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<\/a><\/p>\nI did a coast to coast trip in a car when I was nineteen and we did cross the Mississippi on Interstate 40 in Tennessee. \u00a0Old Man River is a lot broader there, so it was a bit of a shock to see it when it is much further North, and a young and sprightly thing. \u00a0Still, there’s something kind of mystical about crossing the US and crossing the Mississippi, and we both were kind of quiet as we were doing so, wrapped in Thoughts.<\/p>\n
At dinner last night we met an Aussie couple who were pretty much doing America by train. \u00a0He was a doctor. \u00a0I don’t recall what she did, but when they found out we had both worked for a hospital, there was a lively discussion about medical care in our two countries. \u00a0I get the impression that Hogwarts-St. Mungos is a bit fancier than the hospital he worked at.<\/p>\n
Breakfast was with a couple of people who I think met on the train — a Chinese political science student who was studying in LA and wanted to move to Georgetown to finish up, and a young man who was a professional video game coach.\u00a0 He started as a developer, became a QA tester, and then went on to this career I had no idea existed.\u00a0 I admitted I liked puzzle adventure games over first person shooters, so wasn’t a “real gamer” and he rolled his eyes, disdaining the qualification.\u00a0 It was fun talking to them.<\/p>\n
We got off the train in Denver to walk around the station a little, but it wasn’t a long enough stop to do more than stretch our legs and look around. I guess that may need to be on our List of Cities to visit (I think Peter and I may need to buy a small RV…)<\/p>\n
So, west of Denver.<\/p>\n You know how people go on about the scenery?\u00a0 They wax poetic and take pictures and they think they’re giving an impression of what the country looks like, and I’m here to tell you, they’re stinking lies.<\/p>\n Pictures and words simply do not do the majesty and beauty justice.\u00a0 I’m a writer and teacher.\u00a0 I make my living trying to get concepts across in any way I can.\u00a0 So, teacher mode kicks in and says, if you can take the trip, do it.\u00a0 You can get a general idea and taste from blogs and good photography (sorry, I’m a crap photographer), but I cannot urge you strongly enough to get the experience<\/strong> if you can.<\/p>\n You hear people say, “It’s about the journey, not the destination.”\u00a0 For the most part, I tend to be a goal-oriented person.\u00a0 So it might seem strange that this is an important idea to me. This trip is very much about that.\u00a0 Partially, it’s about seeing my own country, something not every American is fortunate enough to do, but also it’s about meeting different people.<\/p>\n We had lunch with a couple from Chicago who were on an anniversary trip to Reno.\u00a0 They often travel by train, and had bought a book outlining the train route and points of interest along our route.\u00a0 We saw a bald eagle during lunch, which was cool.<\/p>\n We also found out there is an interesting custom along the Colorado River.\u00a0 At a certain spot,\u00a0people will wait with \u00a0breathless anticipation to see the California Zephyr go by, and with great solemnity, drop their drawers and\u00a0moon the train.\u00a0 A less impressive collection of male backsides is seldom displayed, but hey, it cracked the dining car up, so why not? \u00a0I kind of wish my grandmother and grandfather had been traveling with us at that point. \u00a0My grandmother would have thought it was hilarious, and my grandfather would have been entertainingly horrified. \u00a0It would have provided hours of conversation fodder.<\/p>\n We had genuinely planned to get a lot of reading, knitting and drawing done during our trip West. \u00a0We didn’t. \u00a0We were simply too captivated by what was right outside our window to do anything but drink it in.<\/p>\n![\"IMG_20160808_071851793_HDR\"](\"http:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160808_071851793_HDR-1024x576.jpg\")
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