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Published: September 24th 2019
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Union Station, Chicago We woke up to a beautiful day in Chicago, clear, dry and comfortably warm. And it was pouring when we went to bed last night. It must be somewhat fitting for a couple Seattleites to begin our third week of this epic vacation with a rainy day. Everything had dried out by this morning, though, so it was just another fun memory in our book.
We took it easy at breakfast and took our time checking out. Our train left Chicago on time at 2:00 pm, so there was really no hurry. We spent 2 1/2 hours in the station waiting area enjoying the crying, singing and just plain noisy children and crowds, all drowning out the un-understandable PA announcements. Our time at the station was much better this time, though, because we had some experience with the way things worked. And we settled into very nice seats on the shady side of the upper deck for our ride to Sacramento.
The Amtrak station in Chicago is supposed to be something really special, but until today, we had never seen that part in the crush to get somewhere comfortable. Today's Uber driver changed all that, and Union Station really is magnificent.
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Illinois sky It is beautiful and spacious and huge. It's only when you get down to where the trains are that things get crowded and harried. It might even be worth taking the time to explore the station sometime.
At the moment, we are traveling through Iowa, on our way to Ottumwa as the sun sets on a pretty blue sky with more puffy white clouds. It really is a wonderful way to travel.
We rode though more plains farmland knowing when we were looking at corn crops and knowing when we were looking at some other kind of crop, but having no idea what. But it is so beautiful in its way, and it's such a joy to see its constantly changing beauty. Then there are the small to huge stands of trees, the farm buildings, and the small homes scattered here and there, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Right now, we're riding on a stretch of track that I don't think has curved for miles, and our Life360 tattletale tells me Natalie is driving at 80 mph.
When we travel through a tiny group of homes, with maybe a stoplight of two, we wonder why they settled and built
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Plains, hills and trees there. Then we enter a slightly bigger town and count the churches or wonder about the solidly built brick buildings the appear to be abandoned and wonder why. So many stories with no answers, but such a nice experience to see and speculate.
Just this morning, as we think about our return trips, Natalie and I were talking about our trip so far. We both brought books to read and projects to do while the scenery is dull or not visible due to darkness. Neither of us has accomplished much of anything on our projects and she was feeling a bit down about her failure to do her studies. But we both realize the scenery is just too fascinating to ignore. Of course, she did finish crocheting a baby sweater for our grand-nephew, and has almost finished another, so it's not like she wasted all the time.
Sunsets on the plains can be incredible, and we've been able to enjoy a few now. Mighty nice.
It will be dark through the rest of Iowa, all of Nebraska, and part of Colorado. But our ride tomorrow through the Colorado Rockies should be something special.
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