On a train bound for nowhere

hehehe, get it? Yeah Kenny Rogers! That one was for you grandma!

I am on the train right now from Toronto to Ottawa. No Wi-Fi though. Sad times. It’s broken. But oh well. It’s only another four hours or so until I get to Ottawa. I’ll worry about it then. I really only wanted to mess around on Facebook anyways.

So far, this trip has been amazing. I am so happy that I decided to take the train from Saskatoon to Ottawa. Yes, it was a lot more expensive than flying, and took a lot longer, but by and large I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much more than if I had been in a stuffy airplane or bus. Being able to walk around, to unpack and repack my bag(a few times actually. I’m obsessed!), and meet some. . . colourful characters.

As I noted on the previous post, I just couldn’t get to sleep. It don’t matter that I had not slept for over 24 hours. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t fall asleep. In hindsight, it’s probably a good thing.

After enjoying Mom’s homemade chili that I stole before I left(she had made it for the Grey Cup), I was forced to change seats. Not sure why, but whatevers. The guy sitting across from me became a pretty good converser, even if he was a little. . . off.

Claude, that was his name. Great guy, heavy into the new age stuff. He had a ton of documentaries on his computer ranging from the mystery of water(including how different religious prayers can actually change the shape of the crystals in frozen water), one documentary on Hugo Chavez, and one on “the self” and how the earth can be seen as having a consciousness. He also had some interesting views on government and such. What can I say, he helped pass the time.

My good friend John had told me to splurge on supper on the train at least once. I did. . . both nights. The first night I joined Claude and some older gent going to Winnipeg. I had the Salmon. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Seriously, for the price, you get what you paid for, and more. The moment I saw the meal I knew I was going to come back the next night. An equivalent meal in Saskatoon would easily run over $20. This was less. Booya!

I slept like a baby. Literally just crashed across my seats and just went out like a light. I wasn’t up until 10am the next morning. I spent most of the day up in the viewing car, watching the amazing scenery go by and reading the book I chose to take with me¹. This makes the trip completely worthwhile in my mind. Even taking the bus you don’t get to see views like this. Most of Monday, from when I woke up briefly at the first call for Breakfast, to when I went to sleep at Midnight, was spent completely in the Canadian Shield, surrounded completely by pine forests and lakes. Only when we pulled into a tiny town did I see any sort of vehicle or road.

Supper Monday night was an experience in itself. I went with Paula, a woman from Ireland in the last few days of her six month long RTW trip. We got seated with a couple on their way home to Hamilton after visiting their son and his family. After learning of Paula’s coming end of her trip, and the start of mine, Fred and Marie-Ellen immediately bought two bottles of chardonnay for us to share. And you know me, I am not one to pass up free booze. We literally closed the dining car as we were the last table to leave. The staff had already finished setting up for breakfast the next morning already and were enjoying their dinner when we finally finished our tea and wine.

That is what traveling is all about. Meeting people and enjoying the generosity of complete strangers.

1. Oh, and Mr.Gormley, as much as I love the book thus far, I only need to say one thing. I’m a gay man that doesn’t like Judy Garland, Cher, and Liza Minelli. So there!