Baby on a Train

A tear filled goodbye on the train station platform with my friends and family. It was a bittersweet moment if there ever was one. I was glad that I was doing something, heading out toward my starting point, but torn up that I was going to be away from my loved ones or who knows how long..

The train ride down to Portland was an interesting one. In between a number of with Barbie on the way I noticed a few things that were amusing to me.

I was the last person to board so I did not exactly get my very first pick of seats on the train. I ended up next to a snarling young woman, probably Filipino, slouching in her chair balancing a tiny baby girl, all folded up like a piggy in a blanket on her lap. As the woman dozed and slept the small child stared at me with the hairy eyeball. In all seriousness this little baby had the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. Whenever I would smile at the child she would wiggle and squirm in place for a few seconds before laying still. Alternating between sleepy and wakey until settling down to sleep like her mother. The woman and the baby did not say one word to me through the entire trip to Portland. I hope they have a beautiful life together.


There was a couple across teh aisle from me. A young pretty girl was sitting next to a doughy goofy looking guy. She was talking and carrying the conversation and he sat there with a grin on his face like he had just won the lottery. He was peddling as hard as he could to keep up his end and I was rooting for him. Hoping that maybe these tow would get together. A boy and a girl meeting on a train is a romantic tale that stretches back nearly as far as this country is old. I sent him as much positive energy as possible until she used the dreaded "boyfriend" word. You could practically hear the air go whistling out of his tires in about two tenths of a second. A sad but not completely unexpected ending to a once hopeful situation.

Along Puget Sound I saw a man in a rowboat standing up, as the boat rocked under his feet, swinging his arm over his head in big sweeping shoulder waves, trying to get the attention of the passengers of the train. As soon as I leaned into the window and started to wave back he had an "Oh shit" moment as a fish took his line and bent his pole tip nearly down into the water. Barely keeping his balance the shock of catching a fish was enough to knock him nearly into the drink. Before the train passed out of sight, I managed to catch a glimpse of him regaining his balance, picking up his pole and reeling in a a shimmering silvery fish of indeterminable flavor. How cool is that? Well done sir.

At the end of the train ride I had planned on taking a bus over to Astoria. This would have included a three hour delay at the station and then another two hour ride on an old bus. But this morning my best friends in Oregon read the previous blog post and decided to meet me at the station, chauffeuring me over to Astoria, buying me dinner and getting me on my way a lot sooner than I had planned. For this I am so very grateful... Thank you!

Tomorrow I set out to see what America has to offer. I am fearful and excited at the same time. Time for bed.