On the Road 2011 #6

I don't know if anyone any size actually sleeps well on the train ( a bus is even worse as is a plane), but I had both seats to myself, the train was dark and quiet and so I deeply dozed for much of the night. I would wake up, realize it was still night and fall back to sleep.Not exactly restful but then I had cat napped throughout much of the previous day, so I did not need much sleep. When one wakes in the morning and sees other going through the same motions, there is a sense of belonging to the same club - the we slept on the train club - or the who needs a berth to survive club?

It is always interesting to see the changes in the landscape. Over night we had gone from a thick primarily conifer forest with brief glimpses of lakes between the trees, beaver meadows ( I don't care if they are our national animal or not, they are destructive little buggers flooding acres of land. At one point the day before we had passed, in the middle of nowhere two gasoline pumps running full bore trying to prevent the tracks from being flooded out) and desolate stretches of track to mixed forest and open fields. The view is much less claustrophobic and of course for me a pleasant harbinger of the Prairies and points west.

I had been surprised to hear one of the conductors/attendants announce the night before that people should not plan on having breakfast on the train as there were much better breakfasts to be had in Winnipeg for $3.99. It struck me that his bosses might not have been pleased at this lost opportunities to make more money off  of the passengers. I was even more surprised in the morning to hear over the PA that the train was arriving 45 minutes early. Which was great except for the fact that we couldn't get off as there was no one on the platform to receive us! So we sat there for 40 minutes until the morning shift came on. I took the opportunity to go back to the next car and wish my friends good luck and pleasant trails.

I was almost the first off the train, went to the baggage area, reclaimed my pack and sorted out my belongs. I slipped on my walking shoes buckled all of the straps so nothing tangled (I hate a messy looking pack and it can make things awkward getting on and off buses and in and out of cars or trucks). It was just after 8:00 n a Saturday morning and I was heading west.