Grrr

[Homicidalheathen]

This makes the 3rd important person in my life in 3 yrs to do this

sucky state

sucky economy

Spend all this time developing something special just to have it gone

[Oh_My_Goth]

Yep.....Allot of peoples I have known through the years have escaped Michigan.....

[Miranda]

It's never easy losing a confidant. We don't know what the future holds, they may be back. There are many ways to stay in touch. You just have to make the effort when they are further away. *hugs*

[Guest Megalicious]

Yep.....Allot of peoples I have known through the years have escaped Michigan.....

Does escaping to Michigan count LOL.

Sorry to here this HH. But there are fun way to keep in touch. I love to write (yes sit down and write OMG!) letters to my friends and family back home. There is something really intimate about it. I also send pictures and drawings my son has done.

Its sucks when anyone you care for is far,

[Homicidalheathen]

One good thing about this? I get places to stay in states all across the US but...can't afford the gas to go...

[taysteewonderbunny]

Yeah. I feel very fortunate. My dad moved to Denver 8 years ago. Visiting him now, thanks to economic stimulus package and great rates on Amtrak. Also, megabus is pretty cool. I highly recommend train travel. Kinder to the environment than planes, and if you plan far enough in advance, cheaper than other vehicular travel. More leg room too.

[Homicidalheathen]

Yeah. I feel very fortunate. My dad moved to Denver 8 years ago. Visiting him now, thanks to economic stimulus package and great rates on Amtrak. Also, megabus is pretty cool. I highly recommend train travel. Kinder to the environment than planes, and if you plan far enough in advance, cheaper than other vehicular travel. More leg room too.

I want to try the train...I think I would love it.

Someone I know said (guess this happens at times) they had to take a bus cause something was wrong with the track....how is the bathroom situation on a train anyway...? Can you get private cabins....? Ect...ect...

[taysteewonderbunny]

I want to try the train...I think I would love it.

Someone I know said (guess this happens at times) they had to take a bus cause something was wrong with the track....how is the bathroom situation on a train anyway...? Can you get private cabins....? Ect...ect...

The bathrooms, yeah. Little closets with hydraulic flush thingees that dump your badness right on the track. Kind of like in planes, but no blue ice phenomena. Better than the sloshee bus toilets, but still not ideal. They can smell BAD if the person behind you does not flush, but are in most cases tolerable. They get serviced several times per day. I won't pretend that I don't wish they'd improve their methods, but overall, I think it is tolerable.

The real advantages to the trains are:

1) Excellent views of the countryside. Very pretty rural and forested areas. I saw a good deal of wildlife inclusive of a great many species of bird (cranes, eagles, hawks, vultures, swallows, ducks, geese, finches), deer, domesticated grazing animals. Because trains can not take very steep grades, most tracks follow along natural riverways. It is always beautiful.

2) Not having to drive, not getting lost.

3) Being always able to move about the cabin. If someone is annoying you in your car, move to another car.

4) People are nice. For the most part, the people I've met on trains are interesting, kind, courteous. There are always a few exceptions, but they are for the most part avoidable. The gentility factor on trains is, IMO, much greater than that on other forms of public transit of which I have partaken.

5) LEG ROOM IN COACH. Seriously. I'm 5'8" and find in most other kinds of travel that my legs are perpetually cramped and forced against the chair in front of me. I have never had this problem on a train. Would like taller train riders to please comment if this holds true for them or not.

6) Surprisingly, the food in the dining car is very edible. Expensive, but edible. If you take a sleeper, the cost of all meals is included in your ticket. If riding coach, you may pay somewhere between $20 and $50 for dinner, depending on whether you believe in tipping (I definitely do), drink wine (I also do), and have a dessert (I didn't). My very rare flat iron steak, garlic mash, steamed veggies, salad, coffee and cabernet totaled $33 before tippage.

Drawbacks:

1) Sleeper cars, though available, are grossly expensive.

2) Lots of luggage is not a good idea. Yeah, they'll check it for you, but you are really better off with two small carry-on if you can manage it. I have moved twice by train (to New Orleans and back) and they have never lost my luggage, but I prefer still to know exactly where all my stuff is--I like to see it, touch it when I want. Mysterious holding caverns wrack my nerves.

3) Riding through rural areas means many periods in which no cellular signal is available.

4) They do not make announcements between 11 pm and 7 am. That's why your seat has a call button. It is the only way to find out what is going on.

5) Disadvantage to smokers--most trains are non-smoking with very few exceptions. Conductors are generally very courteous about providing information on available smoke stops, but if the train is running behind (usually b/c of heavy freight traffic), these stops become more scarce.

Now that you know, check it out. You might like.

[Homicidalheathen]

thanks!

[taysteewonderbunny]

thanks!

welkies!