‘We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us’
Today is named for the film, starring two comedy legends, Richard Prior and Gene Wilder.
I am, of course talking about the train, specifically the Amtrak, Capitol service from DC to St. Louis, with a stopover in Chicago.
My train is not until 4pm, so I had an enjoyable morning wandering around, before stopping at my favourite place for a farewell lunch.
Good bye Old Ebbitt Grill, I will miss you!
My train is delayed, so I pace up and down union station, loaded down with my bags. Although face masks are necessary, the capital doesn’t require vaccine passes to get into any venues or hospitality. Although I understand that is about to change.
When the train does leave, about an hour late, I am amazed at the amount of space I have. If you stretch your legs out in front of you, you can literally, barely touch the seat in front. They are wide and tilt back a fair way, even so they aren’t great for sleeping on, as I discovered.
My journey is long and I will not arrive in Chicago until 9am tomorrow morning, so around 16 hours travel. I have two seats to myself again as do most of my fellow travellers. I settle in to try and catch up on the blog a bit. There is supposed to be wifi on the train, but it doesn’t work. Luckily the trusty 4G is working and so I beaver away on your behalf and to write about some of my latest travels. 
I am feeling tired as we approach Pittsburgh around midnight and as the train slips out through the night, heading ever westwards, I try and catch 40 winks.
I remember telling my eldest daughter about 40 winks when she was small and so she tried to wink 40 times to see if it worked. I can’t remember now if she managed it or not!
I am woken by a strange brushing noise. Looking up I see a fellow passenger busy brushing himself down meticulously with a clothes brush. What I find amusing is that he is wearing a hoodie, tracksuit bottoms of some sort and flip flops. I mean, really why bother? Still, it becomes a backdrop to the whole journey, that little brushing sound almost in time with the clickety clack of the rails. That and, the at times, incessant hooting by the driver.
Pittsburgh became Cleveland, then Toledo and as the night slipped away we crossed the time zone from Eastern standard to Central. Now I am yet another hour behind you all in Europe & the UK. My lunchtime is your dinnertime.
Finally Chicago beckons and we pull into another Union station some 1200km from the one I left behind last night.
The Amtrak is a good way to travel. If you pick the right train, rather like the Trans-Siberian, minus the Samovar at the end of each carriage. There is bags of leg room and you can walk around, visit the restaurant car and generally enjoy your journey. I remember fondly the Baikal that whisked me across the endless Birch forests of Siberia all those years ago, but that was 6 days on the train! No hassles with luggage, liquids, or security to worry about either.
I’m off for a coffee and a slice of pizza, Chicago style. See you later!
40 winks 😄