Have I mentioned that I'm on a licorice kick?

Well... strawberry Twizzlers anyway...

So I still haven't told you about my trip to Toledo/Detroit area last weekend.

So yeah, this was kind of a last minute trip in that Friday morning I decided that I was going to go that night and I was going to Amtrak it there. Mistake #1... Anyway... so get to work, ask off two hours early and thats no problem. So go back home, pack my bag and head back to Chicago to catch the train out. I had bought my tickets Friday morning when I arrived on the commuter train for work.

Have you noticed that trains seem to be my life? Well, you spend a good deal of time on them when you live in the Chicago area. I actually love trains and think they're one of the most convenient things in the world. With the exception of the larger cities in the U.S. though, they are a bit of a joke. Amtrak is pointless... very unreliable... and possibly unsafe ... who knows. Very sad from the country who invented rail traffic. They have it right in Europe and Asia. I could walk into the train station in Rome right now and catch a train to probably anywhere I wanted to go on that continent probably within an hour. That ain't no exaggeration. I've done it.

So yeah ... my train to Toledo was to leave at 8pm so I was told to be there for boarding at 7:30. So 7:30 rolls around and we are delayed. In the meantime I had heard from people in Toledo that the 8pm was very unreliable. There was a 5:30 too but it was sold out. So wait and wait and wait and anyway, the delay ended up being a little over two hours long.

When the "boarding" did actually begin they allowed pre-boarding for people 62 years old and over. Well, as you look around at most of the people who ride the train, more than 50% are travelling with someone 62 years and older. So all this "pre-boarding" consisted of (you would have thought it was like pre-boarding a plane in that you could go ahead and get on but no...) was simply those people got to walk into a room and sit closer to the track. What the hell ever. So then they called for pre-boarding of families with children. So they all got to walk into the room. So now the rest of us childless youngsters get to stay in the other room which is maybe ... I don't know 5 feet from the other.

They eventually began the boarding which was also sort of a joke. Because this train was making many stops before it got to New York City (god... can you imagine that ride? catch a plane!) they divided up the cars by stop so all of us in Ohio and eastern Indiana were generally on 1-2 cars, etc. Of course there is nothing labeled and nothing on your ticket about where you sit so you basically had to go up to each car where there was boarding and ask the official standing there what car it was for. Blah... So then you get on the train and most of the seats are labeled "party of two". So not only am I young and childless ... I'm also traveling alone ... what a LOSER! LOL! So anyway, finally found one that was not labeled "party of two" and got a window seat. Not that the window seat mattered so much cause it was dark by this time and the only thing we were going to see on the way was Indiana corn fields anyway. I can go out in my parents' backyard and see that.

So I ended up sitting with a girl who was maybe 11-12 years old and she sat across the aisle from her mom and younger brother. So this girl must be a seasoned train traveller cause she could sleep. She like passed out in the seat, kept flipping over, kicking me in the butt. At one point she like rolled over on me and put her head on my shoulder. I tried shaking her a bit and talking to her but she would not wake up. She had a very heavy head. She was completely out of it. So I let it go and just let her sleep like that although I felt weird about it. Finally I got a call on my cell which allowed me to sit up and grab my phone and it woke her up and I think she realized what she had done and was embarrassed and rolled the other way. That girl slept the whole freaking way there. If only I could have.

So... that was one good thing in that I could talk on my phone on the train. The other thing was the huge amount of leg room - you don't get that on a plane. But why even ride the train in the U.S.? These are the only things I can think of 1) And I would say this is probably the #1 reason - you are AFRAID TO FLY; 2) all other possible options sold out or too expensive last minute and for whatever reason you ain't driving; 3) you have some kind of physical problem where you need more legroom and first class on a plane is too expensive; 4) you are just looking for something different to do; 5) then there are those people called "train enthusiasts" who are just into it or whatever - Amtrak would kill that spirit for me. 6) oh yeah, how can I forget this! This only applies to certain parts of the country - Indiana/Ohio/Pennsylvania especially - YOU'RE AMISH!! There were all kinds of Amish on the train to/from Toledo and I had seen them when I Amtrak'ed it once from Fort Wayne. I guess that makes sense. OK so those are the only reasons and I guess they're six good reasons. One reason would NOT be "its cheaper than flying" because it ISN'T! At least not by much! I think I saved maybe $25 by taking the train than if I had booked a ticket in advance and flew into Detroit or something. (Side note ... I never realized Detroit was so close to Toledo).

So after the slowest freaking ride ever... it seemed like the train was constantly stopping and starting or just moving very slowly... and despite only having left 2 hours late, I arrived in Toledo 4 HOURS LATE!! And by this time, 4 hours late meant 5AM IN THE MORNING! I was supposed to be there at 1am which was completely do-able to me especially since that is only midnight Chicago time. Can you believe it? Now ... as far as that stopping and starting were concerned, I'm not sure what that was all about. I have heard contradictory things about who has the right-of-way on the rails. I heard from someone that passenger trains always *should* have the right-of-way but they are never granted it cause the freightlines own the tracks and switches and - especially in the middle of the night when they can - they screw the passenger trains out of the right-of-way and just let them sit so they can move their stuff. Another person told me that that wasn't correct and that the freight trains have the right-of-way. I don't know which it is but let me just tell you that it sucks!

So I get in at 5am and go to sleep at the hotel. Wake up at 9:45am just in time for the free breakfast to be ending at 10am. Go down for breakfast and its slim pickings by this time so I give up and go back and go to sleep til noon. Saturday afternoon took a drive to Windsor, Ontario, by way of Detroit. I guess Windsor is a real party town but didn't stick around long enough really to see it. Just did some exploring, walking along the river, checked out a festival and went to dinner. Oh yeah... also did some brief gambling at the casino where I sat down at a 5 cent slot for 5 minutes and won $120. Believe me, I know when to quit soI was done.

It was easy enough to get into Canada - although they did ask some weird questions about having ever been arrested or if I had mace in my possession, but whatever. Getting back into the U.S. there was less quizzing (way to go Department of Homeland Security!) but the line was a lot longer and took forever!! Windsor seemed fun and it might be fun to go back there sometime. Its a real bachelor party town I think. Left right after dinner but the cops were starting to make their presence known.

Sunday was more of a relaxing day and sort of explored around Toledo which I come to find out, there ain't much to explore. Spent some time swimming and laying out at the hotel pool.

Monday morning tried to catch the 5am train back to Chicago. It was only delayed a half hour so that was OK. I ended up getting into work an hour late but no problem. I was exhausted though. I was supposed to go to the Cubs game with my sister but there was no way. And, the Cubs suck so much lately I couldn't even sell my tickets - not even for 2 for the price of 1. I didn't care though, I just wanted to go home and go to bed and not be stuck on that 10:30pm train back to the burbs again.

Anyway, thats my ever-so-long story. I think about ready to call it a day here.

Later!!