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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.
Posted on August 29, 2004 at 11:23 PM