Train Ride Extravaganza

First and foremost: Jacoby credited his huge catch the other day to the AUSTIN's Fajitas. Thank you Jacoby, for making me feel as if the chaos at our house on Thursday nights is worth it! This was the scene last Thursday night. I'd made the idiotic statement, "I hope more guys show up tonight for fajitas because we have so much food!" Well, about 25 guys showed up and our 3x6 kitchen had me sweating. Every time I needed to open the oven I had to shout "everyone please back up 3 steps!" It was wonderfully chaotic. Needless to say, all the food was gone.

Second, we went apple picking with Jordan and Sarah Kathryn Sorrells over fall break. It was a blast. I think Thomas and Jordan had the most fun. Here they are picking apples to throw at the chickens that were wandering around the property:
Great teamwork boys. I really must apologize to anyone whose children witnessed them throwing the apples at the chickens. It was horrifying. Thankfully no chickens were injured. However, Thomas did talk me into buying HALF A BUSHEL of apples for $15. He's already eaten the majority of the apples.

Now, on to the main reason I am writing. I've said we shouldn't travel any more because of all the chaotic things that happen to us when we do, but we happen to have a life that calls for lots of travel, therefore lots of chaos.

I rode the train last week. From Washington D.C. to Clemson, SC. I want you to know I did not ride the train voluntarily. I have an older sister who can talk me into doing almost anything. When we were little, she would coerce me into cleaning her room and make it sound FUN. She still has that power over me.

My dad had surgery in Baltimore, MD and I went up last week for the surgery. My sister and her family had been in Georgia for a wedding so they were able to pick me up on their way back to D.C. I was planning to fly back to SC on Thursday, but my sister happened upon an Amtrack ticket for just $87. It left D.C. at 6:30pm Wednesday evening arrived in Clemson at 5:30am the next morning. It all sounded wonderful when she explained it over the phone: walk to the train station from her house, read, eat and sleep on the train, arrive in Clemson where Thomas could pick me up...all for the low price of $87!! It was too good to be true, so I agreed.

The first time I realized this was a mistake was when I boarded the train. Jeannie told me I would have a seat to myself, room to stretch out etc. FALSE. The train was PACKED. I had to scramble for a seat. Thankfully, I chose to sit down next to the cheeriest looking person I could find, and we hit it off instantly. She was a personal trainer so I got some great tips in our 11 hours together. Mark that down as the only positive thing about my train ride.

My sister had been so kind as to provide a pillow and a blanket for me to use on the trip. The pillow was great. However, the blanket was one that she'd planned on giving away to Goodwill, and I found out why. A. it was HUGE. B. it was WOOL. C. it was SCRATCHY. D. it was TERRIBLY HOT. But if you know anything about me, you know that a blanket is crucial for sleeping because it makes me feel safe. So, I had to suffer under the weight of this awful blanket, minus the 5 minute intervals when I tossed it off to get some air.

My sister had also been so kind as to advise me NOT to take an Advil PM. She said someone might steal my belongings while I was zonked. Therefore, I slept about 2 of the 11 hours on board the train. I tossed and turned (as much as you can from a train seat) and I had NOTHING to do after they turned the cabin lights out at 11pm.

The climax of this trip occurred when we arrived in Charlotte, NC at 2 a.m. Of course I was awake, so I was happy to see we seemed to be running ahead of schedule. Much to my chagrin, we proceeded to sit in Charlotte for the next thirty minutes. At 2:30, the conductor walked down the aisle shouting "last call for Charlotte, this is the only smoke break." Ohhhhhhh, I get it. We'd been sitting there for 30 minutes so that people could smoke themselves to death. Makes perfect sense. As I was thinking this, a larger lady sitting across the aisle from me stood up and said "oh %$#@ nobody told me this was the smoke break! Help me get my smokes out!" I looked at the conductor like "no way, you're going to tell her she missed the break, right??" He looked back at me helplessly and proceeded to get her back down for her. We waited another fifteen minutes for her to smoke her life away, then FINALLY began moving again.

I arrived in Clemson at 5:39am, fell into bed at 6am, woke up at 10am and then called my sister to say "next time you have a 'great idea' I will remember what I feel like right now."

All this to say, she did make me a really wonderful ham sandwich for my train ride. And let me borrow her ipod shuffle for the train ride. But still, I'll never ride the train again.....