Change of plans

Last Sunday I was suppose to return to Montana.  When I went to bed Saturday night the train was a little over an hour late into Minneapolis, though Amtrak predicted they would make up time to be on time into Minot.  Sunday morning "Julie" was down and "she" couldn't tell my brother the train status when he called.

Grudgingly I got up and showered as the train may be back on time.

By the time I got out of the shower "Julie" had rebooted and was back online.  "She" claimed the train would be ten minutes late into Minot.

I heard that before.

I had my brother check online and use the starting destination as Grand Forks, ND.  The train left that town over an hour late.  I had my brother check  Devil's Lake, ND.  Over an hour late.  Rudgy, ND?  Almost an hour late.

Hmmm... I see a pattern.

Rugby is the last stop before Minot, and if Amtrak couldn't gain time in the ten hours since Minneapolis, I doubt they would gain much time in the ninety minutes it takes to get from Rugby to Minot.

I had time to check the weather in Kalispell.  The winter storm that was supposed to end that morning was now predicted to last until Monday morning.

Ohhhhh....

I didn't want to return home in a snowstorm.  Even though Patti has a four-wheel drive Subaru, I would be arriving late and after 9 pm.  I called the local Amtrak station and was told I could change my ticket for the same price.  The agent was busy with arriving customers and asked if he could call me back.  I gave him the info needed and my phone number and never heard from him again.  That afternoon, after repeatedly getting a recorded message when I called the local station  I called the national Amtrak number and was able to get my ticket changed to this Saturday.   The price of the ticket was not the same, but I decided not to argue against the extra $8.80.

I had a bit of a problem contacting Patti as she doesn't have internet at home and I forgot her phone number.  Or I should say her phone number's prefix.  Tammy, my girlfriend, called almost everyone in Montana whose phone number matched the last four digits. We were reduced to calling and leaving messages with two friends of Patti before I finally remembered Patti's correct phone number.


So, the plan was to return to Montana on Amtrak today.  In fact I was supposed to be on the train right now and over half way home.  And here I am in North Dakota.  The train was late leaving Chicago by almost 5 hours.  I think it was for the same reason there were no trains on Thursday: the snow storm between Chicago and New York.

Then Amtrak has consistently lost time last night.  They arrived in Minneapolis / St. Paul this morning at the same time they were suppose to arrive in Minot: 8:34 am.  Around ten hours late.  Amtrak has been slipping the estimated arrival time in Minot all day, going from 5  pm to now 7:45 pm.  I think it will be after 8 pm.

The weather here is around freezing so the precip that fell is icy and snowy.  Combine that with having to sleep on the train overnight and I changed my train reservation yet again.  This time to Thursday.  Hopefully that plan sticks.