Friday, March 24, 2017

Undaunted Courage, Plus Yarn

I finally managed to buy our rail passes and make the reservations for every leg of the cross-country train trip Susie and I are planning to take. People, this was hard - I was trying to coordinate 7 train schedules with people I want to see and with available Airbnb places that looked clean and axe-murderer-less. I've had six thousand tabs open on my browser for a week, trying to figure it all out. Plus there was the hassle of not being able to make any of the train reservations online - when you buy one of the rail passes, you have to call the Amtrak reservation line, figure out the magic words to get past the automated reservation clerk, and then stay on hold for half an hour just to get to talk to someone who can make the reservations for you.

More complicated than it looks....
A daunting task for someone ultra-distractable like myself, but it is done! Well, except for the fact that all the Airbnb's in Seattle hiked their prices by hundreds of dollars over the Easter weekend, so we are still trying to figure that one out. It looks as though some of the hostels are family-friendly; maybe we'll try that.

Probably not Lewis and Clark's colors
I guess I should pack. But first, there's the dreaded Mulch Delivery Weekend, where I am still somehow obligated to help out with the food tent, despite my belief to the contrary. And there's our Metro Yarn Crawl, the same weekend as Mulch, which unfortunate confluence of events is engendering a very immature amount of resentment in me. AND I need to figure out what knitting to bring on the train trip. Socks, probably - socks all the way across the country and back. They're portable.

I bet Lewis and Clark brought socks to knit, also. AND complained about expensive Airbnbs. They probably left reviews like "That tepee was way overpriced, and no indoor plumbing...Will not portage my canoe here again."

Or, maybe not.






11 comments:

  1. Wave as you go through Redding, if you are on the Coast Starlight! (It will probably be the middle of the night, or I'd wave back.)

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  2. Dang with the Seattle thing! Could you get a place just outside of town or something? Um...no car though. Hmmmm....

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  3. And that reservation process would drive me bonkers! It sounds like dealing with health insurance. Shiver.

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  4. Is part of this trip up to Maine? If so, you are welcome to stay here in MA at my house!

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  5. We are just heading west this trip. I tried to squeeze in a leg to Boston on the return, but it was too much. I decided it was better to make a dedicated train trip to New England at some point. When that happens, we will definitely meet up!

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  6. I'm kind of in awe of this trip you're taking. What a chore to coordinate it all.
    Drat--still on mulch duty, eh? You need your own merit badge--or a merit gift card to a yarn store at the very minimum.

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  7. I can not wait to hear all about your adventures on this trip! I find it weird that you can't book online with Amtrak...sounds like they need to get with the times!

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    1. It's only when you are buying tickets using the rail passes. Individual trips you can book online.

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  8. Hilarious as usual! I thought this trip was happening in the summer. It's happening so soon - can't wait to hear the details. Such an adventure!

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  9. I've been offline much too often lately! Are you coming through Spokane? I've got a guest room... and a fabulous yarn shop I can take you to visit.

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  10. I hope your trip is wonderful! And what happened to the person you were training last year to take over Mulch so you could go on the yarn crawl?

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