train

An exciting, yet relaxing weekend

/ Shane / 7 Comments

On one hand we didn’t really do all that much this weekend, and on the other hand we had a lot of exciting things going on.

The library has passes for all of the museum etc. around us, but they are mostly always gone, or at least the good ones are. Some of them are so completely always gone that one of the librarians confided that they were probably lost. But Sara managed to snag a pass to Adler Planetarium. I was already on board with going there for free, but that was before I knew that one of the exhibits right now was Sesame Street based. We did have to pay for that part, but it was well worth the money.  Evie was in 7th heaven, by which I mean she was happy as opposed to how you feel when someone forces you to watch that god-awful show. Although she was a little young, she was just so thrilled to be watching an “Elmo movie” on this huge screen, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. It was fun in the audience too seeing all the kids get so excited and like shouting out the answers to Big Bird’s questions, etc. and all the parents singing “twinkle twinkle little star” and just enjoying watching their kids. Needless to say, it was a big hit. I would recommend the show to anyone with little kids. There was more to see at the planetarium than I expected, but it was a little boring, especially for someone Evie’s age.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one little girl’s day, we also rode the train there and back. Since the train runs right by our house, Evie has always been into trains a little bit. This was the first time she ever rode on one and she was pretty excited. The train trip worked out perfectly and we definitely plan on using it a lot more in the future.

Probably the highlight of my day, was the (for lack of a better word) hipster-ish breakfast place that Sara found, Yolk. It was sooo super easy to get to from the train, and it was delicious. The best part? Instead of toast, you can substitute pancakes! “Yes, instead of my toast I would like to substitute a second breakfast.” I paid a little extra and upgraded mine to blackberry / banana pancakes. Evie approved. It was a tad pricey for breakfast, but I ate so much that I hardly ate anything else the rest of the day. Given it’s proximity to the Museum Campus, I’d imagine it could get busy in the summer, but it is huge and kid friendly.

So to top it all off, we decided to give Evie her first haircut! We only cut her bangs. They are always in her eyes and she would rather die than wear something in her hair to keep it back, like a barrette. She was really good for it. She didn’t exactly sit still, but she did okay. I think Sara’s not really happy with the job she did, but I think it looks fantastic, and not too short no matter what you might hear.

Evie has been saying a lot of funny words lately. Some of her favorites are perfect, excellent, and exactly. Like, “Hey Evie, how about when we’re done eating we go downstairs to play?” “Perfect!” Or “How are the grapes?” “Excellent.” Or “It looks like you’re putting your froggy to bed.” “Yes, exactly!”

But my favorite quote of the weekend? “And what else starts with the letter ‘R’?” “Arm!”

In other news, I started the dead and the gone and I have to say, with going on my second end of the world book in a row, all of this swine flu talk is coming at a bad time for me.

Train Robbers

/ Shane / 1 Comment

So my friend Tony Vegas is visiting from Philadelphia and, just for fun, he decided to come by train.  I told him to keep me posted of all the events that happen on a train ride (robbed by bandits, fighting on top of the train, fighting a monster such that you have to release the caboose while the monster is on it, singing the blues at night with the hobos, meeting the engineer with the blue stripey outfit and red hankerchief, meeting the guys who shovel the coal into the boiler, etc.)  So, through the magic of his iPhone (which is actually even COOLER than the hype made it sound if you can believe that) he sent me constant Twitter-like updates from the train, which I will share with you now.  It’s almost like you yourself are on this journey across America.

9:21 AM – It begins
I’m standing at the train station in Wayne waiting for the ghetto septa train that will take me to 30th street station. I’ll probably be sending you emails all day to document all the train-top fights, etc. that I’ll no-doubt be witnessing today.

10:56 AM – Re: It begins
I’m sitting in Cosi at 30th street station using their free wifi while waiting for my grilled chicken parmesan sandwich. My train to DC boards at 12:50 and leaves at 12:58.

11:31 AM – Re: It begins
This is from my iPhone. I was going to bring my laptop, but decided last night not to bring it because it was an extra bag to carry and there wasn’t very much benefit.

The sandwich was pretty good, but kind of messy. The train station here is actually pretty nice. Right now I’m sitting in the first class lounge waiting for the chick at the desk to tell me when my train is ready to board. I’m listening to a Than and Sam podcast, which is a radio show on XM done by two of opie and Anthony’s producers.

12:20 PM – Re: It begins
Yep, that’s Sam alright. I have 16 Than and Sam podcasts, 1 Ron and Fez podcast, and 7 other random ones from the same channel on XM. About 10 hours of stuff in total. I’ll have to look at the site you sent me and see if I can download them directly onto here. I probably can.

I’m on the train now waiting to depart. There are only about 10 people in the business class car, out of about 30-35 seats. So it’s nice and quiet and roomy. I have lots of leg room and a good view out of the
train. Should be nice.

