Hello again, Readers! (aka.. Mom)
Another adventure is under way, this time in the comfort of my own country. I am currently 24 hours into my stay in Seattle, Washington. Why Seattle? Why now? Well, my sister has been living in Seattle for a couple years and recently got her own place. So I'm taking advantage of my connection in a fantastic city to take a break from my mid-western responsibilities. I really haven't had a break from the daily grind for over a year. It's been school and work and discovering myself in London (ugh... what a DRAG!) and more work and more school. I was growing weary of having specific places to be every day at specific times to do specific things. (like work and school) Then I failed the math class that was
supposed to be the final stretch of my college career. "Give me an effing break already!", I said to myself. "Okay. How about a month in Seattle with quite literally NO daily schedule and NO responsibilities?". Deal. Let's do it. That's right. I have no reason to be here other than I WANT TO. The only plans I have are to read and write. So far so good!
My journey to Seattle started on Tuesday evening, unfortunately alone. My big bro had a ticket to ride (and he didn't care) but he got a really awesome alternative to the trip called Lyme Disease. So my dad drove me up to St. Paul, handed me a wad of cash and three Snickers bars, and said Goodbye. I was supposed to board the train at 11:15pm but the train was running late. Around midnight when the train was an hour late and I had heard it would still be another hour until it was here, I sent a distressed text message to my boyfriend.
"My optimistic mojo is dying! I'm so pissed off! I want to get on this train now!" A few deep breaths and revelation later I texted him again. "Mojo has been found. I just remembered I'm on vacation and I have no need to be on time for anything. Life is good."
I didn't board until almost 2am. I found a seat in the dark coach next to an older gentleman, probably 60 years old. Until I was sleepy enough to try to sleep, I read a couple chapters from
Eat, Pray, Love. Then for about four hours I drifted in and out of sleep. The train wasn't dark enough. I was cold. The guy across the aisle from me was snoring. Finally as the sun was coming up I gave up on sleep. My seat mate (I learned later his name is Craig) got up around 6:30 and came back with a coffee.
"Where did you get that?" I asked Craig.
He directed me to the lounge car which was directly behind ours. I grabbed a couple bucks and walked like a zombie to the basement of the lounge where I was third in line at the little cafe. The train jerked one way and the other and I had to do a little two-step to keep my balance. "Don't start dancin' now", said the guy behind the counter. I gave him a shy, little courtesy laugh. When it was my turn to order he asked politely (and way too cheery for 7 O'clock in the morning) what he could get for me. "Just a coffee", I said. I was hiding under the hood of my sweatshirt, surely looking like a train-wreck. (get it? TRAIN-wreck) "What do you need a coffee for?", he asked. Haha. Very funny.
I spent most of my day in the lounge car reading and napping. I finished
Eat, Pray, Love before lunch and moved on to Stephen King's memoir
On Writing. This one I've read before but now I feel it might have more relevance for my life in pursuit of being a somewhat decent writer.
During my reading breaks I would catch a few Zs sitting at one of the tables in the lounge. I found the falling-asleep-in-class style of sitting most comfortable. (resting my head on my books) Or I would just sit at one of the sofas watching the rocky North Dakota and Montana scenery go by. For a while there was a man sitting next to me who sparked my interest. I pretended not to notice, but he was talking to himself quietly. He even used hand gestures and laughed at his reflection in the window. I could tell he was a little bit crazy, but I was a little bit jealous. I mean, I enjoy myself enough to keep myself company.. but I rarely have full-on conversations with myself when there are other people around. Also, this man made me recognize the windows in this train really are nicely reflective. My hood had been up most of the day because I didn't want to know what was going on with my hair. I untied my hoodie and let my locks out only to discover that they looked very nice. Note to self... wear a hood when sleeping (or not sleeping) on a train more often.
In the evening I went back to my seat and talked to Craig for a while. Such a nice guy. We shared stories about some crazy things we did in high school with our friends. Craig told me how many of his buddies he could fit in his little car, and told me about the time he and his wife did a Chinese-fire-drill together right after their wedding. I told Craig about when my best friends tied the seat belts together in the back seat of my car on the hottest day of summer.
Soon it was too dark to see outside so I did a little more reading, then started to try sleeping around 10pm. Before long I was uncomfortable in my seat so I took my pillow to the lounge car and "fell-asleep-in-class" again. I imagined myself in AP Government class my senior year of high school. Tired of listening to the teacher saying something about something I really don't care to listen to. Beginning to drool on my text book as I daydreamed about being anywhere but here. "What if instead of a text book, I was resting my head on a pillow... in a train headed far far away." Welcome to reality, Sista.
The lounge car closed at 5am when we got to Spokane, WA. At Spokane the train split in half. My car and up was headed to Seattle. The lounge car and back was headed to Portland. Once again I went to my seat by Craig and passed out a little while longer. When I woke up we were somewhere in Washington with boring scenery but before long I started to see mountains. By 10am I had had two cups of coffee and was still struggling to stay awake as we chugga chugga chooed through the Cascade mountains. I fell asleep again for a while, and the next time I woke up we were an hour away from Seattle. Whoopee! As the train backed into the station in Seattle I wished Craig a safe journey. He and a buddy were meeting in Washington to start a cross-country road trip. He wished me well too, saying "Good luck with your writing and good luck in your future". Goodbye Craig. Goodbye train.
Hello Seattle! Hello Sister! Now that I was reunited with my kin and my luggage I was ready to be reunited with my appetite and a bed. Ashley took me to a Chinese food place. I ordered sweet and sour chicken like I always do. I'm a little disappointed in myself sometimes for being boring that way.. but I always tell myself I'm just trying find the best sweet and sour chicken in the world. (which is NOT at Noodle Stop in London)
We rode the bus to Ashley's neighborhood and walked to her apartment. It's beautiful, quaint, cozy, and I am so excited for my sister to be living here. I took a shower and a nap. When I woke up I felt refreshed and ready to take on my month of vacation. My sister and I spent the evening eating mac & cheese, talking about boys, and planning some nights out. We thought about opening up Ashley's nice bottle of wine, but she wants to wait for Quinn to get here so we can share with him. We drank chamomile tea instead.
Get here soon, Quinner. I'm thirsty.