On the Road Again 2014 #1

"Sitting in a railroad station, got a ticket for my destination ".

How many times have I heard or sung those words - how many times have I sat in a train station (or bus station) just waiting for the train or the bus to arrive? Yet here I am once again, in the Sudbury Junction train station with a few other folks waiting for the train. The train that predictably  is once again late. But I am not complaining....it is train travel in Canada and the trains, if they were on time something would feel wrong. What is nice about today is that the four or five about-to-be-passengers waiting for the train are all chatty. Those of us who are  use to the train being late shared stories with those who were surprised at the reality. The guy working the station was very friendly and happy to throw in his two cents worth. Considering it was before 5:00 AM when we started to gather, we were all in a surprisingly good mood.  The train was an hour and forty-five minutes late and then twenty minutes at the next station (Capreo) we had to wait another 15 minutes.

The person this morning who was the happiest was my daughter. As usual she had gotten up early to drive me to the train station. But this time she was not sending me off on the train knowing that 24 hours later I would be hitching - lost some where on the great Canadian plains. This year I would be safe all the way to the west coast. She would be much happier if I always travelled this way. I forget how she worries about me and I am grateful for her concern.

As I was driving up to Sudbury yesterday I was listening to On the Road by Kerorac. Within the first chapter or two he tells of a crazy ride on the back of a flat bed. His story reminded me of one of my rides some where just north of Sudbury. It was raining and I was not having a lot of luck getting a ride. Then a 3/4 ton flat bed stopped. There was no room for me inside but on the flat bed here was a van bench seat bolted to the floor. I buckled the seats belt and off we went. My hair was whipped around and I must have looked a crazy man. But it was a great ride and I laughed all of the way.

Reading Kerorc not only gets me mood to hitchhike (although I am a much better hitchhiker than he was) but also makes me want to write. I dream of being able to write as well as he did.

In spite of my disappointment of being on the train for the next three and a half days, in spite of the fact that I know I will arrive in Vancouver feeling as if I missed something - I am happy to be on my way