Hear my train a' comin'

Currently reading: Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

I got my travel itinerary tonight! I should get my actual ticket by January 24. So my schedule is as follows:

Saturday, February 2
- 11:30 am ~ Depart from 30th St. Station, Philadelphia (Train #143)
- 1:25 pm ~ Arrive at Union Station, Washington D.C.
- 4:05 pm ~ Depart from Union Station, Washington D.C. (Train #29)

Sunday, February 3
- 8:40 am ~ Arrive in Chicago
- 2:00 pm ~ Depart from Chicago (Train #5)

Monday, February 4
- 7:15 am ~ Arrive at Union Station, Denver

I'm so excited! I've always wanted to take a cross-country train trip. Back when everyone first received their Welcome Packets, a bunch of us were sharing our travel preferences. Several people said that they were taking a plane because they just wanted to get there, they didn't want to draw it out. I'm really anxious to get to Denver, especially now that I have an itinerary, but I'm in no hurry. Everyone is going to get there on the 4th anyway, I'll take my time getting there. For breaks, I'll fly home and back just because they're each only a week long. And I can see now that taking the train will allow me a little time to explore; I've never been to Chicago and, though I know it will be cold as hell, I'd love to take a look around. I'll have to start Googling stuff now so I have a list and maps when I arrive.

I've got coach seats, but that doesn't really bother me. I'm a pro at sleeping on a bus, so a train shouldn't be very different. In fact, it should be better -- I won't have to worry about flat tires, or running out of gas, or no air conditioning, or having a bear as my driver (hehe). There's a girl from Cherry Hill, whom I found through the Denver Facebook Group, who was also planning on taking the train when we last spoke. I hope she's still planning on it and I hope we have similar itineraries, because I have about four hours to kill in Chicago. I plan on using my time in D.C. by going to the National Portrait Gallery to see Stephen Colbert's portrait hanging by the bathrooms. Hehe.

So I've finished the majority of my shopping. I've got one or two more things that I'd like to have before I go. I have yet to start packing. I'm not really ready to pack. I have a few things coming up in the two weeks before I leave, so I'm not in the mood to put things in a bag only to have to pull them out to wear, wash them and repack them. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm taking along. I've got a list. The only thing that I really have to do is make sure it all fits.

My last week of work went well (he ... alliteration). I worked doubles on last Thursday and Friday, then Saturday and Sunday nights. I made a good chunk of money for my last shifts and it's sitting in the bank now. I spent a little of it today on the necessities that I bought. I'm pretty sure there's not much left on my credit cards to pay off, so that shouldn't knock me down too much before Denver. I'm not going to be able to pay them off before I leave, but at least I'll have the money to do it when the bill arrives and my parents are writing the checks.

I also did a trial run of the pack test for the Wildfire Team (<-- geek). I put some heavy books and weights in my backpack until it was about 45-50 pounds, hoisted it on, grabbed my dog and walked a 3-mile route that I had mapped out around my neighborhood. Well, first of all, I grossly underestimated how much 45 pounds weighs. This makes me feel a little silly and a little weak. I ended up completing the route in 50 minutes. I would have to shave off five minutes from my time to qualify, minimum. I don't know if I'm going to run another test again, but I think I would be able to do it in under 45 minutes out in Denver -- one girl I spoke to said that they walk the three miles on a track. My neighborhood route is all hills, and most of them aren't gentle climbs (especially not with 45 pounds on your back). Of course, I do all of this (I bruised my back a little, I think) and I'm still not sure I'm even going to try for the Wildfire Team. So we'll see when I get there. I'll keep working out until then, but I'm not going to beat myself up over something that isn't even definite.

In other news, my dad gave me his old mp3 player ... which, incidentally, was originally my brother's mp3 player before my dad claimed ownership. So I formatted it last night and loaded my music library on to it. I'm almost thankful that I'm not a rabid downloader; my library consists only of the cds I own and I almost filled the damn thing at 5.5 GB. I'd like to add more using files that my brother has so I can make a running playlist, but I don't know how much more I would be able to fit. Still, it'll be nice to just have it along and not have to lug my cds around for the trip. Originally, I had just resigned myself to listening to the radio when I had the chance (which is not a major compromise for me) because I wasn't going to buy an mp3 player just to have the convenience for nine months. But now I'll get to have some of my music with me, so that's an unexpected perk.