Eagle Point Park, Dubuque Iowa

Woooooo-hah! It's finally here...my choo-choo vacation/Bayou Hedonism throwdown! I have been waiting so long for this time to come.

I have been planning my train ride across the bottom of the country for a damn long time (over a year, at least) and I am finally on my way. Things came together as I had hoped in that I am getting to New Orleans on frequent flier miles and riding the train for free with points I earned by being loyal to Hilton Hotels (who will let you get miles and room points.) I coulda stayed in New Orleans free too, but I felt I should spend some actual money there given their situation.

I am doing EXACTLY what I want to be doing and doing it on the cheap. When I am asked something to the effect of "where would you rather be right now?", the first thing that comes to mind is always the same: in a sleeping berth on a long train ride through places I have never been to (at least not by train) before. I am loading up almost 100% virgin rail miles to boot, hitting New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Demming, Tuscon, Yuma, Palm Springs, LA, Bakersfield, Freso, Sacto, and then sliding on into to lovely Jack London Square in Downtown Oakland. I get two full nights in my sleeping car (the best sleep in the world is had on a train rolling through the American Outback on a summer's night), but there is still plenty of sunlight to be had, so I will get to see much trackside.

I do intend on using as much of the time as possible to get caught up on this weblog, and I think I can do it. I have half of my Yuma trip to get caught up on, and then my whole trip back to see my nephews in N. Illinois & Iowa. I have a lot of discs to review as well. Then I will have this trip to add in as well. I shouldn't need to tell you that there is also a shitload of other drama to cover. To that end, I usually don't go in for superstition, but my train trips always come just ahead of major life changes for me. They always end up being a mixed bag (I still think this millennium has sucked), but there are none I would give back. I have some sense of what awaits me upon my return, and even if I am wrong, few of the irons in the fire are small. Much is going on - even if there is no evidence of it on this log of late - and I simply have to find the stones required to deal with it. In any event, there should be no shortage of things to keep us busy y'all.

To that end, I gotta get packin'. I need to travel light, but since showering is tough to pull off on the rails, I need to bring plenty of changes of clothes. I believe I can pull it off.

Next Stop: The Crescent City. Woo. Woo.