It's a long way to the pacific ...

This is definitely last minute. A few hours to board the train and here comes my pre-journey write-up. However, if that makes you think that I was not preparing for trip, you are grossly mistaken. The map of the route, essential to-do lists for the train, the games, the food, the books, the direction printouts, the reviews of the salient points are all ready to accompany me on this would-be memorable trip. Train journeys, as I think of those in general in India, are anything but relaxing. Those who have been on the local and even not-so-local trains know what I mean. If you don’t, I will explain another day. That is a story in itself. However, I have been lucky to be on a few long distance train rides which were really pleasing. So I had a taste that train travel can be fun given a comfortable seating and an enjoyable company. However, this is much more than that.

We are going to take the California Zephyr, a 52 hour journey from Chicago to San Francisco. San Francisco is a great city in itself. But here, it is the road that leads there matters more than the destination itself. We will pass through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Neveda, follow the Colorado River as it grows from a narrow spring to a more formidable river, pass through long tunnels and finally cruise along the pacific coast. If that doesn’t sound exciting to you, I don’t know what will!

When I told my roommate of this plan, he asked,”Are you crazy?” Well, I guess crazy I am. Not because I am taking this long journey but because yesterday I hunted the public library to find the only book I found online which deals with this particular journey titled “Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America” and also because today I am penning this write-up down just four hours before the train departs Chicago and my bags are still not packed.