Lake Shore Limited
New York to Chicago

Evidently, I didn't take any good pictures during this leg of my journey.

Empire Builder
Chicago to Edmonds

I had a four and a half hour layover in Chicago, which I was determined to make great use of. And I did. In between the hours of 9:30 am to 2pm, I walked along both sides of the river, rode the el, offered an apple to a homeless person and was ruthlessly shot down, scribed two postcards on a wooden bench in Union Station's gorgeous waiting area and ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich on a park bench.

Now, without further ado, here are some of the pictures I took in the process:


Coming up on Chicago.


In Chicago. (This is a view from one of the many drawbridges that span the glorious Chicago River.)


The Sears tower, from across the street. It's pretty tall.


I forget what this is, but I feel blessed to have seen it.

Riding the El


The station. Note the wood planks.


A sign.


The track. This may or may not be the place where the runaway train scene in Spider-Man 2 was filmed.


Another station.

Walking Around Randomly


A cool alley.


A beautiful building in the process of being refurbished.


I felt priveleged to discover one of these "Corner Cafes" in the train station, but found out later on that there's one on almost every corner in downtown Chicago.


A row of tall buildings.


More tall buildings.


This is what I was looking at as I devoured a peanut butter and banana sandwich in public.


Union Station's glorious waiting room.

Milwaukee


This actually wasn't taken anywhere near Milwaukee.


Riverfront.


Skyline.

I thought my pictures of Milwaukee turned out kind of well, considering it's one of the ugliest cities on the face of the Earth.


Where your smooth, frosty Miller(R) genuine drafts come from.

Wisconsin




A Wisconsonian swamp.


A bit of greenery.


A rural village.


Martin, Martin Rogers. (Note the dress shirt!)


Future Christmas trees!

Glorious Landscapes








Crossing the river into Minnesota.






Sunset over the Mississippi River.

North Dakota


A new dawn in the Badlands.


We passed an enormous metal contraption in the middle of nowhere.


And then...more nothing.


Nothing.


Cows.


Nothing.


Cows.

That pretty much sums up North Dakota.

Montana


Coming up on the Rockies.




And suddenly the world became...interesting.


Rivers, mountains, trees! Oh, glorious scenery!



The Home Stretch: The Cascades


An apple farm somewhere east of Wenatchee.


An inspiring mountain landscape.


And we've made it through the mountains! (West of Sultan, Washington.)


The new Mukilteo ferry terminal. (Almost home!)

After this the possibly gay train attendant's voice crackled over the loudspeaker: "We'll be coming up on Edmonds in 5 minutes." So I put my camera away, gathered my bags, said goodbye to the old lady from Kalispell and made my way down the stairs.

And that was (really) the end.

OR WAS IT?


While I was unpacking, Ruth crawled into one of my suitcase pockets! Aww.