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Friday, March 17, 2017

When East Meets West

My finger still hurts. It's not broken if I can bend it normally, right? Because, really, why go to the doctor when I can just ask a bunch of perfect strangers for medical advice?

I hate going to the doctor. I am convinced I'll pick up some deadly disease (or at least a highly inconvenient one) while I am there.

Also, that picture in the previous post was of an ice pack covering my afflicted appendage. I only mention this because a friend messaged me and asked what it was. She said, and I quote, that it looked like it "...was encased in some sort of metal bullet-type case and you were ready to stab people with it."

This sort of comment makes me wonder what my friends really think of me.

Rarely seen snowman skeleton
In other news, our two days of winter are over. The snow is melting, which is a good thing, because then I can't foolishly injure myself by reliving my youth. So now I have to start thinking about that train trip and planning exact dates and all. There will be a couple of AirBnB stays involved, because Amtrak is not obliging me by having the trains arrive in major cities early in the morning and then leaving again at night. That was the original plan, see - arrive in a city, look around, hop back onto the train and ride overnight, thus saving money on lodgings.

That's not going to happen. East Coaster that I am, I had no idea that there could be major cities where the train stops only once or twice a day. This blows my mind. I mean, have you seen the Amtrak schedule for trains running between DC and New York? There are at least a dozen each day.

I don't understand how the West Coast works, actually. Do you all drive everywhere? Fly? Or maybe you're all so healthy, you just bike? I feel as though I am an anthropologist, heading off to do field work. How do the natives live?




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7 comments:

  1. Jenny Hart BorenMarch 17, 2017

    Yes, we drive everywhere. My small (100k), northern California city has one train arriving from the south (Sacramento), at about 2 a.m., and the 'station' is a dark, sketchy parking lot, adjacent to the bus depot, although the buses to not run at night. The southbound 'train' is actually an Amtrak BUS, which does leave in the afternoon, to meet the real train and go other places. There is a little more commuter train action in larger cities, but most of the rest of us just fill up the tank and pack a lunch! My friend Jim, (director of the Sacramento Area Biking Authority) does indeed bike everywhere, but he's the exception, not the rule. Have a good time!

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  2. GigiMarch 17, 2017

    I simply cannot wait to read all about this trip!

    No advice about how the West Coast works. I know here in this mid-size town in NC we drive everywhere. The bus service is ridiculous and by the time a train could take us somewhere we could have already driven there.

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  3. LindsayMarch 19, 2017

    I'm in Utah. Unless you are in downtown Salt Lake you need a car.

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  4. AmaraMarch 19, 2017

    You have more than one Utah follower apparently :). We do a lot of driving. When I visited New York I loved having the public transportation system to get everywhere -- It was wonderful. We are getting better, there is a commuter train between Provo and SLC, and there is a nice little train system to get around SLC when you are there (Trax), but not all inclusive yet.

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  5. RobinHMarch 19, 2017

    Yep, Californians basically drive everywhere.

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  6. AnonymousMarch 20, 2017

    Anything west of the original colonies requires a car.
    I hope your finger is better. That could be a serious thing, even if you can move it.

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  7. Karen (formerly kcinnova)March 26, 2017

    When in Seattle, you can take public transportation; everywhere else, we drive.

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