Plans in the Making

[hardcorehobbit]

Short Term: Wednesday I plan on driving to Memphis to chill with Jason for a night. I will leave the Blonde Beast chez lui, and hop a train (yes a train) to New Orleans at 6:45 Thursday morning. On said train (toot toot) I will nap, drink, snack, play PSP, read, listen to music, and thoroughly enjoy myself.  My train will arrive shortly after 4:

Comments

AMTRAK

[oldboneclaws]

i was intrigued by the possibilities of unlimited rail travel in the U.S.

or even just using trains to make visits back home easier, less tiring, and more like an adventure.

and then i checked out the website, and was disgusted by the horribly laid-out system that amtrak uses, which would actually make a trip to memphis from st. louis LONGER than a trip from columbia to st. louis!

then i priced their 30-day pass.
and i almost shit my pants.
A THOUSAND BUCKS?!?!

and then there was some not-so-obvious mumbo-jumbo about "must include at least one journey between the U.S. and Canada", along with a bevvy of other restrictions. if i give you A THOUSAND DOLLARS, i'd damned well be able to use your service however i want, whenever i want.

no wonder public transit is failing so badly in the united states...

edit

[oldboneclaws]

trip from st. louis to memphis would take longer than trip from columbia to memphis.

although you probably understood that.

two hour drive to make the rest of the trip take over twice as long? no thanks.

Re: edit

[hardcorehobbit]

Okay, so I was nearly finished with a reply, debunkng your entire rant against Amtrak, when I discovered that the sweet $400 USA rail pass I was hoping to purchase is only avalable to non-residents of the US. RAT FUCKING, FASCIST BASTARDS! Anyhow, the North America passes are only $709 in the off-peak season, so it's still on the table. Why? A) Trains are cool. B) Train Travel is still cheaper than flying. C) Train travel is significantly more comfortable than bus travel, and D) You can't poop, sleep, play video games, get drunk, or read while you drive. And as far as the whole trip taking longer thing is concerned, efficiency is not my goal hear.

[aminorplace]

What time is your train leaving Sunday?