I don't travel by itinerary. 

If you said, "Let's go to Paris," I'd grab an overnight bag and my passport and would meet you at the airport. When I walked across England with Kelly M, I was in the hands of an accomplished explorer -- his publishing business was The Intrepid Traveler and he was already a member of the Century Club (100+ countries visited and counting). When I walked Cinque Terre with Stephen L, I was also in the hands of an accomplished tour guide. In both those cases, all I had to do was show up. 

I also don't travel as a sightseer.

Virtually all my vacations and personal adventures involve doing, not looking. In 2003 I took a few months and drove around the US and Canada. On more than one occasion I would arrive at a famous landmark and find myself thinking, "Gee, it looks just like the pictures." I believe in the saying I saw on a T-shirt once in Napa, CA: "Bad Decisions Make Good Stories." I am a Master of Both.

But in order to sit/sleep/ride by myself aboard an Amtrak train for three days and nights, I needed to put aside both those habits and figure out some kind of plan. Like what to pack for food and snacks. What to download to read and play. When to head to the observation car for the pretty parts. In short, at the suggestion of OJ (H, not Simpson) I had to turn lemons into lemonade.

All Aboard, Amtrak

Over the next seven days, I plan to fill this blog/journal/diary with all of it. Good and bad. I hope you'll find it engaging, enjoyable and vicariously entertaining. If any of you have actually done this trip and want to share your advice or suggestion or insight, by all means post it in the comments. And now, in the words of the late, great Richie Havens, "All Aboard, Amtrak." (A great, sung tagline in service of a truly mediocre product.)