's now midnight and we still have many hours to go. Other than that, not much else to write. I'm just chilling, reading the New York Times Magazine which has an interesting article about cockroaches in it. That's pretty much it.

permalink | comments (3) | posted at 8:36 PM

July 25, 2004

Riding Around America: Last Day in the Big Easy

After waking up over an hour later than I intended I had to hustle this morning to make it to the ferry dock in time for my river cruise on the Creole Queen. We cast off from the Riverwalk at 10:30 and started heading downriver. I was most fascinated by the other boats on the river. There were dozens of them, big and small. Tug boats (that don't tug but push), container ships, cargo ships, paddlewheelers. The captain gave a nice narration over the PA along the way and I learned a lifetime's worth of information about shipping which was actually quite interesting.

The whole purpose of the ride was to see the Mississippi but also to stop at Chalmette battlefield, site of Andrew Jackson's victory over the British in 1815. There, we listened to a presentation from a ranger which was very informative. The battlefield is not very large and was practically swamp during the battle, which didn't help the British as they walked across the field seeking a way to get into New Orleans. Of course Jackson wasn't about to let that happen and tore into them with muskets and cannons. A heroic tale that was told well by the park ranger, even if I disagreed with her assertion that the US victory shifted world power from Europe to America. That seemed a bit of an overstatement to me.

I just barely had time to walk around the field a bit before the deep below of the boats horn summoned us back. On the way back I sat in the A/C portion of the ship and let the cold air turn the sweat on my face into a salty crust. Gross, I know but I only mention it to help you understand how hot it is here.

After returning from the cruise I ventured west, away from the French Quarter, to the area around Lee Circle and paid the hefy $14.00 admission to the D-Day Museum on Magazine Street. Simply put, the place was phenomenal. Probably not of much interest to those who don't care about military history, but to me it was awesome. The exhibits are well written and illustrated with large, sometimes graphic, photos from the period. It's not overly patriotic and cheesy but lets the soldiers literally speak for themselves in text and video. The museum also handled the more controversial topics well. It deals with racism on both sides, mentions the Japanese internments, and frankly gives several viewpoints on the atomic bomb, an issue that has raised much controversy in the past several years. I spent a good part of my afternoon at the museum which was good because the other museum I wanted to check out, across the street and devoted to the Civil War, was closed.

Tonight I had a crawfish/shrimp pasta thing for dinner which was pretty good. Probably the most filling meal I've had since I left - for some reason I don't each much when I'm travelling, especially when it's this hot. After dinner I went down the block to Harrah's, the only casino in town, and blew about $7 on nickel slots. I'm a high roller, I know.

So my stay in New Orleans is pretty much over. I've enjoyed it immensely and I've seen pretty much everything I wanted to, which I am happy about. I have lots of photos but they're going to have to wait until I get to a more reliable internet connection. Since I start for Tucson tomorrow (a 1500 mile journey for those who are keeping track at home) and I'll be riding through no-mans land for most of the way (i.e. southern Texas), I don't think I'll be able to hook up with a wireless connection. But, you never know. I'll have some things ready to post just in case so keep reading.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:30 PM

July 24, 2004

Riding Around America: a Hot Day in New Orleans

I walked out onto the street for my first day of sightseeing in New Orleans this morning at 8:45 and started sweating almost immediately. I knew it was going to be hot but this weather is hotter than anything I've experienced since I lived in Virginia. Luckily, I've been carrying a big bottle of water with me all day.

I started out with a 90-minute walking tour led by Jim, a Park Ranger from Iowa. He lead a group of about 25 visitors around the French Quarter and gave a nice overview of some of the important events and the critical social makeup of early New Orleans. Basically, there aren't many ethnic groups that this city doesn't have. Of course it has Native Americans, African-Americans, French and Spanish but there are also a surprising number of Germans, Irish and even Dutch who have immigrated to this city in it's nearly 300 year history. Jim also made sure to tell us all the integral vocabulary that we'd need to survive in New Orleans:

• Go Cup - the plastic cups of alcohol that are legal to carry around the city.
• Devils Pitchfork - Sharp metal spikes on the poles that support balconies and galleries of the houses in the city. The 18th century way of protecting your house from burglary.
• Dixie - Now synonymous with the South (or the Confederacy), the word originally came from "dix" the French word for ten which was printed on money.
• Gumbo - comes from the West African word for Okra, the main ingredient of the thick soup.
• Neutral Ground - a grassy area between streets, otherwise known as a median. This term comes from Canal Street, which divides the French Quarter from the Central Business District.

