MN to ND

Monday night I caught the train from Minnesota to North Dakota.  The estimated arrival time into Red Wing was on time at 8:52 pm.  Tammy said it took 45 minutes to drive there and we left at 8:01 pm.  No sense getting there before we had to.

Well... it may take 45 minutes in good weather but it was snowing lightly and the road was slippery in spots even though the Minnesota highway department trucks were out in force salting the roads.

Tammy said it takes 20 minutes to reach Zumbrota where her friend lives.  This night it took us 27 minutes.  Not good.  We had 23 miles left and 24 minutes, a 55 mph speed limit in the country and less in the half of Red Wing we had to cross to reach the train station.

The stress level began to rise, especially when we came up upon vehicles taking it slow in this weather.  Even with her vehicle's high beams we saw more black (night) and white (snow) that we wanted to and not enough of the road ahead of us.

In the dark I fiddled with Tammy's cell phone and eventually was able to call Amtrak and "Julie" and found the train was estimated to be late 10 minutes.  *whew!*   We can make it!  Still we didn't let up.   Behind another slow car I called "Julie" again and found the train gained time and was now only 6 minute late.  *augh!*

It took forever to drive through Red Wing and we arrived at the train station at 8:55 pm.  No train was at the station.  Had it come and gone, or not yet arrived?  At Red Wing the train only stops long enough to load people on board.  There is no train station personnel and no baggage service so this is a quick stop as not too many people use this station.

Inside I found a half dozen people waiting for the train.  *whew*  We made it.

A few minutes after I got my bags from Tammy's car and placed in front of the station the train arrived.  I never have been so glad the train was late.

It was a whirlwind to get on the train, and once everyone was on board, the train left and I never got to give Tammy a proper goodbye.

The train ride was better than I expected as I expected the train to be full. It wasn't.  However the other people who boarded the train got upstairs to the seats just before I did and got the last pair of open seats. It seemed as if my only choice was to sit by other people who were sprawled across pairs of seats and sleeping or pretending to sleep.  I found that the reserved seats for couples were mostly empty and I took a pair of those seats.  When the train attendant came I explained I was in those seats only to Minneapolis and that I would move back to the correct seats when the Minneapolis people got off the train.  And that is what I did as three pairs of seats opened up at Minneapolis.

While waiting for Minneapolis I struck up a conversation with a woman across the aisle.  She and a few friends and family were on their way home to Winnipeg, Canada after spending the holidays in New York City.  This NYC visit was something on her bucket list.  She had a great time and talked about New Years Eve near Times Square: how she and the others got separated and reunited, how the large crowds were managed by the police, and how friendly people were.  She also talked about the snowstorm and standing outside the Today show studio when they were broadcasting one day.

While there were lots of people at the Minneapolis station waiting to board the train I never got anyone sitting by me.  At the later stops I was curled up asleep or pretending to sleep and no one sat by me.  By the time I woke up the next morning the train had only a little over an hour left to Minot, and, while full, was uncrowded.  Many people had gotten off at Grand Forks, ND earlier that morning: mainly what looked to be university students returning to school.

So, surprisingly I had two seats to myself the whole journey.

I chose the seats just in front of the stairwell area.  No seats were across from me but I was still ahead of the stairwell area and none of the stairwell lights shone on me.  And everyone around me was quiet and no one snored.  At one time I heard a baby cry in the back part of the train and was glad I didn't choose one of the seats near there.

I believe the train was an hour late into Minot at around 9:30 am (I had accidentally packed my watch away and didn't know the exact time).  The neighbor was there to get me as my brother had to work.  She had been there since 8:45 am as Amtrak said that was when the train would arrive when she initially called.  I forgot to tell her to call again closer to the arrival time as Amtrak is overly optimistic they will make up time when they are behind schedule.

As usual plenty of people were getting off or on the train at Minot.  Some people has been away for a while as their cars were snowed under in the Amtrak parking lot. I saw a few people around their cars shoveling the snow away.