On The Road With Fastfreta...Three Days To Atlanta

I know I should have been doing this one day at a time. But I've been too busy playing Words With Friends, and Wordfeud to take notes, so here goes, me, trying to recall three days to Atlanta, bear with me, the old memory isn't what it used to be.

Pauline had to drive me to Oklahoma City to get the train back to Fort Worth, where I picked up my things from Dorothy. Remember, (On The Road, Texas), I said that I had to leave a piece of luggage with her, because I couldn't check my luggage to Oklahoma. Dorothy was prompt, and I retrieved my things. I did one of my normal things, almost missed the train. Here's what happened, I was on the phone with my son, having one of our funny conversations, remembering my train was scheduled to leave at 2:25, I happened to look at my watch, it was 2:13 I panicked, ran to the tracks, and the train arrived just as I did. Did I mention that the train will leave on time whether you're there or not. They don't know, or care who has tickets. The train pulled up, we got on, and it pulled off, just like that. It appears I learned nothing from Pauline's punctuality. (On The Road, Oklahoma) This was a scene to be repeated with each and every train that I had to board.

Joy of Joys, I had the whole space, two seats, to myself. This day I didn't leave my seat to do anything but, take care of personal things, and eat. I felt as if I stayed in bed all day. I did nothing but, read, write, and play games. I had a very enjoyable dinner with two of the most beautiful ladies I've ever seen. Payton, and her grandmother Pat,(see pics enclosed), a very delightful pair. I so enjoyed sharing life stories with Pat, we have so much in common, that's always a very nice part of the evening on the train. Back to my seat, I was so sure I could sleep with access to both seats, but alas, no sleep. By the way, this was the train to Chicago, so we passed through so many small town and Big Cities, but I don't remember most of them, before I close this article I'll try to remember some of them.

Finally here! We arrived about an hour late, therefore, I don't have as much time to sight see as I'd like. So I locked my things in a locker, grabbed a taxi and made my way over to Oprah's studio. Being alone, I didn't know how I would prove it was me taking the pictures. Ironies or ironies, the only other person on the street was another sole female tourist. She was a student from Africa. Her English was limited, but it didn't matter, we still were able to communicate with one another, because we had or desire to see Chicago in common. For her mode of transportation, there was a friend from her country, who was a taxi driver, he also became my mode of transportation. I was able to see, and do more than I thought I would as a result of meeting the beautiful Trinitas. Some of the places we visited, and took pictures of, were, Solder Field, The Bulls Stadium, Shed Aquarium, The Field Museum, and more, (pictures are enclosed).

Here's the next time I almost missed my train, we were waiting for Trinitas' friend to come back and pick us up, it was getting later and later, 5:00 to be exact, and my train was to leave at 6:10. So I grabbed another taxi, made my way back to Union Station, where I grabbed a bite to eat, not realizing it was so late, about 5:50, I panicked, ran to retrieve my belongings, and was so desperate that I had to trade a 5 dollar bill for three dollars to retrieve my belongings from the locker. Again, I ran to the train with moments to spare, they were already boarding. Will I ever learn, not yet. Please tell me, "Why am I Always Late?"

Excuse me Chicago, who's bright idea was it to put that city rail line, (The L), right down the middle of downtown, so unattractive. Sorry Chicago!

Check out my pics from this leg of the adventure.

Whew! I made it! Oh no, I have an aisle seat, now you know I'm not even thinking about sleeping like that. Besides my seatmate was a young man, a nice size guy, not fat just a big guy. Again nice young man, but I couldn't envision sleeping next to him. He probably felt the same way, "this old lady falling asleep on me." LOL! He was very pleasant, and we had very good conversations, but sleep there, no. I eventually excused myself and went to the observation car where I remained all night. I, there, discovered the secret to my being able to sleep on the train. Just sit up, make myself as uncomfortable as possible, and voila I'm fast asleep, fitfully, but I still slept, and so did several others, who probably couldn't sleep at their seats either.

My table mates for breakfast were two very nice people, John and his wife, sorry wife, forgot your name. She was too nice, I shouldn't have forgotten her name. They were on their way to the White House, and other sights in DC, and the surrounding states. John, and "oh what is her name," anyway they were accustomed to riding the train, and had done so on several occasions, they gave me a few train riding tips. Very nice people.

It was on this trip that I discovered a compass on my tablet. As long as we were near addresses I could tell where we were, more about that later.

I've been to DC before, but it was either by automobile or airplane. The train gave me a whole new prospective on the city. To begin with Union Station is so beautiful, (pics enclosed). I thought to go see the White House again, but I remembered my penchant for running late and decided against it. So I wandered around for awhile then decided to eat. I ate at Bee Smith's Restaurant. The food was scrumptious, I had what they called "Swamp Thang." A seafood mixture in garlic sauce, topped with collard greens and fried strips of squash, loved it. Not to mention the ambiance, loved that too. Oh, I did go out of the station. I went to the post office, it was not just a post office, but also a postal museum, I didn't get to see the museum, just mailed cards.

So this is my least favorite train ride. To begin with the train was one level and crowded with no observation car, so I was confined to my seat the entire trip. I began my night by spilling the lady's drink behind me. I reclined my seat with no regard to the person behind me. She was gracious, but I felt sooooo bad. One bright note, I did sit next to a very interesting family, a young woman and her two delightful boys. One a baseball aficionado, had a DVD player, which I sneaked a peek at every now and then. Oh, but say I actually slept on this leg. The way I did this is to sit ramrod straight, feet planted firmly on the floor, and I slept quite well.

I mentioned earlier that I discovered a compass on my tablet, so I decided to document all the places we passed through on our way to Georgia. Of course these were places I captured while awake. Just to name a few, Rockville , MD, Culpeper VA, Charlottesville, VA, Danville, VA, Sugar Hill, GA, Suwanee, GA, Duluth, GA. Admittedly this was a rather boring leg of the trip, possibly because it took place mostly at night.

I'd like to add, these three days were the most interesting leg, scenic wise that is.

I'm sure there's more to these three days that I forgot to include, but, that's just it, I forgot. Anyway my next leg is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The train will take me through Washington, DC, and I have an eight hour layover, time to sight see. Needless to say I will document that, so keep an eye out. Well bedtime here at my mother's house in Atlanta, Ga. I'll have to write the Atlanta adventure after I finish my Pittsburgh trip. So goodnight, see you after the next leg.