first stop

Once we were underway, we truly were under way.  WAY UNDER.

First stop?

La Puente, California

Seriously, Mr. Amtrak????

Thank Goodness we didn't stop at Big Booty Beths.  Although it was 12:06 AM.  I'm sure things were hoppin' there.

In the light of day, La Puente offered a variety of sights.

And not just La Puente.  We were graced by all of this beautiful artwork at several stops along the way.

Ya' know?  America just ain't what it used to be.

Or maybe it is.

I preferred sights like these ... as monotonous as they were.

It wasn't particularly monotonous, though, once the rain started.

Lightning on a train is fun, too.

We passed a few little towns.

We saw a few little towns get rained on.

We even got to get off the train at a couple of different spots.  I'd like to say that that was fun (I was picturing fabulous little gift shops to welcome all of us to that town ...) but usually the stops were desolate and really just let a few more passengers onto our train.

The "rest stops" did give me a chance to actually see the vessel we were traveling in ...

That's Joe.  He was our conductor for part of the trip.

Yes, there really are conductors in each car.

This was scary.  Crossing from train car to train car, while the train is in motion ... is an art.

See?  No gift shop to greet us when we stopped.   You were welcome to buy some bag tags, though.

I didn't need any.  Otherwise ...

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Here was my favorite car.  It's not so exciting from the outside.  Come to think of it, it's not so exciting from the inside, either.

It sure was a long train.

This is Julia.  She was my favorite passenger on the entire train.  

My.  Absolute.  Favorite.

Sorry, Elizabeth.

And before we knew it (not really ... we were counting the minutes) we were in Ft. Worth, with just a hop, skip and a jump more to go.

Dallas was our ultimate destination.  Well, Frisco was.  But the train didn't go that far.  So, Dallas was.

So, was it everything I'd hoped it would be.

More.  Oh was it more.  So much more.

And ya' know those bucket lists?  NOT ALL THEY'RE CRACKED UP TO BE.  Remind me not to go skydiving.

Remind me not to take a raft over Niagara Falls, too.

Never mind, no one has to remind me.

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