This leg is about 2 hours. I arrive in DC at 2:52 I think, but were running about 14 mins late.

12:32 PM – Wow
Just went past CHOP.

Peeing on a train is hard. I can’t imagine being a woman and having to sit on that tiny, urine soaked thing. Its not easy to stand there trying not to touch anything while trying not to fall over, while also trying to pee into a tiny toilet.

2:55 PM – DC
I just got onto my train in DC. The little room I have is nice. It should be comfortable. The only concern so far is that the people in the room next to me have two little kids who are probably going to be loud and whiny and annoying. Hopefully it won’t be bad.

I just sat down so I haven’t had a chance to start exploring the train yet. But the station here is pretty nice, for the most part. It looks pretty new and clean, and there’s a big mall as part of it. But in the 10 minutes I was walking around, I had a homeless guy ask me for money…just in case I was starting to forget that I’m in DC.

There was this place like right where I got off the train that was called Cookie Experience or something like that. And they had a sign up, three (giant) cookies for $4. And there’s me, looking for a snack. I’ll let you write your own end to this delicious story.

Oh, I also stopped at this place called “au bon pain” (something French like, good bread?) because they had lots of baked goods sitting on racks. I bought a bunch of stuff to snack on on the train, including some cookies, a corn muffin, and a chocolate croissant. This story is getting more delicious by the minute.

Anyway, I’m gonna go look around this place.

3:18 PM – Re:DC
Omg, a baby?? I was not aware of this. Hang on, I have to leap off the train real quick. Nah, I’m sure Evie is a perfectly-behaved little angel so I’m not worried. 🙂

I brought my digital camera with me and I’ll have plenty of pictures to show you when I get there.

We’re moving now and the dude is coming down the hall now taking dinner reservations. They sell booze in the lounge car so I can go get all liquored up after dinner.

4:07 PM – Lounging in the lounge car
I’m hanging out in the lounge car now. It’s really nice. There are these two guys nearby who are complete train dorks and are talking back and forth about the most obscure of train details.

I’m taking a bunch of videos on my camera because it makes it a lot easier to see what everything looks like and how big it is.

I have a dinner reservation at 6. I hope I don’t get seated with some weirdos.

4:21 PM – Man
Man, West Virginia is a shithole.

8:56 PM – I’m back
I was eating dinner for like 2 hours and then we were in hick western PA for a while and I had no signal. We’re scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh like 2 hours from now. I’ll probably go to sleep at 12ish and get up around 6 for breakfast, if I can manage that.

I had dinner with a few interesting people: a guy in probably his late 50s who used to be in the coast guard, his ancient-ass mother, and this old British woman from Liverpool who immigrated to the US like 35 years ago. Dinner was steak (pretty good, considering I got it on a freaking train and all), and dessert was red velvet cake, which I never had before and was pretty good.

Now I’m sitting in the lounge car again even though it’s too dark to see anything. It’s a very comfortable and relaxing experience so far, mad ups to Amtrak.

4:47 AM – Unholy Toledo
It’s 4:59 AM here, 3:59 in Chicago. We’re stopped at a station near Toledo, OH. We just went through what appeared to be some big industrial area.

It’s too dark to see very much, but I gotta say that Toledo doesn’t look all that holy to me. In fact, I think there would be a very real threat of being carried off by a roaming pack of Satan worshippers if I were to get off the train here.

Sleeping on the train was pretty hard, mainly because of the noise. But a big part of it is probably because I usually have trouble sleeping anywhere other than my own bed at home anyway. I woke up at least once an hour since I went to sleep at about midnight.

It’s now 5:40 and I’m sitting in the lounge car waiting for breakfast, which they start serving at 6. We’re in Ohio near route 80 and Wauseon, which I’m sure is a fine little Ohio shittown.  We’re pretty clearly in the Midwest at this point as it looks very flat out there. It’s bright enough to see but dark enough that all the streetlights are still on. We’re heading slightly SW as I can see where the sun is going to be rising soon.

Anyway, see you in about 3 hours. 🙂

5:52 AM – Indy
We’re in Indiana now, near Kendallville. This here’s <your> country! I haven’t seen any Tom Raper signs yet but I’m keeping an eye out. Actually we appear to be in the middle of freaking nowhere, I don’t think these people have discovered signs yet.

I’m not sure when the time zone changes, but I should be arriving in Chicago in either 2 hours or 3 hours.

6:33 AM – South Bend
We’re getting close to South Bend, IN.  Then the next major area is Gary. That should be interesting. Thankfully I don’t think the train stops there. In fact, it probably speeds up.

6:42 AM – Elkhart, IN
Holy shit. Did the apocalypse occur last night while I was sleeping? Or am I just in Elkhart, Indiana? The train station here looks like it’s going to just fall over at any minute. There’s graffiti and weeds everywhere, and all the buildings look like burnt-out shells. It looks like the pictures of the abandoned cities around Chernobyl. What a craphole.