After the tour I walked to Jackson Square and took a look at the first equestrian statue ever made. It's a funny sculpture of Andrew Jackson, victor of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, waving his hat theatrically. The inscription on the base of the statue reads, "The Union must be preserved". General Benjamin Butler, a Union general had this carved into the statue after he captured the city of New Orleans shortly after the start of the Civil War. Butler also ordered that any female Southern sympathizers in the city be treated as prostitutes. It's no wonder they called him "Beast" Butler.

St. Louis Cathedral adjoins the square and I stepped inside it next. It claims to be the oldest cathedral in America. It's sparsely decorated for a Catholic cathedral but it's quite beautiful inside.

I walked around for another hour or so on the streets around the cathedral, at one point encountering a street performer. He had a toy guitar in his hand and I don't know what his gig was, but I wanted to get a picture of his donation bucket which read "Gots to make money for my honey". So I took the picture and had just barely started to turn around when the guy starts yelling at me to give him some money. I started laughing then turned around and put a dollar in his bucket. After all, I don't want him to go home with no money for his honey.

Next I purchased my ticket for tomorrow's trip down the Mississippi on the paddlewheeler Creole Queen, then took the riverfront streetcar down to the French Market. I wandered through the flea market and the farmer's market and then saw what I knew I had eat: alligator on a stick. For $1.50 I couldn't pass it up and I'm glad I didn't. It was mixed with some pork to make a sort of alligator hot dog and had a nice kick to it. Very tasty. The alligator, combined with the multitude of people carrying their "go cups" of beer around with them everywhere, was making me thirsty so I stopped at an outdoor cafe for a local amber beer, a cup of gumbo, and some live music from a band made up of old black guys with growly voices and gray stubble beards.

I'm back at the hotel now but just to cool off. The heat index is 110 degrees which is hotter than anything I've experienced for quite a while. It should be a little cooler now so I'm going to go back out and walk around some more and take some photos. Tomorrow I'm taking the paddleboat downriver to Chalmette, site of the Battle of New Orleans. then hitting a WWII museum and a Civil War Museum.

Photos were promised today but the connection in my hotel is not very good and there's no way I'll be able to upload all the files. I'm checking into other methods but there might not be any photos for a couple of days.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 8:42 PM

July 23, 2004

Riding Around America: Intro to New Orleans

I think I'm going to like New Orleans. The train ride into the city involved a long stretch on the causeway across Lake Pontchartrain north of the city. All eyes were glued to the windows as the sun descended below the horizon.

It was only 9:00 pm when I checked into my hotel so I thought I'd see what was happening in the French Quarter. Bourbon Street, actually. The interesting thing about New Orleans is that there is no law against carrying drinks around in public. As long as it's in a non-breakable container, it's perfectly legal to carry your drink around in public. I actually felt out of place for not having a drink in my hand as I walked down the street. It was above and beyond what I expected. Beer, beads, bars and bands on every block. I tried to count the bars that had live music but lost track somewhere around two dozen. Masses of people walking down the street and people watching from the balconies above. The great thing is that it is perfectly safe. People were imbibing, having a good time, and everyone was polite. It was only 11:00 but still, I was impressed. I can't imagine how crazy it is during Mardi Gras.

Tomorrow my plan is to get an early walking tour of the French Quarter from the National Park Service, which has a visitor center a few blocks away and then check out some other sites in the area. Watch for a post tomorrow that includes photos.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:55 PM

Riding Around America: the Crescent pt 2

Posted from the train... just like the previous entry below

Birmingham, AL... 1:30 pm

We were supposed to arrive here in Birmingham an hour ago so we must have been delayed somewhere. I'm not exactly sure where because I fell asleep after Atlanta. We've travelled a total of 1023 miles so far, and we have about 7.5 hours to go before New Orleans, if we're not delayed further. The train is relatively quiet today apart from the kids in front of me who are getting a little antsy to reach their destination: Meridian, MS. A lot of people disembarked in Atlanta and I now have an empty seat next to me again.

The whistle on the train blows and we are rolling again. Off to the left I can see the Vulcan statue looking down upon the city. When I was here as a kid my dad said it looked like he's holding a popsicle in his hand.

Time to start a new book: "The Great Train Robbery" by Michael Chrichton.

Crossing the Mississippi/Louisiana border... 8:30 pm

It's been a pleasant afternoon riding along through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and now, Louisiana. I found out that Kelly, the car attendant, is from Ireland and she likes my trail mix (she was hungry so I gave her a handful). We're still running about an hour behind schedule so I won't arrive in New Orleans until about 9:00.

