Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...

I Love to travel! Any little excuse to get out on the road and I'm there...So, when my friend Lisa asked if I would help her move to Oregon by following the moving van in her car, of course the answer was YES! As we hit the open road Friday after noon, I was excited for the sights and sounds of road trippin'! However, over the two days the view really didn't change. I found the large blue butt of a Budget Moving Truck always in sight. There is a benefit...I never lost her in a crowd!
After unloading the big blue beast and having some fun on the Oregon Coast, it was time to come home. Although that time always seems to come too soon, I was looking forward to the trip...I was taking the Train! I'd traveled by train from France to Italy, but I never considered it as a mode of travel in the United States, however, with gas prices rising planes are taking ticket prices into the sky with them...enter the train! The brochure makes some good points: plenty of leg room, large windows to see the scenery as you meander along the tracks, the ability to get up and walk around and use your cell phone while the train is in motion. There is one major draw back...IT TAKES SO DAMN LONG! It took 18 hours to get from Salem, OR to Sacramento CA. Perhaps if I'd been in the company of a good friend or a good book I may have found it quite enjoyable. Instead, as I tossed and turned alone in the dark with a dying ipod, I just kept thinking I could have flown across the country TWICE in the time it's taking me to get down the coast...and I still had another 18 hour train ride a head of me. I had almost convinced myself that the ride would be beneficial...uninterrupted pondering and planning time. As I walked into the train station to await this peaceful travel time, almost was not good enough. Unlike an airport, train stations are cold and unwelcoming...large cold rooms with hard wooden benches. As I looked around at the pigeons wandering the floor the thoughts of time for peaceful pondering were shattered by the reality of 5 hours in this cold brick room. I couldn't do it! I was going to gouge my eyes out with some sort of blunt object. Then I saw it....HERTZ rental car! After a few quick phone calls and forking over quadruple the cost of the train ticket I was free! Out on the open road in a 2008 Buick LaCrosse. I enjoyed the picturesque scenery with tunes that stand the test of time filling the climate controlled leather interior. Freedom! And a bonus...I made it to Provo by 7:30 that night--10 hours before the train.