Train trip back to MT

I am back home among my Tall Pines.

Pre-trip

It was hectic. Yes, I did get insulation added to my mother's attic. This was done 2 days before I returned to Montana. I'll try to write about that another day. Suffice it to say, I was very stiff and sore my last day in N. Dakota, and even during my trip. I feel better now, thank you.

In addition to packing and last minute stuff that I never got around doing during my long time in NoDak, I also baked 4 batches of pumpkin bread to leave with my mother and brother.

When I picked up my train tickets earlier the agent asked if I was part of the group traveling from Minot to Whitefish. No. Apparently 22 people where traveling that day. *sigh* Guess the train will be crowded.

I decided to check my luggage the night before, after the east bound train had departed. That was good and bad. Good in that I avoided the line of people checking their luggage in the morning, and did not have to be at the train station early. Bad in that I had to finish packing by 10 pm and get my luggage to the train station. And bad in that the agent at the station - since no one else was at the station - had time to weigh my suitcases.

When she picked up the first suticase - the middle one - she exclaimed it was way too heavy. Even before weighing it. She was surprised to find it only weighed 54 lbs. The weight limit is 50 lbs. I tried to get her to allow the 54 lb suitcase as it was only a few pounds overweight. Nope. She was concerned someone could hurt their back lifting it and she would be blamed for allowing it to be checked. She told me I could buy a cardboard box from her for $2, then pay another $10 to check an extra suitcase (3 bags are the limit on Amtrak).

My little suitcase weighed 38 lbs so I decided to put the extra items from the middle suitcase to the small one. Easier said than done as all of the suitcases were packed to the gills. I got the middle suitcase down to 49 lbs.

The large suitcase came in at 61 lbs. *sigh* I took out 3 bottles of my beet wine and got the weight down to 54 lbs. The agent shuffeled around and mumbled something then accepted the suitcase without making me take more items out. No idea why as the large suitcase now weighed the same as the one she rejected earlier.

The Trip

I was tired the morning of the trip. I was up till 2 am, later than normal, and got less than 5 hours of sleep. Well, I can sleep on the train.

The train was on time that morning. Not only on time but it arrived 20 minutes early at 8:20 am. That was ok as I had checked my luggage the night before.

The train station was crowded when I arrived. I got my boarding pass from the conductor then boarded a train car. Most people were directed to the second to last car so I got on the third to last car and found a seat there. Other people were traveling to Whitefish on this car so it was ok. I got a pair of seats to myself and loaded the rest of my bags - and they were plenty! It took two trips to bring them upstairs to my seat.

After getting a seat I stood outside on the platform. The trip is 13 hours - no sense sitting any longer than required. Besides it was sunny and the temperature was warm at around 32 F.

The family

In the seats behind me was a family of 3 returning to Whitefish after attending the wife's mother's funeral in Indiana. They were jabbering away but eventually settled down to normal. Good, as they would have driven me crazy if they kept up their talking the entire 13 hours. I was tired and not much in a social mood. When the dad told another person that if the train was on time we would be able to see the mountains as we passed through them, I didn't say anything. Yes we could if traveling in the summer, but not now. It gets dark around 7 pm and we wouldn't be to the east side of the mountains till then, much less traveling through them. I was surprised he made this comment as he lived in Kalispell for most of his life. Later as we passed through the mountains in the dark and on time, several people commented as they passed the family, that it sure would have been nice to see the mountains if it wasn't so dark. The father didn't say anything.

The woman with a dog

Across the asile from my seat was a 25 yr old woman traveling with her 11 yr old dauchsand. This is not a seeing eye dog! How was she able to bring a pet on board the train?!! I noticed the dog wore a vest that said "therapy dog". I asked her about this and she said one is able to bring pets other than seeing eye dogs if one has them registered as "helper" dogs. Therapy dogs can be something as simple as a dog to be with old people who are alone. Gee! I wish I knew that when I had my cat!

This woman lives in Baltimore and was traveling by train from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon to visit friends. She had just been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This was her first time at Mardi Gras so she couldn't really compare what it was like now compared to pre-Katrina days.

Naturally a number of people stopped to pet the dog as they passed by. But not as many as you might think. That is because this woman - more like an elfin girl - dressed and looked different than the rest of the passengers. Her black hair, not long, was tied in back. It wasn't tied in a ponytail, but tied back even though her hair looked to be mostly on the short side. Her bangs were maybe one inch long. All in all it was a different hair cut / style.

