A Few Truths about Train Rides

My friends! We have been talking about this trip for a long time. For many more days than the trip lasted, actually. To jump right onto the train references ... I'm running out of steam. But there's still so much more to be said! So I'll try to keep this thing chugging along for one more week, and then we'll move onto holiday driving, Christmas cheese, and the like.

I really, really like riding on trains. Probably because it feels somewhat exotic, since I never get the opportunity in America. But I like the predictability of it, too. The timetables and updates and everyone getting places efficiently.

Since reading the Harry Potter books, trains also remind me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. Although I've not yet seen anyone in a wizard's robe yet. But there's still time...

The thing is, even though I like trains, I have a tendency to fall asleep while in passive motion. If I'm not driving or moving under my own power, travel makes me sleepy. I had big plans for our train rides on this trip—writing postcards, journal entries, reading .... hardly any of it came to pass because, once we were moving, my eyelids were suddenly heavy.

And yet, that brings me to another enjoyable facet of train rides: the voice that pleasantly announces your approach to every station, so if you fall asleep on the train you won't miss your stop. Somehow, they managed to achieve just the right volume level so that it's not blaring, but never fails to rouse you from your refreshing train nap.

Keith and I have looked into taking train rides in America, but they're too expensive and they take too long. It's hard to justify spending 12 hours to get to Chicago when our car will get us there in 6, and that's including a dinner stop at a restaurant of our choosing.

So I'll probably have to wait until our next trip to England before I can nap on the train again, buy a Chunky kit kat from the meal car, and watch the landscape roll by until (3 minutes later), I fall asleep.