When I was about 14, at that awkward stage of part tomboy/very little young lady/and probably a lot of attitude, my parents sent me home from Stanley, ND by train. My memories of that trip are of high adventure and a bit of trauma. Of losing my pillow, of longing to eat in the dining car (no doubt I finished off Aunt Dorothy's fried chicken in the first hour), of a drunk stinking and snoring beside me, of amazing views and a somewhat frightening bus ride to switch trains in Seattle. Stuff memories are made of.
Years later, the rails beckoned me again and I made several trips on the Coast Starlight with some of my kids. Telina and Alyssa accompanied me to Oakland, CA to visit brother Corrie. Jarret and Naaman traveled along when we took the line as far as it would go and then were shuttled to the Mexican border for a walk-across. When Naaman and Alyssa were a little older, we again journeyed south. This time, to San Luis Obispo (because I loved the name of the town) where we toured some interesting missions.
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| Telina and Alyssa, waiting for the southbound Coast Starlight - 1998 |
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| Alyssa, just relaxing on the Coast Starlight - 1998 |
From 2001 to 2007 I traveled to India. Sometimes on trips I was alone and on others I was accompanied by family or friends. Many times we traveled south by train from Orissa to Andhra Pradesh. One trip was especially memorable because, while there were six of us, our host neglected to mention that they were only able to secure one bunk for the 18 hour trip. Thanks to the generosity of total strangers, we had a few places to stow our luggage and curl up for the night. A woman shared the end of her bunk with me, so I slept sitting upright, hardly daring to snooze, lest I topple over onto her slumbering form. By morning we had secured a little more space and Brandon, Telina, Naaman and Alyssa had made fast friends and were engaged in a homemade bingo game with some enthusiastic Indian kids.
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| Naaman, Alyssa and Brandon sharing a top bunk on an Indian train |
