Train rides

I spent the last 3 weeks out in Ohio taking care of my sister. She had to have neck fusion surgery where they went in and fused 4 vertabrea. I was told a week before the surgery that this was happening and I had told her when she first thought she was going to have it done that I would come out and help her. So that's what I did for her. I dropped everything that I had planned and went out to help her. That's what sister are supposed to do for each other..........Help.
I'm not going to say it was an easy thing to do because it wasn't. I don't travel well because of not being able to move around a lot on a swaying train. I can get up and walk to the bathroom or go to the dining car but it's not easy. When I get off the train I'm stiff and sore and all I want to do is sleep for 24 hours. I leave here at 12:55 in the afternoon and don't get there till 5:55 the next morning. It a long ride to just sit and for some reason I can't seem to sleep overnight on the train. I do try but I can't get comfortable enough to actually sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. This time out I was able to sleep for about 5 hours so I wasn't quite as wiped as I usually am when I get to OH. Of course this time out we had a lot of slow downs and ended up not getting into Toledo till 11:30 in the morning which is almost 6 hours behind schedule. There was a lot of rain and flash flood warnings which necessitated the train slowing down to 15 miles an hour which means we were basically going 1/4 of the speed we normally go at. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the Cleveland station from Toledo and going out it took 3 hours to get to the next station. It was a real long ride because of the delays from rain. Rain is a good thing but not when I travel.

Coming back there were no delays which was nice. I also slept more coming back than I did going out. I had a seatmate who spent quite a bit of time in the cafe' car which left the seat next to me open for anyone else to sit in and I had to tell a few people that the seat was taken and it didn't go over well with some of them. The train was crowded as it was and a lot of people ended up in the cafe' car just to have a place to sit. It got better as we came east and by the time we got past Albany there were a lot more seats for people who got on. My seat mate was a very large man, not that I'm a small woman, and we kept bumping elbows at times when he was sitting in the seat. He ended up getting off in Pittsfield and someone got on in Springfield and sat with me to Worcester. We both got off there. I enjoyed sitting with my first seatmate and talking. I even went with him to the cafe' car and got us both coffee. He is an attorney and it was great to talk to him about everything. There was also a woman, who got on in Cleveland, with 3 children sitting behind me. Seven year old twin boys and an eleven month old girl. The little girl couldn't go to sleep and at time her screaming kept a lot of people awake in our car. I heard a lot of people complaining about her but it wasn't the little ones fault she was tired and couldn't go to sleep. The twins had a lot of things to keep them quiet and you didn't even know they were there most of the time. I felt bad for the poor mother. She tried everything she could to make Elle quiet but not much worked. All in all I can't fault her for her mothering, she is a great mother who was making the best of a bad situation. God bless her. The kids are real cute and maybe I'll see them again. She had a long trip with no help and I felt for her. What she needed when she got off the train was about 24 hours with no children and unfortunately she wasn't going to get that. I wish her well while she's here in MA.

I have to make this trip again in 3 weeks. I'm going back out to OH to help my sister again. She is in dire need of someone who can cart her around. She can find someone to take her to her doctors appointments but just to go out to go out is something she won't have access to. I needed to come home to spend some time with the cats and take care of things here at my house so I came home. I told her I had to be here through the third of the month but would come back out after that and stay for another 2 weeks. That will make it a few days short of 8 weeks since her surgery and by that time she will be able to drive herself around. I'm sure she will be happy when she gets that OK from the doctor. Right now she doesn't have much help around the house either. Her husband tries but she's so particular about how she wants things done that no one can get things done the way she wants them done. I give them both credit for making their marriage work for as long as they have. I hope and pray they keep going. It takes communication and both of them need to get better at it. I can see they are trying.

I hope my next trip out I can bring a pillow with me. I also need to see if I can find the pocket blanket to cover up with as the train cars can get real cold. I'm also going out with one empty or almost empty suitcase because my sister has said we are going to go through her fall cloths and I'm getting a bunch to bring home with me. I can't wait. Every time I go out I come home with an almost completely new wardrobe. It's nice to have new cloths even if they are only new to me. I also want to see if I can get another pair of shoes soon as winter is coming and I'm going to need them. I should get some boots but I'll have to see how things go. Maybe I can talk my sister into getting them for me.

I'm also trying to talk my oldest son into coming out with me. He can probably go to Indiana to visit his cousin and spend some time with him. I hope he will decided to travel with me and we can sit together during the trip. I can always send him to the cafe' car to be able to stretch out or I can go there to let him stretch out. I pray he will come with me. He only has a few days to decide and I hop he comes.

Well that's what happened on the train out and back and my plans for a coming trip. I hope someone reads this so I don't feel like I'm writing this to myself.