It is 1:51AM and the train is moving again. I don’t know what time I woke up and realized it was stopped. Hopefully we get to LA in time, but I’m prepared to buy a flight out of LAX if I have to. This is a cool trip, but definitely not a good idea to do it if you’re pressed for time.

The conductor said estimated time of arrival in Los Angeles is 9AM, but we will see if we can make up some time. Yeah I don’t believe that is possible for a second.
Someone in my car apparently got robbed overnight. Two guys kept going back and forth in the car, so apparently they’re thinking it was them. They stole almost $1000? Or the girl just lost the money? I don’t know…that’s a huge accusation and it’s only 6:30AM. They’re not thinking rationally since they’re upset, and rightfully so, and it’s clearly not a good idea to tell them to check their stuff again. Her friend just told her to check and she freaked out. She’s screaming. So much for sleeping.

The attendant needs to stop joking the way he does. I knew we were somewhat behind and he said ETA for LA was 12:30. I asked what about the Coast Starlight? (My next train). “You’ll make it,” he said. “No it leaves at 10:20.” He laughs and exclaims, “Just kidding!”
Mother f@cker! There’s a time and a place for jokes…that is not cool.
I wonder what I did with my keys…Are they buried in my bag or are they at home? Apartment key?
Phew I’m smarter than I thought. The keys were at the bottom of my bag. Now they’re at the top. Haha that would have been interesting…
The girl who lost her money is going up and down the car asking each passenger if they saw anything. It’s only 7AM, chances are everyone or most people were asleep. One guy who was awake all night is now a suspect to her so she was like, “Okay if I tell the police to search your stuff that’s okay? I still don’t know what really happened, but this is why I respond with, “It could literally happen anywhere” when people ask me if I’m worried about getting robbed or about my safety in general. Hide your valuables.
And I’m off now at LA Union Station. We were supposed to leave at 10:10AM, but they still have paperwork to take care of. Are you freakin’ kidding me? …12 minutes later and we get an announcement saying mechanical is on board doing some work…Uh huh.

Ok were an hour behind but hopefully we can catch up! I’m next to a girl from London who’s an RN and coming over to Oakland to visit her girlfriend, which she does every six weeks…wow! She would have to start schooling all over pretty much in order to come here and become an RN.
Justin bieber is on the train next to us! No I’m kidding, but he is scarily close to the point where London girl and I were studying JB’s tattoos and matching them up to the doppelgänger’s, all while he’s asleep. Haha we are creeps, but hey a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do?
Lunch with Amy (London) and a couple that spent three months in Puerto Rico. Ooooooo!!
This train is going slow as f@@@ck and I’m probably going to have to cancel food with Michael and get an Uber to drive me home because I don’t want to keep him waiting or awake. I feel so bad, and we’ve both been so excited this entire time. Sigh, they said the earliest I’d be in San Jose is 9PM, which is 40 minutes later than scheduled, and we’re not even at San Luis Obispo yet so this sucks. I just feel awful cancelling the plans even though I know it’s not something either of us can control. But still.
Dinner was fun at least. A guy who worked on a river boat, an Aussie nurse, a British nurse, and a psychologist walk into a bar…
The waitress was squinting when reading the receipts and the Aussie offered up her glasses.

Secret government stuff happens here. No cell service.
We are stopped in Watsonville because they’re waiting for permission to continue going the direction we are going. Umm what? Why wouldn’t you have permission and why wouldn’t you deal with this before?!
Ok we’re moving again haha
I guess I feel a little less annoyed now that I am not keeping anyone waiting, but I really wanted Michael to be the first person I see when I get off the train. Oh well, we rescheduled and it will just be that much better. I am now at the train station at 9:45PM, the Lyft driver is on their way. I just want to go home and sleep. Good night.



Someone left nail polish and no one claimed it so the attendant let me take it! He asked if I wanted a paper towel and I said, “no I’m not painting them now, I still have stuff on my nails currently.” He jokingly said to give it back. No way! I said, “I could paint my toenails, but I’d have to take my shoes off and I don’t think anyone wants to deal with that.” The attendant and conductor said it can’t be worse than the brakes haha…I wouldn’t be so sure. They said it can’t be as bad as boyscouts with the typical reason of camping but umm girls are just as bad…trust me. Now they’re telling me crazy passenger stories of people being off their meds and fighting and what not. So far I have yet to encounter any of that!
We’re going again, yay. I am just hanging out in here enjoying the views, lack of snapchat filters, attendant talking to me, the hunger pains, and candy crush until dinner time. Yes, I redownloaded Candy Crush. But I apparently am not synced to Facebook so I can’t ask other people to send me lives.






Leaving to head back to Chicago this afternoon. I woke up at 7:30. Whyyyy??? I did actually sleep and I do feel rested, so that’s nice at least. The girls and I talked about getting beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, but I’ll wait to 9/9:30 when they said they would probably wake up.
People are trusting here. Everyone just leaves their shit out unlocked and what not. Cool! Don’t take that for granted and don’t expect that everywhere, but the India House is awesome! There’s random writing and painting all over the place. A negative thing about Trump in the bathroom haha. I was rearranging everything in my purse last night trying to figure out what to wear, so I’m going to have to take everything out and repack. But I’ll do that after my shower. This is the last real shower I’ll probably have access to until I get home. I’ll see if I can sneak into the shower of the sleeper cars. Oh that might actually work!









Then we went off to Bourbon for bars and more drinks and what not. Nicole brought a water bottle of the Cinerator. We went to a jazz bar and the performers were just awesome!! Then we went to Pat O’Briens, which was really cool. This is the classy side of New Orleans, and the bathrooms were nice too! I had a rainbow drink which was sour and tasted like a warhead candy, but it was rainbow so I had to get it.


Goooooood morning NYC! I woke up around 9ish, and Daisy (Inga’s doggy) kept giving me kisses. Seriously, doesn’t your tongue get tired? But she is so cute!!! I could wake up every morning to this! I went downstairs to the Equinox gym, showered and did some laundry in the sink haha. I am now drying the clothes for a little bit in her dryer upstairs before heading uptown to visit another friend at work for two minutes while she goes on a “bathroom break,” and then to make a surprise visit at Marymount!
I talked to Dr. Solomon for longer than I should have..but so worth it! There is so much traffic and construction today. I hope I can catch my next train. If not, it’s not like NYC is the worst place I could be stuck in…but still…next stop, New Orleans! I got on the train with 9 minutes to spare. Normally I don’t wear anything with heels when I travel…and there is a good reason for that. My feet hurt from running but that is okay, I don’t have to be on them for a while. Now I shall sit and enjoy the scenery of the East Coast down through the South.





















