After several days of getting ready to go, with the virtually endless help of my darling Becky, I departed Los Angeles on the evening of May 5 -- only to be stalled barely four hours later, when the train hit an abandoned truck! I still have no idea why there was a truck on the tracks, though at the time I theorized perhaps it was "stupid terrorists" or "inconvenienceists." Whatever the reason, we were stopped dead for several hours.
The delays kept mounting, thanks in part (apparently) to asinine rules that cause Amtrak trains to lose their right-of-way versus freight trains once they are running late -- thus virtually guaranteeing a domino effect of delays. No wonder Amtrak loses money!
But I didn't mind; in fact, I had a great time! The delay-plagued Sunset Limited was definitely the most memorable and enjoyable leg of my trip. I saw lots of beautiful sights, made many wonderful memories, and met a bunch of great friends (see "cast of characters," right).
After a day in New Orleans in which I toured the French Quarter, visited a Voodoo Museum and took a Mississippi River steamboat ride, I boarded the Crescent from New Orleans to Washington, D.C., and then the Acela Regional from D.C. to Hartford. Those trains weren't as social, so I didn't make quite as many memories, but I certainly saw lots of beautiful views along the way.
Throughout my trip, I used my cell phone to post live updates to this website with the latest news from the train tracks. Click here to read those updates!
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