Empire Builder: The People and Places

6/9/09

Last night while I was eating dinner by myself, a guy about my age came and sat down across from me with a can of miller lite and just looked at me without saying a word. He was wearing a big cowboy hat and boots as if he just got off a ranch. I introduced myself and started talking with him. He was a construction worker and when the "bossman" told him business was going to be slow for the next few weeks caught the first train to Spokane, WA. He has live in all but 14 of the united states and has picked up a little bit of an accent from each. This combined with a slight lisp gave him one of the most unique accents I've ever heard. We talked for a while about where i would begin (Astoria) my trip. He had lived nearby and gave me a discount card of a local restaurant called The Lighthouse. He handed it to me and looked me in the eyes as he said "there's a waitress there...Real attractive!" After talking for a little more than an hour, I went back to my seat to try and sleep. 10 minutes after falling asleep, the stewardess shook my shoulder and said, "he's gonna be your new seat-mate" looking at a guy standing next to her.
He was a 23 year old traveling around the country by bus and train after recently being laid off from his job as a grass roots organizer. He worked to educate students and organize them against nuclear research. I found the idea of a grass roots organizer getting laid off and giving up to be somewhat ironic. He told me about conspiracy theories dealing with Denver International Airport, his being a vegetarian simply to prove he didn't have to eat meat, and how he was the last of his friends to get his first cell phone and facebook account. The first time I pulled out my phone he looked at it and said "oh you have one of those new future phone, huh? How would you ever get along without it?" I just laughed and said "yeah".
I didn't sleep well last night. The car was freezing and all I have on is a t shirt and shorts. I woke up around 3 after going to bed around 1. I watched the full moon dip in and out of the clouds until about 4 when I went back to sleep.
I got up at 5:30 with the sunrise and went to the lower level of the train where there is a single aisle with bathroom doors on either side. As I walked down the stairs and turned the corner into the aisle, I see a young Amish couple kissing...found 'em! Caught totally off guard, all three of us freeze. They separate to let me through and she puts her head down smirking and he avoids eye contact as well. Without hesitation I look at both of them and recite one of my favorite movie quotes to perfection, "big gulps huh?... Welp...see ya later!" And walk past into a bathroom stall. The reaction was easily the most awkward and confused look I have ever received from anyone. They must have thought something was seriously wrong with me. They most likely had no idea I was quoting Dumb and Dumber or what a big gulp was. I entertained myself the rest of the morning by coming up with ideas of what I would say if I were to find myself in a conversation with an Amish person: Nice threads, is that shirt polo? You look just like the girl from sex in the city! If you need to look anything up I have internet on my phone. Great turban! (while pointing to her bonnet). Though I would probably never say any of these to someone, I was a nice break from my book.
This was not my last meeting with the couple though. Later in the day I spotted the two of them walking through the car. To avoid eye contact I grabbed my water bottle and took a drink while looking at the ground as they walked past. Just as I was about to swallow I saw that he was wearing Reebok's...I immediate choked on the water spitting it everywhere as I could not hold back the laughter! Reebok...the latest in menonite fashion! Forget retro! I want colonial!...I want Reebok!
The scenery in North Dakota and Montana is similar to Nebraska or Eastern Colorado but with fewer houses and towns. At our house last year in college, (man that's strange!) we used to say that our fridge was where vegetables went to die. Montana is where cars go to die. Rusty broken down cars in yards outnumber houses 37 to 1 in Montana.
Glacier NP and the Rocky Mountains are a welcome and beautiful change of scenery. I can't wait to go back and spend some time hiking around that park. I was disappointed that the train didn't do switchbacks up the mountains as I had heard...sorry Mike the conductor didn't even know what I was talking about.
Next stop Portland and not a minute too soon, after walking into the coach car from the dining car you get punched in the nose by the scent of 40 some people sitting in the same car for two days...smells like class! Seriously this car has got da funk!!! As I sit here writing, a women just sat beside me (I am in the window seat) with her infant child and proceeded to start breast feeding...time to get off of the train!

-Marcus