Well it's big... I utilized two out of the nine hours sitting in Dallas' Union Station scheduling my time, while I'm on this journey. I've never taken the train further than up to Connecticut from North Carolina and vice versa, so this chance to travel West on the rails was a must for me. One thing you almost always get on a train is time to burn. But it's especially nice to have that time while you are on the move. It can so often be the best combination of peaceful and exciting.

Much of the time I'm spending catching up on films, drawing, taking pictures, and listening for stories. I decided to take the train in the spirit of Walt Disney, who to came to California by train with a dream. I have a great seat here with passengers who have children and ample room to stretch out and work. I fried two chickens and have a bag of dates, walnuts, 6 Honey Crisp Apples, some Newman's fig bars, and a gallon of water. We were suppose to be on our way 8 hours ago, but the train was delayed coming from Chicago. This worked out for the best since all of my bags weighed in over the allowed limit and my Pelican case with my iMac was to large. So, I ended up shipping two of the 5 bags via FedEx.

Day One:

7PM- We're moving headed to Los Angeles with our first stop in San Antonio around 1AM. I'm starting the trip off with the film Silver Streak.

10PM- The Darjeeling Limited

1AM- San Antonio? No... Train is delayed. We won't be there till 3AM, so I'm listening to Steve Reich.

3:20AM- Just arrived in San Antonio and boy do I need a Coca-Cola! There's a fourth minute layover while. The hitch up to a new engine.

3:40AM- What I thought would be a simple run to the snake machine turned into an ATF inspection of my itinerary. Luckily I bought a couple of Snickers bars to go with the Coca-Cola's, so I'm ready for whatever comes next.

Day Two:

11:34AM- Just woke up to the sound of what I thought was my daughter Caitlin singing, it was one of the children behind me. I wish Amtrak offered waffles on the breakfast menu...

3PM- I had chicken and a Coca-Cola for lunch and did a quick study in watercolor of the view from my window. Saw a couple of guys run for the train at one of the multiple stops along the route, I guess they went for a smoke break. I've been trying to monitor the trains speed using my Suunto Ambit 3 watch and the speed doesn't seem right. We are traveling between 45 and 73 mph., which seems a bit slow. Anyway... I'm about to start watching the Goonies, and then I'll follow it up with Krull before I focus on dinner and we should be in Arizona by 8PM.