Continuation of iPod Empire Builder Notes. Tuesday July 24.
0545. Somewhere in North Dakota. Awake. Pinky dawn.
0615. Sainthood for whoever invented the Wisp. You so don’t want to brush teeth in train potty.
0645. Seatmate still sleeping. Smell bacon. Saw a deer bouncing thru field.
0725. Coming up on Devils Lake ND. About 90 minutes late.
0756. Breakfast coffee and Luna bar. In lounge car.
0830. North Dakota is starting to get lumpy.
0836. Rugby ND. Cloudy today.
0937. Had a little nap.
0900. Mountain Time. Nice stop in Minot. Had a nice walkabout. And it was state fair time.
0930. Road construction. Railroad that is. Sun is out.
0945. Approaching Stanley ND.
1049. Williston ND. Sleepy again. Had 3/4 of the Panera bagel and cream cheese that I bought yesterday.
1205. Well into Montana now. Looks like ND.
1230. Wolf Point Montana No more oil wells. But bigger farm stuff. My seatmate got off.
1300. Sagebrush. Horses.
1315. Ft Peck Indian reservation.
1333. Glasgow MT.
1350. Bathroom report. There are 66 passengers in this car. Well maybe 55 right now. There are 5 little airplane style restrooms. They are still remarkably clean. And one larger dressing room with more room. You really could fluff yourself up nicely. And it had its own restroom. Guess where I just was!
1445. Malta MT. Wetlands. Redwing blackbirds. And sheep. Still about 90 minutes late. That’s ok.
1525. On a siding in Dawson Montana waiting on the east bound Empire Builder to come thru. Finished the kindle book I was reading. No cell signal.
1625. Hanging in the lounge car. Will get off the train in Harve.
1655. Harve. Stuck on train while it gets gas. Then they will let us out for a smoke. “Just tobacco” they said. Thank goodness for the smokers. I love getting off the train. We are over two hours tardy now. Box chicken dinners are put on the train here. Think I’ll get one. Need some real food.
1756. Just finished off my box dinner. Food wise it was just so-so. But satisfaction wise it rocked. A Montana bento. Maybe in 3 hours I’ll be in Glacier.
1845. Shelby Montana. Home of 3 or 4 grain elevators and darn little else.
1915. Windmills. Lots of them.
1930. Cut Bank. A little drama just by my seat. Two sleeper ladies stop the room service delivery person how can they get their ” free” dinner since dinner is running late and they are getting off where I am. Room service lady says lots luck. She was running late too. Don’t have those problems in coach. You just have to be in line for the chicken boxes in time. Mountains starting to show up.
1950. Horses standing around in friendly little family groups.
Made it to East Glacier Park at about 8:30pm. Not too tardy. And it smells great. All piney crispy cool.
But you had to get past a lot of wheat to get here.