For a long time now, I’ve wanted to cross America in something other than an airplane. The only catch was, the idea of all that time stuck behind the wheel of my car did not sound all that appealing.
Well, I got inspired by this recent NY Times article and my plans are now made. I’ll be crossing the USA on a train in the not too distant future. Here’s what did it for me:
It’s still possible to travel 3,585 miles across the United States without being the target of billboards, golden arches or absurdly large twine balls. The rails offer a view onto Unbranded America — the land as it was.
How often do you get a chance to see that anymore? Sign me up.
I’ve got extra memory cards for the camera and a new lens is on order, slated to arrive before I depart, so I expect I’ll have plenty of raw materials to load into Lightroom and Photoshop. The only drawback is there’s no Internet access on the train, so I’ll have to make do with my Blackberry and hope that AT&T doesn’t completely crap out on me while winding through “flyover country”.
Yay!! I’m going to follow this religiously 🙂
Rachel, I would really like to do that. What route? How long will you take? Are you planning to stop anywhere?
If you can make the detour to Michigan, we would be love to have you stop by!
I’ll have a 4-hour layover in Chicago….
will you be in REAL flyover country, i.e. Indy? I suspect not but if so, let me know!!!
Sounds like a great trip! If you have a layover in Denver me and my wife would be happy to treat you to dinner.
At about age eight my parents drove from northern Illinois to Califonia, Yosimite, down to LA via Route 1 and back to Illinois by the southern route. Took a month. The best time was the five days camping on the floor of Yosimite. There were no Interstates.