Epic Train Time

"cabarne4" (cabarne4) 04/26/2014 at 02:01 • Filed to: None

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And as promised, this one is going to be a big one.
Now, I know what you're saying. "Chris, we asked you to stop repeatedly. If you post anymore we're going to have to take legal action against you." So I'm happy to inform you that part 2 of my train adventure is already underway!

That's right! Part 2! TWO!

To start, I never really concluded part 1. I made it to Flagstaff. Which is an old Native American word for "Poor college students with a nice view of a mountain."

For those who don't know, Flagstaff is one of the old "Route 66" towns. The main road through town is still Route 66, and every year there's a big car cruise through town. Unfortunately for you, this cruise does not take place in late April.

Although I am told that Flagstaff sits on a rift in spacetime, but that's a post for another blog.

Right, on to car things!

The first day in Flagstaff, I did what a majority of the residents of Flagstaff do. I left Flagstaff. Budget was nice enough to charge me money in exchange for a Ford Fiesta. While not the most powerful car, it managed to hold 80MPH the whole way to Phoenix. Oh, and got ridiculous gas mileage in the process.

"Wait!" you might say, "What the actual shit?" That's right, 47MPG average. For you Brits, that's about 56.4 miles to your silly gallons . Or for those in the rest of the world, about 5 "liters" per 100 "kilometers" , whatever that means. To be fair, there's a really big hill involved... and once I got into Phoenix, that number dropped significantly (to around 38MPG US, which honestly wasn't bad considering the fact that the HOV lane doesn't have a speed limit).

Oh, and there was a dog riding a motorcycle. Because Arizona.

Sadly, trips can't last forever, and I eventually had to go home. I had already booked my ticket on Amtrak, so I drank 3 beers in rapid succession and went to the station at 8:30pm on Thursday for a prompt 8:52pm departure. This is, of course, after you consider the fact that Amtrak runs in a completely different timezone, and uses funny clocks. So 8:52pm Amtrak-time is somewhere around 10:21pm Arizona time. It was too dark and cold to bother taking photos, so I got on the train and went to sleep instead.

When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by bizarre countryside.

Oddly enough, I've heard of this place before. A socialist dictatorship on America's western border, run by a tyrant of Germanic descent. It's called "California", which I'm pretty sure is an old German word for "High Taxes".

I'd like it on record that the Los Angeles metro area is massive. Absolutely gargantuan. As in, it took the train another 3 hours before we actually got into Los Angeles.

To be continued... Maybe tomorrow. Why? Because I'm tired and I'm pretty sure you gave up reading this by the 2nd paragraph.

Ferrero1911 > cabarne4 04/26/2014 at 03:37

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Are you going to be staying in Los Angeles?

Love the dog on the motorcycle.

cabarne4 > Ferrero1911 04/26/2014 at 10:25

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You'll have to find out, I guess.