I just got back to my seat after having my first dining car experience. On most long distance trains there is a lounge car and a dining car. The lounge is where snacks and drinks can be purchased (where I was late last night) and the dining car is for formal sit-down dining. So I walked up to the dining car and was seated... by myself. Now this was not exactly what I had in mind. I had always been told to expect to dine with strangers (and was looking forward to meeting people), but there I was sitting by myself. I was disappointed for a few minutes but then a couple came in from the sleeper car and they were seated across from me. So I ended up having a good meal and a nice conversation with Matthias and Anouk from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He is a media engineer who specializes in e-learning and she is a teacher so we had a lot to talk about. Like me, they'll be staying in New Orleans for three nights and we'll be riding the same westbound train on Monday.

Found an access point here in Slidell, LA. Gotta go!

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 8:38 PM

Riding Around America: the Crescent

The following has been written as I ride and, thanks to an unknowing home or business with an unsecure wireless network, has been posted from the train in a hurry while stopped at a station.

Approaching Charlottesville, VA... 9:30 pm yesterday

The green trees and lush fields of Virginia have given way to darkness as we speed along next to the Shenandoah mountains. All I can see now are black outlines of trees against the darkening sky. We're pulling into Charlottesville now and will be off as soon as passengers have disembarked or boarded the train. It's been a pleasant journey so far and we are running on schedule.

In New York earlier this afternoon I was the first to board the car I am seated in, and thus have secured myself a window seat. Upon leaving New York, our car attendant, Kelly introduced herself. She is an older lady with an extremely thick Irish or Scottish accent - you'd think I could tell the difference but I still have trouble. She made a few announcements and told us, "Yer all rich Americens so spend some o yer money in the dinin' car won't ye?" She just now went through the car to make sure we all have pillows because "dewn't let aneybodey say that old Kelly never gave ye a pellow". She's been having a great time with some of the kids in the seats behind me also. I wanted to ask her how she started working for Amtrak but her shift is over so we won't be seeing her again until 3:00 am.

This first day of the trip wasn't much for scenery. New Jersey is, well, let's just say it lives up to it's reputation. We had a bit of rain in Washington, and even some lightning but it didn't last long. Maryland and Virginia are pleasant enough as far as scenery goes, but I've done a lot of travelling in this area before, so it's nothing new for me.

I have NetStumbler running (a program that uses my wireless card to detect wifi networks) and managed to pick up quite a few access points so far. The train is going so fast that they only appear for a few seconds before disappearing again. I'm leaving it on, just in case something is accessible the next time that we stop at a station. If I do manage to find one, I'm going to have to be quick if I want to have a chance of connecting, much less checking or sending email. If this message is posted anytime before 8:00 pm on Friday then you can assume that I was successful.

Now it is completely dark outside. So dark that I can literally see nothing outside of the windows. That's right - nothing. Not even lights. From what I saw during the day, trees surround both sides of the tracks, just like they do along Virginia's highways. It's a strange sensation to be hurtling down the tracks, feeling the train sway from side to side, but unaware of what's on the other side of the glass.

Between Lynchburg and Danville...11:00 pm yesterday

It's 11:00 pm now and I am sitting in the lounge car. I've just finished "Red Badge of Courage" and a cup of coffee. The book was excellent (maybe I'll write up a little something about it later), the coffee was OK. We just left Lynchburg a few minutes ago. I still have NetStumbler running for kicks and have picked up a few more access points but we haven't stopped near any. I'd really like to be able to connect at some point along the way but that's wishful thinking.

Compared to my only other Amtrak trip, this lounge car is dead. There are a couple of young girls and their mom watching a movie on a laptop, and an Amtrak employee is doing some paperwork but that's about it. A bit disappointing. When I rode from Chicago to New York after Christmas the lounge was pretty crowded and everyone hung out and talked but that's not the case this time. Maybe things will pick up tomorrow. I'm heading back to my seat to go to sleep.

In Atlanta...9:00 am today

It's a nice morning here in Atlanta. I woke up about and hour ago. Right now I'm on the train and we are stopped at the station. I connected to a wireless access point and am posting this from my seat on the train. We leave soon and I'm about to lose the connection so this is all I can write.

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 8:47 AM

July 22, 2004

Riding Around America: It Begins

I'm off to see the country!

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 12:17 PM

Riding Around America: Waiting to Start

In about four hours I will be starting the first leg of my journey, on the Crescent to New Orleans. Right now I'm just sitting around waiting. There's no point in leaving for the station because I'd just get bored so I'm just trying to kill some time, using the best tool I know to make time go by quickly: Bloglines.

