trippin' again!

I write this from on board the Amtrack Cascadia, leaving Portland and headed for Seattle where we will then transfer to a bus and wend our way up to Vancouver BC.  We're headed for another re-positioning cruise.  EXCITEMENT!  Amtrack provides free wi-fi in business class.  They have big, cushy seats that recline, and wide windows to watch the passing scene.  And oh, what pleasant scenery it is.  I just glanced out the window and saw a heron stalking along a riverbank.  It's grey and cloudy of course.  It's October in the pacific NW after all.  But the cottonwoods still hold their leaves and the heavily firred hillsides remain eternal green.  It's a cruise through the verdure, and  -- oh, -- I saw a cow!  A steer to be precise.  One of many grazing across the fence from the train, and watching our passing with perfectly adolescent ennui.  Been there.  Seen that.  Boring.  Nothing can be as bored as a young steer.

Yesterday we stopped at a local bakery (Sarah Bernhards) and collected a bag of breakfastable goods.  Glazed cake doughnuts keep well, and should sustain us for hours.  The dining car on the train does leave something to be desired.

Weeeehooo!  Another train is passing on the other track, headed the other way.  It makes me dizzy to watch.  And then, when it's gone, the sudden absence of roaring wall is a shock.  I'm having such a wonderful time!

DH has the other laptop out and is watching an old black and white creature feature from the 50s called, "Behemoth"  Something comes out of the ocean and threatens the idyllic fishing village and the pretty love interest.  I'm willing to bet that the dark and virile hero courageously overcomes the monster.  Wonder if his shirt gets torn?

Taking the train is SO much more pleasant than driving!  In a bit, I'm going to get up and walk to the bathroom.  Then I'm going to walk to the dining car and get a cup of tea. (They run the water through the coffee machine.  Bleach.  But it's hot and wet, and with enough sugar, it's palatable.

Passing a corn field.  Passing a farm house.  Passing a hay field.  Passing a slough with ducks and geese.  What a lovely way to pass the time!  Passing trucks and cars traveling on the freeway.  Ha, ha!  We're taking it easy, and you're stuck in your trucks.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness, but I want to share the rolling fun.  Now, we travel alongside the Columbia and can appreciate the clouds dragging their bellies along the ridge on the far side of the river.  Oh, it's October for sure and true.  Lazy low clouds in every shade of grey (or gray).  They swoop in over the ocean, soaking up water vapor, and hit the coast range like a barrage of sodden sponges.

OK, I'vegot a few pictures on my phone.  I will now attempt to download and display what my busy hands have been up to lately.