Departure (Outer Journey)

It's Train Time!

I drove my car with Marybeth to the train station in Champaign where we were getting on to travel to New Orleans, and I was grateful to have a companion with me in case of any emergency. I experienced a sort of pit in my stomach feeling when we passed cops that had multiple cars pulled over on the road here because I was also speeding slightly because I was nervous and excited to get to the train station in Champaign. I regained that nervous "pit of my stomach" feeling when weighing my travel bags to make sure they did not exceed the weight limit of fifty pounds because I packed everything I brought with me up to the brim. When we stepped foot on the train we had to climb these stairs that were incredibly narrow and I became disgusted because I had to touch the handrails, and with it being winter time and public transportation proved to be as gross and germ riddled as you can imagine. Next, we get to our seats and I was delighted because they were more spacious than I remembered them being from previous train trips I have been on. The seats reclined back more than you would think which was also nice because I had difficulty sleeping without the slight recline. At night, they do dim the lights but in the sort of "passing zone" where you are moving literally right between two of the Amtrak cars, there is a bigger and brighter light that of course was shining directly in my eyes most of the night as we picked up and dropped off passengers. In my opinion, all of the lights need to still be slightly more dimmed, so people get the chance to get better sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I went down to the restroom which was inconvenient in placement because we were sleeping and lounging in an upper level car instead of lower level, so I had to yet again use those narrow stairs with nasty germ infested railings. However, once I reached the bathroom, it was much bigger than I expected which gave me more room to get dressed and ready for the day. The restroom was not foul-smelling as I assumed it would be, but the lever to flush is located up by the sink and not by the toilet which in my opinion is weird and inconvenient. I do not suggest any sort of make up on the train due to the movement of the train for your own safety do not attempt mascara or it will end up in your eyes instead of on your lashes. On the train, there are other travelers aside from my class group I am with on this trip, and they are mostly nice but somewhat noisy. I was grateful that there weren't any crying babies aboard last night, so we could all "sleep" peacefully. Looking at the sights from inside the train sitting on this what can only be described as a more updated version of a seat in a car with more cushion for comfort is exciting because it makes your brain spin with anticipation to get to your destination. It rained overnight, and there are lots of water puddles and the grass looks greener and the plants look happy. We are traveling through the country currently and it is flat still, no rolling hills. There are smaller and more run down buildings and houses on either side of us. There is a two lane road parallel with us and there aren't any cars on it which makes you think you're more or less alone, but really your with an entire train full of people. All in all, experiencing the train has been exciting and disgusting all at the same time, and the anticipation to be in New Orleans only keeps growing.