4303
[train miles so far, upon arrival in Charlotte]
As I’m writing this (on 4/24, to be posted later, since I have no connection on the train) I’m on the Carolinian, somewhere north of Rocky Mount (just passed a sign..it’s Weldon, NC). I just realized that this is my 6th state-ish thing today (and some people came from NYC so they have 8!). I started this morning in Philadelphia (where you can’t go into Independence Hall anymore…how wrong is that?!), then went through Delaware, Maryland, DC (the “ish” mentioned earlier), Virginia, and now North Carolina. Pretty impressive for 7 hours of travel (of which about one was just sitting still, thanks to the federal inspectors who randomly decided to inspect the train in Richmond, VA).
It’s been a nice ride and I’ll be taking the same route (different trains, though) in the other direction after Atlanta, so maybe I’ll get to see the other side. All the cool stuff in DC was on the other side of the train, so no great pics for you. Sorry. I did get a brief glimpse of the Jefferson Memorial (very near the tracks) and the Washington Monument peeking out from between buildings in the distance. I also saw two Marine One-looking helicopters in the air–wonder if the Shrub was coming/going someplace. But taking a picture would have been difficult at best as there was an unhappy businessman I’d have had to shoot past/through.
This is a non-sleeper train, so I have a business class seat (well, two since there’s no one next to me) rather than a compartment as I generally prefer, but it’s comfortable enough and the bottles of water and coffee (all non-booze, actually) are free, and the attendant attends well. There’s not a dining car on this train, but there is a cafe car with sandwiches and the like if one gets hungry. Most of the food isn’t very healthy, though, so I’ve been filling up on raisins and almonds which I brought with me…though I did break down and have a small bag of Doritos earlier.
That’s the one difficulty with traveling–trying to eat a healthy diet. I’ve been avoiding the bad stuff with rare Dorito-like exceptions so far, but at the same time I know I haven’t been eating enough protein (I ate my last power bar-type thing this morning waiting on the train–must get more in Atlanta). So, though I feel as if I’ve lost some weight in the 9 days I’ve been gone, I’m afraid it’s muscle and not fat. Not exercising enough hasn’t helped either. I think the past two days of walking around Philly (not a ton, but some) were very good for me and I’m pretty sure there’s a pool at the next hotel (and at this point I should have some time to grab a swim tomorrow, depending on workload), but mostly, I’ve been feeling like a slug.
On a completely different note…there’s a British couple behind me and her voice is exactly like some actress, but I haven’t been able to figure out who and it’s driving me crazy. He sounds a bit like Arthur Dent from the HHGTTG TV series, but more like the guy who played Susan’s father-in-law-to-be on Desperate Housewives the other week.