Life in the Slow Lane

On Wednesday all day long I sang myself a song that went something like this: remember it snows and snow is cold. Remember it snows and snow is not fun to drive in. Remember it snows and you would need to shovel it. There are many verses to this song and as we drove through the beautiful countryside I kept adding more verses. Otherwise I think SOS and I would have put an offer on a little house and moved. Really, there was nothing that we encountered all day long that detracted from the siren call of the rolling farms and wooded streams and charming architecture... Nothing except for the tenuous grasp I have on the concept of snow. As if the scenery itself weren't enough to lure us, we spent the afternoon in the town of Lititz which is home to the oldest pretzel bakery in the US. Their fresh baked soft pretzels make you forget you missed lunch. And as if more magnetic pull was necessary, this is also the home to a chocolate factory that sends emissaries of chocolate frag...

Thirty nine hours after boarding our train in Arizona, we arrived in New Orleans. Nothing sounded as good as a shower, and so we made haste to our historic once-a-bank hotel and then regrouped for our first visit of the French Quarter. On our way out the door we, inexperienced Californians that we are, thought it looked like it might rain. Assured by the concierge that there was only a seven to eight percent chance of rain, we headed out and soon were wondering how many showers we could squeeze in during our overnight in Louisiana. Hot and humid is humid and hot. We walked to the river (yes, Virginia, there is a Mississippi.) and then went looking for authentic New Orleans. Just for the curious, the things New Orleans is known for are there in a plenty. SOS and I wanted to try those things that the city is known for and we don't have moral objections to, and we started off with a muffaletta. This sandwich is the size of a medium pizza and a double double hamburger combined. I don...

If you had an hour and a half in San Antonio at ten o'clock at night, what would you do? Amtrak trains do some splitting and rearranging in San Antonio and while they do, you have the option of staying on the train without power or getting off the train. We chose to get off the train and wandered into the station. There we discovered that the tv was tuned to Nick Jr. We were initially quite pleased that at least we were not obliged to learn about the sex lives of prisoners, as we had been at the station in Arizona, but nevertheless, we could feel our brain cells dying. I asked SOS what time we needed to be back on the train three times and each time he would begin to answer but then the the tv show would kill the cells required for him to finish his answer, so I suggested we go on a walk, provided the area did not look too scary. From the parking lot we thought it looked safe enough to go a little further and from there we found a little map of the near vicinity... Ruth'...

My sister always tells me the nicest things. Today she told me how impressed she was by how lightly we were able to pack. We tried, but traveling with a baby requires a different definition of packing lightly. If not for the three weeks worth of diapers and everything a baby might need in the middle of the night while confined to a train, then certainly the size of wardrobe a baby requires. And I don't mean just baby clothes. When SOS mentioned our plans to someone, she passed along this bit of wisdom for me, his wife: "Remember, you are going to see the country, the country is not coming to see you." The point being to not worry about how fashionable I would be and to pack accordingly. That is good advice if we didn't intend to act on another piece of advice given by many: "Take lots of pictures!" For instance, if it were just me traveling, just give me some Febreeze and I wouldn't mind wearing the same things days on end. Nobody who wasn't standin...

First stop Arizona. I have three words for you about that: hot hot hot. Here we stayed in the guest house of a Mennonite intentional community, three houses down from my sister. It's been hot enough that several times I nearly asked for a ride rather than to walk the torturous 100 yards from one door to the other. But while in Phoenix do as the phoenicians so I asked what were the traditional Phoenix activities. Apparently Phoenix has many nice things to do, just not so much in the middle of June. In the middle of June your best bet is to bathe in sunscreen and then find a pool to live in. Fortunately for us, we were visiting during a cool spell. By 10 in the morning it was still a cool 107 degrees so that we could brave the outdoors. Or, more truthfully, the outdoor sporting goods store: Cabela's. Because everyone should have the opportunity to explain to your anti-violence hosts why you want to go look at taxidermied animals killed for sport.

I've decided that adventure and comfort are almost mutually exclusive. Today CutieBabyBoy woke up at a quarter to five with the runniest runny nose. Of course SOS and I had been up late packing and then I woke up in the middle of the night with a litany of To Do and so was up for a couple hours. It is not the recommended way of starting a long trip, but so many trips begin similarly. I was thinking about our early start on the day at about six PM when our train slowed to a stop by the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is beautiful in a stark harshness that makes you glad you are merely passing through. The sun was edging lower and the soft light began to make the dry ravines snaking to the treeless shore almost alluring. And then there was an announcement on the intercom about waiting for a mechanic so enjoy our view of the scenic Salton Sea. Like I said, the Salton Sea is best enjoyed knowing that you are merely passing through. After a long while we were moving again, but slowly. ...

I know it. Three weeks, more than 170 hours on a train, 8232 miles to travel, a country to see. As you can imagine, a trip of this magnitude requires quite the planning. Fortunately, my sweet husband is gifted in coordinating logistics. This has allowed me to spend my time agonizing over other critical matters like, "Which train puns can I squeeze into everyday conversation?" or "How many cliche comments can I make about life being the journey and not the destination?" Obviously, I have the more difficult role in this vacation planning. Which reminds me that I should go help pack lunches for our train time. I've just received word that some of the packaging on the snacks we bought may be too voluminous to fit in our wheeled cooler. I have a few ideas I'd like to try as to how to fix that problem.

With the help of a borrowed iPod, I hope to entertain you, my faithful readers, with the riveting account of a trip across the country and back again. My beloved husband has always wanted to take me to see these great United States. I've been to more countries than US states and he wants to change that. Thus the railroad trip around the four corners of the country. Details to follow. But now that I am testing my ability to blog on this borrowed iPod, I realize my beloved husband may have another goal for this trip... To realize how much better our life could be if we didn't have to borrow. Sent from a borrowed iPod