A week earlier I had decided that a couple of games on my MacBook Air wouldn’t be a bad idea as an option on the long train ride. So during one of my evenings at home I did a search and downloaded Minesweeper, then clicked on the “Role Playing Games” category in the App Store. That is when I saw the app I recognized called The Bard’s Tale. For those of you not luckily enough to grow up in front of a Commodore 64, this is one of the most popular RPG’s during the 80’s. I remember playing it when I was ten, and have played it on nearly every computer platform since. Its right up there as one of my favorite RPG of all time. The app cost me $10, was a newer version of the game, but included the original trilogy. When I had went up into the attic to find the duffle bag I was going to use to pack the food I stumbled on some of my old maps that I had downloaded for the game. Happily I stuffed them into the laptop carrying case.
Spokane was a service stop, so we were at the depot for nearly 45 minutes. Walking around the train was weird, having gotten used to the swaying back and forth, so I used the stillness to go buy cup of coffee for $2. I was temped to make my one using my heating coil and instant coffee I brought, but decided to save the experience for another day. I was again playing some Bard’s Tale and relaxing when we pulled out of the station around 8:30am.
An attendant passed by taking a tally of number of passengers, and I got the ok to move Ally and I to a pair of seats with tray tables at an upcoming stop. It’s current occupants were getting off at Whitefish. I was excited about the chance to compare the two different sets of seats. I happily finished getting my Bard’s Tale characters to level three, a successful milestone, and started thinking about food.
I relaxed with some Bard’s Tale, read some of my Jack Whyte series, and waited for Whitefish.
I spent the day listening to Douglas Adams read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to me, tinkering with my phone, talked with Ally, watched the scenery, or played Bard’s Tale. I love the relaxed traveling of the train and doing a little of everything all day.
Ally and I had a snack around 10:00pm from the overpacked Food Duffle. I had overestimated how much food we would need, especially since you don’t do much more than sit all day. Looking down at my step counter on my phone indicated that I had walked less than 1700 steps.
Our car hadn’t gained many people during the day, so the set of seats across from us were still empty at 10:35pm when Amtrak turned off the lights. I grabbed my fleece sack, smaller fleece blanket, and pillow, and tried to find a comfortable position in two empty seats. It was more comfortable then doing so in one seat, but more is still a relative word. A sleeper car would be even more comfortable, and the pinnacle of comfort would be a bedroom cabin. A sleeper runs you nearly 4X the price, but includes all three meals each day. I doubt that when Shar and I do this or a similar trip, we’ll end up getting a sleeper. Even splitting the cost it would run us $700 each.
So I struggled for awhile and ended up in a modified diagonal position leaning against the window.
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