She was dressed in black head to foot. Black t-shirt, jacket, jeans, and light black boots. The only 'color' was silver on her wide belt. Her outfit was urban, and seemed to be a uniform. Later when I found out she was a musician it made sense. She plays in two bands. In one band she does vocals and plays an instrument. This band's music was hard for her to describe but it sounded jazzy and lighter. The other band she does vocals and this band's music is metal.

One of her bands decided to up and move from Baltimore to Portland. From her description it was when she was off traveling somewhere. As for the girl, after visiting her friends for 3 weeks she will return to Baltimore. She said she wants to move to Portland or Seattle and away from the East Coast so bad, but instead she took a job starting in May in Rhode Island on an organic farm. Huh? She agreed it made no sense.

She had a number of small black tattoos on her wrist, hand and neck. Too small to see what they were of, or of what design. She spoke in a girlish voice that made her seem much younger. Smoking hadn't lowered her voice even though she had a cigarette on each train stop that was also a smoke break.

On her cell phone she talked with a friend who was going to be on the TV show "Designed to Sell" ? The show has been filmed but not scheduled for TV yet. The friend was involved with the design / redesign of the house. Not sure of the details as I only overheard one side of their conversation. Don't ya just love cell phones?

Club car people

For a while I sat in the club car to watch the scenery out the large windows, especially as we passed the Sweetgrass Hills in Montana. Nearby were three 20-something people. One couple and a gay guy. She was a bartender back in Minnesota and seemed proud the lounge attendant recognised she was a bartender. The guy she was with was "full of it", and the gay guy had sex on his mind. "Key West Florida" is the new gay mecca according to him. "So many hot guys that even he could find someone." Yup, he wasn't that good looking.

Amtrak shows movies in the evening and the gay guy learned they would be showing "Elizabethtown" , then the audience could choose between "Pride and Prejudice" and "Good Night and Good Luck". The woman and the gay guy both said they hated "chick flicks" and the gay guy said if the movie was a chick flick he would just drink and not watch the movie. None of them had a clue as to what any of the three movies were about.

From their banter and lack of knowledge all I could think was "shallow, shallow, shallow". As I left the club car two girls (around 18?) sat at a table with their stocking feet on the table. What is with people these days?

Otherwise the passengers were behaved. One group of guys were on their way to Portland to help build a house. Their clothes were just a little different, along with their haircuts. They also spoke with a slight accent. Either they were part of a religious group, or were from Europe. The group that boarded the train at Minot were kids on spring break heading to Whitefish and Big Mountain to ski. They were quiet, unlike the large group of Native American kids on Christmas break on my last train trip where most of them were thrown off the train and arrested.

As only two cars were behind me, our car didn't get too much traffic from people going to the lounge or dining cars ahead of our car. I slept for part of the trip as I had sleep to catch up on.

Our train was ahead of schedule so a number of stops were longer than normal as the train couldn't depart ahead of time. Whenever a smoking stop was announced a number of people young and old left the train to stand outside to have their cigarette, which they immediately lit upon exiting the train. They looked pathetic standing there huddled over their cigarettes, a slave to their addiction. When they came back on board the train I could tell the smokers from the non-smokers as the smokers left a trail of cigarette smoke as they passed by. *ugh*

The scenery along the way was alternatively sunny and cloudy; the landscape dry and brown or snow covered (central Montana, and later the mountains).

Near Browning, MT they train had to slow to 10 mph as there were fierce winds outside. This is a very windy area with high winds and trains have been blown off the track in the past. Even going slower we arrived in Whitefish on time.

Lots of people got off the train at Whitefish. I think two-thirds of the people on our car departed the train. Buses for the skiers and snowboarders were there to meet them. Jan was there to meet me. I could never pick people out of a crowd, and now after my cataract surgery and in the night, I still can't. So Jan found me.

Home. A clear night sky and all the stars. The temperature was in the 30s F, and no wind. It felt warm. A faint smell of Spring was in the night air. The ground was soft as a little of the frost was out. My mailbox's door was open due to the snow from the snowpow hitting it. I straightened the mailbox so I could close its door, then went to bed.

Good to be home.