So if you haven't heard, I took a 4 day train voyage to get back to Sacramento, CA. First of all let me just say that I am so surprised I got on/off at all the right places in my whole public transportation experience. Of course, in New York I had some help because Jess and I were along for the ride. But damn! yay for not getting lost or mugged.
Train stations these days, the big ones at least, are like malls w/ trains. In the DC station there was every mall shoppe you could imagine and over 50 eateries in the food court. It was nuts. On night 1 of my trip I got the whole 2 seats to my self, but at some point in the evening after I ate my dinner (while traveling I carry cheese and a loaf of bread and quinoa everywhere I go) I got to feeling like I wanted a beer. It's nice to drink a beer on a train ride where you dont have to do anything but sit and watch the scenery. So I moseyed down to the cafe car and bought a $6.00 Heineken--- lesson learned---it was delicious anyways. When I arrived in Chicago the next day I had an 8 hr layover so I left the station in search of a CVS/Walgreens where I could purchase beer, toothpaste, toothbrush, and an iPod charger. As my luck would have it there was an aforementioned store right across from the station. "Gottcha," I said as I took my items, receipt in hand out of the store. Yes, my train trip would now be much more enjoyable. I went back to the station, still having about 3 hours left. I waited until 12 noon and went to get a beer or two at the station restau-bar (this was a beer heavy trip, if you can't tell--I love beer). In this restau-bar comes a very funny story I wrote down right after it happened.
Half way through my first beer I really had to pee. I covered my drink and left my 2 backpacks next to the table my beer was at. I scurried quickly to the Women's room as to not leave my stuff unattended for too long. When I got there, there was a huge ass line. One my bladder didn't feel ready to wait through. So on my bladder's request I hurriedly switched over to the Men's room right next door, because---hey, I can pass for a boy most of the time. In my mind there would be tons of glorious open stalls. Much to my surprise, there were plenty of urinals and only 2 stalls. Drats! There was a stall that seemed like in might be vacant, but as I drew nearer I noticed a HUGE crack in the stall door, exposing a man umm.... taking a shit (I suppose). Drats! Drats! Triple Drats! There I was standing in front of the urinals waiting for a stall when a man walks in and, me, not being privy to Men's room etiquette, steps away from the urinal area, thereby giving up my spot in the "line". I gave up and went back to drink the rest of my beer with a defeated/full bladder. Lesson: Don't think you can do what you want just because you can pass for both genders.
So then my journey was almost complete, just 2 more nights until Sacramento. I can honestly say that all of the scenery east of Omaha, NB was industrial and ugly and everything to the west of NB was beautiful and amazing. We went through The Rockies, desert, and Sierra Nevada's. It was a great experience to take the train across America. Would I do it again? No, I just wanted the experience and now I have it. Also, the journey was a huge test in patience, torturous at times.
Before the train trip:
I finished out my time in Philly with that couchsurfer host I was talking about, Maddy. We took a trip to Central PA for two nights to visit her friend, Peanut. It was nice to see the countryside of PA and I found out that most of PA is countryside and small towns. On my final night in Philly Maddy and her bf Rand took me to a really cool experimental performing arts show at a co-op bike shop named The Bikery. There were an array of performers, some bands and some solo acts. At the end there was this absolutely amazing shadow puppet show performed by 3 amazing women. Wow! I wanna get into shadow puppetry. Anyone wanna start a troupe? After the show the 3 of us took a bike ride through Philly at night to a converted sewing factory where Rand lives with 3 roomies. We had wine and really dank pizza. yum yum!
I took the Bolt bus the next day 2hrs North to the Big Apple to meet one of my best friends, Jess. When we met up we headed over to her brother Damien's place. Before we did that though we bought week long unlimited Metro Cards. These were soooo great to have (the unlimited part). Got some really good coffee in Williamsburg (where Damien lives with his bf and 2 roomies). Then met up with Jess's mom, Catherine for some authentic arepas from a Venezuelan restaurant. Good Lord! These arepas were so effing good AND they had sweet plantains in them. Y'all know how I love me some bananas :) We spent the week chillen with Catherine in the day and Damien and Yuta at night. The metro is so great, you can be out at bars 'til 4 am and hop on the subway and be safe and sound in your bed 15 mins later. Oh the joys of a city! Had an amazing Thanksgiving with Damien and friends. One bar night we ended up meeting 2 cool ladies (Meg and Farmer) who come to the city every weekend to perform in an off-broadway show called "5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche". These ladies were so fun and full of life. Then in this rag tag group we seemed to be wrangling up we met a guy named Quintin, he was also very rad. The 6 of us were a lik' pack for a while, rallying around to different places and ending up at a bar called Bia with a rooftop hangout section. This was a wonderful night with 3 new buddies!Here is a clip featuring our buddies Rachel Farmer and Meg Johns:
I love quiche (click me)
The last few months have been great experiences and the last few weeks have been amazing journeys with twists, turns, new friends, old friends, and odd smells :) My spice of life is going new places, doing new things, and meeting everyone I possibly can and who are open to it. Thanks to the universe for always letting it work out. Thanks to all of my friends and family for supporting my unconventional lifestyle. I dont take it for granted.
Now to a photostorm of pictures I wasn't able to post because of the slow internet in MD (and some after MD):
Stragglers from before MD:
As always, Thanks for reading!
Sprout Out!
