I’m just gong to say this right up front. Don’t look for any profound insights as you read along. I’m on vacation, riding the Amtrak rails to NY for Thanksgiving. So here are some random thoughts as we ride along. 

The sunrise… I can’t say that is was spectacular. I’ve seen better. We’re sitting on the ‘sunrise side of the train. The sun oozed its way through a thin layer of fleecy clouds, getting the job done in its not-to-flashy way this morning. A new day.

The train bathrooms… We got on the train at midnight plus thirty minutes, plunked down in our assigned seats, constructed our nest and went to sleep. My first experience with the Amtrak bathrooms was this morning. What would I find? I was pleasantly surprised. The space was neat, relatively clean. Apparently, my traveling companions adhere to the philosophy of leaving things better for the next guy.

Vineyards... A lot of the view from the train window is of the backsides of towns that you travel through. I guess the folks that build the big, nice houses choose to build far away from the ‘wrong side of the tracks.’ However, this morning as we chugged through a bit of Pennsylvania, we were in the middle of rows and rows of vineyards. Bare vines twining along their supporting wires, resting, taking the winter off, before getting back to the business of bearing fruit. A vacation of sorts for them, I guess.

The car attendant… Here’s my only encounter with the car attendant. As she was bustling up the aisle one of the passengers asked her for some attending. The attendant put her off momentarily with, “I need to be where I am first…” Hmmmmm… aren’t you always where you are? I guess what’s important is what you do with the opportunities you have when you are there.

Free coffee…? Yep, no questions asked.

Why NY…? Since the time my Mom couldn’t travel because of age and health, we’ve spent every Thanksgiving at our house. The family that could trekked to our house. Always a good time. My mom passed away last June, an eternal Thanksgiving for her, you might say. So, we are venturing off….

Thanksgiving…. I will be looking around the table later today and quietly thanking God for the people ‘where I am’ and thanking him also for the others ‘where I am not.’

Final destination….. We’ll be arriving at our stop soon. The nest has been dismantled and we’re ready to go. I don’t know exactly what the plans are for our time there, but I’m sure it will be great.