Bikerscum - Patrick St. Jean

I'm in Peoria now, and it's cold! But I had a blast riding the train. It was a whole lot slower than flying, but also a lot cheaper and a lot more fun. I met and talked with some really interesting people, and had plenty of time to relax. We left Fort Worth at 2:20 PM Saturday and by the time I dropped off to sleep, we were in Arkansas. Dinner, in the dining car, was brisket, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies. I woke up as we were pulling in to St. Louis, went back over to the dining car and enjoyed some really good french toast. As we made our way in to Illinois the weather got colder and colder, slowing us down as well due to malfunctioning signaling systems on the host railroad. No worries as far as I was concerned because it meant I wasn't out the the cold for a few more minutes. We got in to Bloomington-Normal where I braved the cold to pick up my checked bag and meet my ride to Peoria.

Riding the train was a lot of fun and I'll definitely be doing it again, maybe in a sleeper instead of coach, but either way, rail travel was a lot better than I thought it would be.