Separation Anxiety? - Day 188

  I wasn't sure if I could take the backpack on public transport without it being enclosed in a duffel or something, but the lady who has helped me the last couple of days asked if I really needed to take it back to New York with me for these two days. What a great thought! Of course not. I pulled out the very few things that I needed and put them in a small backpack. No problem for me to kiss that weight goodbye for a few days.

What turned out to be much harder, surprisingly, was to leave my hiking stick. I realized that it wasn't crucial to have with me, but I couldn't believe how much I didn't want to leave it! Finally, I told myself, "Get over it, Joan. You don't need the stick for the next two days."

They are waiting for me in Vermont when I return to hike again on Thursday.

I boarded the bus at 6:15 in the morning. You already know how much I like early morning. I like bus travel about equally as well. But it was on time. The most stressful thing was that there wasn't very much info on the ticket. I didn't even know that when I transferred at Albany-Renssalear, it was going to be to a train. It took several of us to figure that out, and Marie helped via text because she could get the info from her computer easier than I could find it with the phone.

The most amazing thing is that Marie decided to drive up to the station (about an hour) to see me for the 25 minutes between bus and train. It was more like 15 minutes, but what a treat. She makes me feel so special- that she would do that just for enough time for lots of smiles and a few hugs.

The train was waiting.

The Maple Leaf 63.

Of course, I DO like riding the train. Back across the Hudson, but only temporarily.

The train was actually on time, and there were quite a few people using it. There were either 6 or 7 cars (it was hard to count), and each was at about half capacity. The conductor was a younger man who was thoroughly enjoying his job. The seats were much more comfortable than the bus. There was a cafe car, but I had packed a sandwich, so I didn't need to buy anything. The last time I took an Amtrak train (about 15 years ago), I'm sorry to tell you that it wasn't as much fun as I wanted it to be. The seats smelled bad, things didn't work right, it was hours and hours late and the food ran out. So today improved my opinion of Amtrak a bit.

These seats were new, they have added a 120V power line along the sides of each car so people can plug in their computers, etc. You are allowed more luggage, and you could understand the words on the public address system. You can take bicyles- they have a storage rack so you don't have to strip the bike down and box it. I didn't ask, but the backpack probably would have been OK. I could have taken the clipped-on things off, and it would have fit easily in the luggage rack. The whole experience felt like the powers that be have decided they should accommodate what people need if they want to get more riders.

Anyway, seeing Marie was best, but just to top off the experience, she brought me a whole rhubarb pie that she made yesterday! Mary picked me up in Syracuse, and as soon as we got back to her house, we had pie and ice cream.

Now I have to write the field reports on how I found the Adirondack trail and get organized for the Vermont leg. I'll do all that tomorrow, drive east on Wednesday and hike Thursday.