Although I make a conscious effort to remain unaware of what is going around me climate wise, I succumbed to what my genes were telling me to do and checked the Weather Channel to see how things look for the next few days. It looks I'll be seeing some rain today as I ride through Virginia and the Carolinas, but tomorrow and the next few days in New Orleans will be hot and sunny. I guess that's all I need to know for now. The waiting continues...

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 10:36 AM

July 20, 2004

Riding Around America: Changing the Way I Travel

As I continue to plan for the big rail trip (detailed previously), I'm starting to realize that this vacation is going to be fundamentally different than all the others I've taken.

In the past few years I've become more accustomed to sending e-mail and photographs to a select group of people while travelling but this upcoming trip is taking the idea even further. This is the first time that I'll be devoting a substantial amount of time to taking, sorting and displaying photographs of my travels, and it's the first time I'll be writing it as I go. I've written travelogues and taken pictures before, but I've always done it after the fact. Now I'll have instant gratification, or dismay if the photos are bad, unlike what I've experienced in the past.

The other obvious change is that I'm making the whole trip visible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Although I don't expect to attract many more visitors than I do now, which isn't much, it is out there for the world to see and I'm sure that will change my view in different ways.

Even more obvious is that I now have more stuff to bring with me on this trip than I ever have before. Up until the past year or so, I rarely brought even a Discman with me when I travelled. Now I have an iPod, camera link, digital camera, laptop, and the many accesories that go along with these items. So these things are literally changing what I'm carrying on my back.

Mode of transport is playing a big role in this trip also. I've almost always done large trips around the U.S. in a car - until now. This marks my first major vacation with no automobile. It took me awhile to come to grips with this fact. I love driving and in many ways still pine for the days when I didn't live in New York and could afford to have a car. Being tied to the tracks so to speak has its disadvantages, but I'm pretty sure that nothing is going to beat whizzing across the landscape on the train.

Oh, I almost forgot. I'll be doing this whole thing by myself. Sure, I'll be staying a with a friend here and some relatives there, but for the most part I'll be travelling on my own. It will be first time I've gone solo on a big trip since 1998 and I'm looking forward to it. Yes, I'll miss the companionship of my usual travel partner, but there's something to be said for striking out on your own on a massive journey around the country.

I don't know what the result of all of this change is going to be. The technology I'm using might sidetrack me or frustrate me. I could become physically ill from the radio waves emanating from all of the free wireless access points I'll be using along the way. Any number of bad things could happen and I may never do a anything like this again. But I don't think that's likely. If anything, writing these entries and posting the photographs as I go will make me think a little bit more about what I'm seeing and experiencing. It will make me go the extra mile to get a good photo, or meet new people, or learn something new. In the end, for me at least, that's the whole point.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 2:17 AM

July 19, 2004

Riding Around America: the Itinerary

Just a few more days until I leave and I am busy tying up loose ends and getting things ready. Today I downloaded the timetables for every route and added up the mileage. The distance for each segment is listed below with the grand total at the bottom. In the end I'll have travelled nearly 8000 miles!

From	To	Departs	Arrives	Distance
New York	New Orleans	2:50pm 07/22/04	7:50pm 07/23/04	Crescent 1377 miles
New Orleans	Tucson	11:55am 07/26/04	8:17pm 07/27/04	Sunset Limited 1493 miles
Tucson	Los Angeles	8:57pm 07/29/04	6:40am 07/30/04	Sunset Limited 502 miles
Los Angeles	Oxnard	10:15am 07/30/04	11:55am 07/30/04	Coast Starlight 67 miles
Oxnard	Portland	11:55am 08/05/04	3:40pm 08/06/04	Coast Starlight 1203 miles
Portland	Seattle	8:45am 08/08/04	12:15pm 08/08/04	Cascades 186 miles
Seattle	Chicago	4:45pm 08/12/04	3:45pm 08/14/04	Empire Builder 2206 miles
Chicago	St. Paul	2:10pm 08/18/04	10:25pm 08/18/04	Empire Builder NA (backtacking)
St. Paul	New York	??? 08/30/04	??? 08/??/04	Lakeshore Limited 959 miles (from Chicago)

Total: 7993 miles

permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:07 PM

July 17, 2004

Riding Around America: the Plan

Well the trains are booked and the countdown begins... 5 days until I leave for the big rail trip. I'll be hitting half of the states in the country along the way and making stops in New Orleans, Tucson, Oxnard, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago and Minneapolis. This marks the first time I've been further West than North Dakota since about 1996 or so. If all goes as planned I'll be seeing at least four baseball games. By the time it's all over I'll have spent days on the trains, travelled thousands of miles, and hopefully met a lot of cool people. I'll be posting here while I travel and will be including photos as well.

permalink | comments (1) | posted at 5:08 PM