The Great Journey to Austin

Alright, I know I said I was going to post this up once I actually arrived in Austin, but I’ve had a stomach flu since I arrived. Given the number of other things I’ve had to do since being here, I decided to delay this post for a while. That said, the trip was something of an odyssey (just without cyclopes and such). The two-day train ride certainly didn’t go off without a hitch, but it did make for an interesting time.

Curious readers interested in the Great Journey to Austin and the many challenges, triumphs, hardships and randomness should click ‘read more’ indulge themselves in the grand epic tale.

Well, my trip ended up starting a day later than intended. It appears that last Sunday, the Amtrak trains that were running to Chicago from where I was departing were suffering issues with the weather. That is, they were frozen and not about to move anywhere, which I find to be a pretty impressive excuse, really. However, I finally managed to get on my way toward Austin. The day certainly started bright and early. Well, actually early, but certainly not bright at 5:00am. However, the train from Durand, the station I was departing from, arrived on time and made it safely to Chicago.

After arriving in Chicago, I had the joy of lugging around my bags from place to place. It made grabbing lunch a bit of a pain, but that was eventually accomplished. It was a pretty impressively expensive little sandwich from the ‘Corner Bakery’ in the station, but I have to admit, it wasn’t too bad. After that, I began waiting for the Texas Eagle train to show up for my trip down to Austin. Sadly, it seemed that it was going to be delayed one hour due to mechanical issues. Also, by “one hour” I mean “several.”

Really, “slow going” defined the start of this trip. After we finally were able to leave the station, we found ourselves sitting motionless on the track a short distance out. It seemed a freight train was blocking the way, unwilling to move. After another long delay, we finally backed up far enough to switch tracks to move around it. Really, the mechanical issues are a fairly unusual thing, but it seems having to share the tracks with freight trains – who gain priority – are likely to cause significant delays for an Amtrak train on a much more regular basis. This ended up leaving us a good four hours behind schedule.

There was one good bright spot in all of that however. I managed to snag seat 16, which just so happens to have one of the two outlets in the older coach cars. I couldn’t plug my phone into the tight space, but I certainly could get my laptop connected. A bit of AudioSurf and some Galactic Civilizations 2 went a long way to killing some time. I also devoted a fair chunk of time to Interactive Fiction games to kill some time as well. Yes, Interactive Fiction games. Text Adventures. Also Nethak. No, it isn’t sad. Fine, it is.

I did run into another little snag as well. I noticed a bit late that I actually didn’t have Ryan’s phone number and he was the one who was suppose to be picking me up at the Amtrak station. Luckily, through secret arts (and him later calling me) I was able to get his number.

Now, that’s really most of the bad – other than popping a button off my new blazer, but I can fix that. The seats were comfortable and there was certainly plenty of room. That has been even more true, since the seat next to me was also open; which was particularly handy last night in giving me just enough room for an acceptable “bed” to sleep on. Dinner actually wasn’t too bad either. It was over priced for what it was, but given what I paid for the ticket, I’m not going to complain much. There was a changing room, freeing me of the need to spend two days in the same clothes, which was nice too.

Given that after arriving in Chicago, most of the trip had been in darkness, I didn’t get a chance to see much of a view during the first day. However, after waking up in the morning I found that we had been passing through Arkansas. While I’m not much of one to just assume stereotypes are necessarily correct… this state is sure making it hard for me. Seriously. The first thing I see is a scrap yard with several school buses. Sadly the state wasn’t entirely kind to us either. We ran across some track that was being repaired and hit “something” caused another delay. Luckily, nothing was broken and it wasn’t a terribly long wait.

Even with all of the delays and the complaints that they’ve sparked, I have to admit, I’ve certainly met some interesting people and a fairly wide variety. I’ve met people ranging from an ex-drug dealer hoping to reform his life, to a teacher and Director of Students from a catholic girls high school, leading students back after seeing three plays in Chicago. I think that rather accurately paints a picture of the range of people who were traveling by train.

After arriving in Austin I was able to meet up with Ryan and head over to his apartment building with him, where I soon found that I had come down with a case of the stomach flu. Needless to say, my first night in Austin wasn’t the most pleasant. For that matter, neither were the next few days. Still, it has been nice being out here – more so since I’ve gotten over said illness. I’ve gotten out to see the city a bit and I’ve managed to get a lease signed for an apartment. If nothing else, I’m stuck in this whole relocation thing for a good six months now. Hopefully by Monday I’ll be moved into my own little place.