Travel Notes

We took the train from home out east from Denver to Boston.

Starting out from Denver several hours later than scheduled, we had a sleeper car. Not a lot of room, but at least a place to sleep, and a door to close on the rest of the world. Meals are included with the sleeping accomodations. We dozed and read during the day, watching the scenery and the changes in the land from the flat fields of western Nebraska into the rolling low hills of eastern Nebraska and Iowa. The stop closest to noon Tuesday was Creston, Iowa.

Met several interesting people on the train, traveling to and from graduations and visiting relatives. The big news was the 'rock star' - a fellow with mid back length blond hair and an impressive collection of jewelry. I have to admit that I never heard which band or bands he played with, but he was good with all the children who swarmed for autographs.

We changed trains in Chicago to another sleeper car of a different design. Single story which gave us more room per compartment, with an overhead lugguge space that helped with our 10 pieces of carry-on luggage. Yes, I said 10 pieces. Between the sextants (2) and the musical instruments, then a change of clothes each and our travel papers, we had 10 items. Plus the one large duffel of clothes we checked. Need to plan better on the return trip.

Reached Boston, only to find that the hotels were pretty full, and we decided that for $169 a night, we would push on to Portland. We arrived with just enough time to collect our gear from the train, but tickets for the bus and board. We arrived in Portland, spent the night and caught the bus for Rockland the next day.