life in the old lane

Elkhart Indiana.  

May as well do today like yesterday. Post when I’m able to get online. 

The train seems to be about an hour late. That isn’t a problem. Since I have no plans for my layover in Chicago. Well, except to score some Sudafed. 

Had a lovely dinner last night with Tom, who was going home from the Amtrak board meeting. Who knew that Amtrak had a board. Ten members. 9 appointed by the President and the Secretary of transportation. 

Breakfast this morning with a lady who has a life path that mirrors mine. Right down to the long hair. That she trims herself every fall. She recommended a trip on the OE2 from NY to Southampton. 

44 degrees and 8:50 on a siding in South bend Indiana. Chicago in less than an hour.  So, I’d best get packing. 

Train went through Gary Indiana real slow. Lots of abandoned industrial buildings. I wanted to get off and take pictures. 

Stashed my bags and went for a walk. Got the Sudafed along the way. 

Chicago is all decked out for Autumn and the Cubbies. I really like Chicago, as long as it isn’t winter.

Just got an email from Kona. Mt C arrived yesterday. WiFi has slowed, so I think it is time to read.  More later. Or not. 

2PM and on the train…30+ cars. 

No WiFi in the train loading area. But good cell coverage. That will end soon enough. I would show you around my sleeping chamber, but what’s to see. It is about 24 sq feet. In theory, 2 people fit in here. Let’s just say they need to be very good friends.

Well, at least I am at Union Station. And there is WiFi. Got a dinner reservation for 8 PM. 

It is good to be underway. I will add to this post later, WiFi permitting. 

1715 hours – Harpers Ferry.  Think this is the Potomac. it will be dark soon. 

I have had very bad bus karma the last twenty four hours. But, it did lead me to Halloween. And the fitbit is happy. It will not be happy again until next week.

Went to the last yoga class of the early fall series. Did a little work. Came home and started charging up the toys. And wrapping up the KOA2DO list.

Train leaves tomorrow at 4pm that only leaves a couple of hours of daylight – since the train will be in the Appalachian Mountains – dark comes earlier. If the train stays on time there is only a couple of hours of daylight before I get to Chicago on Thursday.

As far as Chicago goes – I am not sure that there is anything that I want to do in the 4 hours that I have between trains. I may just hangout at the station. As I recall, the station isn’t anything special.

My friends had a lovely little Coffee, Chocolate and Key Lime Pie party for me. And the office sent me off with best wishes and lots of healthy treats to eat along the way west. I’ll be too fat to fit in my wetsuit by the time I get to Kona.

 

I took Carlton to the Post Office this afternoon. Plan was to take the bus to the Post Office and get some much needed steps by walking home. Well, buses being buses – I ended up doing it the other way.

Thanks, Carlton, for repairing my little old lady grocery cart just before you died. That thing took lots of stuff to the Goodwill last summer. And, it got you to the post office just fine this afternoon. My “new” neighborhood is sort of “pedestrian hostile”. The old neighborhood had a walkscore of 94. My new locale scores 60. So, walking to the post office isn’t a pleasant walk in the park or even on a sidewalk.

Oh, and a little Sporting News, Carlton – the Nats didn’t make it to the Series. But, the Cubbies did. Last time the Cubbies were in the series – I was 2 years old.

Speaking of feeding, I had lentil soup and a peanut butter and jelly cookie for dinner. That is “Soup and Sandwich” isn’t it?

Life is short: Take trips, eat cookies, buy shoes.

This is a screenshot of my google maps timeline for the last 12 months. I really haven’t done too shabby for an old woman who didn’t go anywhere much last year! I made to both sides of the equator and both sides of the International Date Line.

 

Got Mr C all packed up and ready to today. BTW – I happened to find a fake Carlton obituary online the other day. I was seriously pissed and offended. It was everything Carlton hated about obits. He specifically requested “no obituary, no service, no regrets”. Who knew you could just invent an obit and put it online. Sort of like having some Mormon digging you out of a genealogy study and baptising you – or whatever they do…

So, Mr is ready to go. I am not. But, by this time tomorrow – I’ll be ready and will be on the glide path to Wednesday and the train trip west. I checked the long range weather – Chicago and Seattle are both looking “OK”. And Kona – well – it is always good.

Yesterday, I checked the hotel across the street to see if they still have yoga. Yoga is questionable -but they had this nice photo.

A little tour:

1. My digs.
2. Yoga.
3. Breakfast – Oct 31 – eggs, rice, spam, kona coffee.
4. Favorite snorkel site.
5. Paul Allen’s digs.
6. “My” palm trees – suitable for lounging under.

Still toasty warm today. I spread all my “stuff” all over the apartment – sort of a pre packing frenzy. Then I realized that the maid comes tomorrow. And everyone knows that you have to cleanup before the cleaning lady comes!

One of my older friends suggested that the current election might be more like the election of 1824 or 1828. I believe he has a point. It is somewhat encouraging to know that the republic survived those two elections.

A week from now, I should be on the Empire Builder rolling through Wisconsin.

I need some Kona.

Found this fine butterfly one the Asylum grounds this afternoon. This warm afternoon. The high was 87°.

The last of the unpresidential debate tonight. What can I say? How did this happen? Was it like this in 1860? How about 1856?

Another really warm day. Seems pretty silly to be planning the imminent annual migration to Kona whilst having a cold one on the patio. On days like today, global warming doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Speaking of not such a bad idea. The “Giant Meteor -2016 – Just End It Already” signs have been reported in the area. I haven seen one – but I’ll be looking.

Trump? Clinton? Many young Americans prefer giant meteor, poll finds

Just watched the Antares Rocket launch. Unfortunately, too cloudy/too much urban light to see it from here. Or, maybe there was a building in the way. My southern view is obstructed.

Starting to think about my train trip. Wouldn’t be cool if I could see some Northern Lights? It isn’t impossible. But it is highly unlikely.

Today, at work, we celebrated “Boss’s Day”. We gave our boss NOTHING. Actually, we gave her 5 empty file cabinets. The administrative assistant and I worked for the last 5 months scanning all the files. She didn’t know that we finished last Wednesday. We put the a file cabinet key in a card and told her that her present was in the file cabinet.

We also have a wonderful breakfast. Then I left work early and had lunch with one of Mr C’s friends. And, pretty soon, it was dinner time. I just had lentil soup.

As long as I don’t think about politics, life is good.

Bussed it up to North Jackson Street and enjoyed a little Halloween. Actually, I lot of Halloween. Then I wandered down to Clarendon – where I engaged in one of my favorite pre-travel activities – looked at suitcases and all of those travel trinkets and gizmos that people think they need to improve their experience. Best rule for me is “Twice the money and half the stuff”.  Followed by, “If I don’t need it here – why do I think I’ll need it wherever I am going”.

On the bus back to the asylum – I realized that I am growing fond of the hispanic working class vibe of my new neighborhood.

By this time next Sunday – I will most likely be in full pre-migration panic mode. But, by this time two weeks from now I’ll be five hours away from Kona.

Being frivolous and superficial, I spent this fine fall day shopping. As my evil twin says “Someone has to support the economy.” The economy is well supported. And not just by me. The shops were busy.

Being frivolous and superficial and a literary lowlife – I was overjoyed when Bob Dylan won the Nobel for Literature. Finally, something I understand. I usually know more about the Nobels for Chemistry and Medicine and Physics than I do for the Literature one. Sometimes, I get an audiobook by the Literature Laureate and use it to put me to sleep for the next year.

Rather than photoshop out the double of the moon from the window glass – I left it in as a “feature”.