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Published: December 24th 2008
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I got up and left pretty early in the morning to go back to Union Station to catch the train to Cary, NC. It was quite sad heading out of DC so soon but I was bounce-up-and-down-on-the-seat excited to get to see my friends in North Carolina again. I got some food and actually met the only miserable person I had encountered the whole time in DC. She asked me for my ID while I was buying water and chips in a store in the station and proceeded to rant about the UK not accepting US driver’s licences as proof of ID. I was actually a mixture of hurt and really annoyed by her and wanted badly to point out that it would be a long conversation if we held each other accountable for all of the mistakes our governments’ had made. I went and sat at the gate for my train and ended up talking to one woman who wanted me to show her how to knit so that took up a bit of time and then I talked to a couple of other people while I was getting to the train. It was completely packed, mainly because it was
people heading back from seeing their families after Thanksgiving. I found a seat sitting next to a very nice lady who got off about two hours into the journey and another wonderful woman sat next to me. We proceeded to gossip for the entire rest of the journey. She was very good natured, and had a lot of wisdom to dispense.
The first few days in NC were really exciting because my friend was directing an amazing newly devised show which was great to be able to see. Then I went to see my friend, Louis, from the UK who was studying at UNC for a semester and then the next day he let me stay overnight so I got to meet some of his friends and his lovely flatmates which was great. It was a pretty good week, all in all. My friend’s mum was having her (famous) holiday party just before I left so there were multiple shopping trips hunting for themed items and then a manic dress-making session towards the end! All stupidly good fun. The last four or five days I spent in NC were amazing; my friend’s eldest sister had organised a cultural day at
the school where she teaches which we were able to go to - it was all really impressive and some of the kids were outstanding. The next day was the epic Christmas party which was great and everyone seemed to have a brilliant time. As you may be able to tell the trip to North Carolina was just a whole string of superlatives tied together. The day after the party I spent with my friend’s other sister who is one of my favourite people in the world, we had good food and walked around the beautiful land near their house. Such a brilliant day. The last day that I spent in NC was the best of the whole trip and I’ve not had so much fun in ages. We went to the beach, had an unexpected and wonderful drive and got to see a cracking movie.
The end of the evening, or rather early the next morning I was told that the end of my trip was far too boring…so we started looking at alternatives and eventually decided upon the 15 day Amtrak rail pass. So rather than going straight to Chicago from New Orleans I am getting a 48hr train to Los Angeles. I spent New Years Eve in LA and then get another train to Portland where I unfortunately only have one day and then I get on a train to Seattle where I will be spending a couple of days with one of my dearest friends who I thought I would not be able to see, so that’s pretty great. When I leave her I am going to get on a train for another two days to get to Chicago going right across the top border of America. I am spending two nights in Chicago where the only real plan is to see the Art Institute. After Chicago I am going to Toronto which will be even more special because I will get to see some of my Mum’s family that I have never met before. I am staying for two nights in Toronto and then the last leg of my journey is a twelve hour train back to New York where I arrive at 9.30pm on the 12th January. So quite a different trip and by the time I have finished, if all goes to plan, I will have circumnavigated the USA…
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