We’re having such fun on our train trip.  Some of you know I started doing this thing called “Twitter from the Twain” a couple of years ago, where I Twitter and send photos from what I call our “Room with the View,” whenever we go across country by train, which we do a couple of times a year, and have for the last twenty years.  I give train-travel tips, in case you ever have a chance to travel this old-fashioned and still-wonderful way, and little bird’s eye views of what it’s like. ♥

Here we are amid the hustle and bustle of arriving in Flagstaff last night!  Joe is getting the car that’s waiting for us, and I’m just waiting for him.  This is why I love trains. It’s just like this getting on too, like a little secret, everyone settling in their rooms, or just stepping off the train into the night.

The other thing I like is that train travel is so civilized; here we are having “tea” in our room.  We always bring a string-bag full of treats, to have with our newspapers and books in our room with a view.

We love the weather we see from our window. . .  this was last night, crossing the New Mexico desert; none of that ever got close to us . . .

We love the people we meet in the dining car.  This lovely Amish woman is the mother of, e  l  e  v  e  n   children.  She has 50 grandchildren.  She travels by horse and buggy, and train.  She and her husband were so nice and fun to talk to as we crossed over the Mississippi River together in the dining car.  You never know who you will meet on the train. ♥

There’s time for everything on a three-day cross country train trip.  I bring my journal, a good book, the tea pot, my pillow . . . the basic necessities of life.  But it’s the view that is most compelling . . . America the beautiful . . .

Someday I’ll have to tell you the story of my first train trip and how I discovered, by accident, this wonderful way to travel.  We always have so much to do at home, places we have to be, things we have to do, these three days of “down time” are the only way to fly!

It’s lovely in all seasons. We are cozy in room with view, while this rages outside our window (on another trip of course).

The train passes through woodlands, along rivers, through little towns with white church steeples poking high above the trees; it creaks as it moves slowly through high mountain passes, and makes a blur speeding along the coastline; we have moon lit starry nights, and sun rises that wake up the whole sleeping train.

Our country is in danger of losing the train as a way of travel, what a terrible loss that would be…I’m a one-woman band (not really, there are lots of us) marching to say, hey look at how wonderful this is. Let’s never let it go away.

Here’s a quick tour of a big bedroom on Amtrak; while it’s still neat and tidy, still in the station in Chicago, before we really “moved in” and made it un-video-friendly.

The last thing you should know … the movement of the train is soft and rocking.  You have a book in front of your face, but the rocking makes your eyes flutter closed, you fight for consciousness, but you lose. A nap ensues.  Then you try to read again.  Or knit. But outside, you see dragon fly following right along with the train, or a deer comes around the bend, or you see a little country road so beautiful you have to take a picture of it. So, you are very busy on the train, the time passes much too quickly.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for coming on our virtual train trip.  I have so many photos, I could do this all day.  But, now it’s playtime, with my dad . . . off we go.  You have a wonderful day.  Hope you’re all loving Willard . . . so happy we were able to manage that and be on the train at the same time!  Computer miracles never cease.  xoxo