All Aboard!

But first, a few hours to kill near the station. No wi-fi available for me to download Dr E's health tip for editing, so we walk to the Fullerton, CA, library. I love libraries (and I'm blistering mad Rahm Emanuel closed our libraries on Mondays. Uh, what about that TIF reform?)

Big thanks here to the people I work with--best colleagues in the world--for rolling with our month-long trip, sometimes connected, often not. If you're in Chicago and need some good doctoring, WholeHealth Chicago has it, from David Edelberg, MD, to Paul Rubin, DC, and everything (acupuncture, nutrition, herbs, homeopathy) in between.

Back at the train station, the call is made for the Southwest Chief to Chicago. "All aboard!" the announcer says, and a family on the platform echoes "All aboard! They really say it!" Train travel is fun.

Here's Angee, our sleeping car attendant. "I've been expecting you--welcome," she said as we boarded. How nice is that? This, friends, if why we travel via Amtrak. I could snark endlessly about the airlines, but suffice it to say nobody has ever said those words to me in an airport. Amtrak employees are almost uniformly friendly and capable.

This photo was taken at a later stop, with Angee showing off her upper body strength from pulling down and pushing up all those upper berths. She took very good care of us.

I'm ready to settle in with my book...

...but the dining car beckons, with tablemates Tom and Carol, he a former Lt Colonel in the Marines and now a car salesman. Carol's got a gig at Kohl's, and we enjoyed the conversation. They'll disembark in Kansas tomorrow night at 3 am. Yikes.