50 years ago today, I embarked on a cross country trip with a friend. We had just spent a year sharing a house, a blue house, with a magical group of four other women in Berkeley. My friend, Debbie and I, had formed a bond in our dorm my last year of college and the four women were from a range of connections and we didn't start out all knowing each other. And we didn't start out all liking each other either. I'll have to do a separate post on our living arrangement with vegetarians and individuals who had different views and skills regarding cooking another time. However, back to our trip. One thing about Amtrak that has never changed is the fact that the trains didn't run on time then, and still don't run on time. Ever. Our start was not auspicious because the train was late getting to Oakland, our departure point, and we were already going to miss our first connection. The first stop on our trip was to be Minneapolis. I was enrolled to start Library School in September, but had never visited Minnesota prior to being accepted. It was part of the grand adventure.
It was also the Bicentennial Year. In 1976, it was a huge celebration. This year, 50 years later, the 250th was something to be avoided. We visited friends in Minnesota, friends in upstate New York in Troy, and then on to the parents of one of our Berkeley roommates in Vermont. We had a stop in Boston and did the Bicentennial Trail. We stayed with my Godfather and his wife in Connecticut. We entered New York City and took a train to Long Island to stay with my Aunt and Uncle, and at that time, a 12 year old cousin. After a night there, my Aunt drove us into NYC and that was another incredible adventure that I think we were talking about for the rest of the trip. Succinctly, I don't think my Aunt ever drove to and in NYC before. (I'm probably wrong, but it felt that way when we were in the car with her.) In New York, we crashed with my former roommate from the dorm in Brooklyn Heights, New York. I remember two things - one is the incredible cheesecake at the bakery on her block, and the second is the fact that the subway station we used had two entrances and we got lost every time we came up from that subway because we came out the wrong exit. (This was before smart phones, so we were lost a lot. Seriously, we were always lost except in Vermont because there was no public transit and we didn't have a car.) And then we got to D.C. We arrived in DC about the same time as the hurricane. I don't remember the name of the hurricane, but it basically covered the same path we had taken to get to DC, only in reverse. Starting in Florida it worked its way up the coast stopping at each place we had been and as I remember did a significant amount of damage to Long Island and on into Boston. So while we were in DC, it rained the entire time. Not just an easy rain, a torrential downpour, constantly. And we were constantly wet. We visited friends from our dorm who were working in DC and they got us passes to get us into Congress. It's been 50 years, so I can't remember a lot of the details, I just remember one of our friends worked for Claude Pepper from Florida. Not sure how a California guy got connected with Pepper, but he did get us passes into Congress.
From DC we headed to Valentine, Nebraska. We were staying with one of our blue house roommates overnight before getting back on the train for the final leg from Lincoln to Oakland.
So what does this all have to do with joy? For starters, we had a lot of joy on that trip. And a few tears and probably a few choice words between friends in moments of tension best forgotten. But mostly, we had fun. 50 years later, Debbie is still one person who just brings me joy in so many ways. But yesterday, my joy was centered on her getting good medical news. Debbie is a cancer survivor. So her good news means that we can plan another adventure together and I can't wait! I hope that you have someone in your life that is a great travel companion and someone who you have shared experiences and wonderful stories. Stories that possibly get embellished each year, but nevertheless remain as part of the glue that connects you.
And one more thing that brings me joy? See that $400 dollars for the USA rail pass 50 years ago? You can get a USA rail pass for $499 today. 50 years later only $99 more! I think that is pretty darn amazing. You just have to remember and you have to plan for the fact the Amtrak trains do not run on time. Ever.
