We're getting read to ride on the City of New Orleans again, this time all the way from top to bottom. It's that time of year to saturate ourselves with the Deep South. Looking forward to the humidity, the smell of the pine trees and the Gulf Of Mexico. Maybe we'll find some fried dill pickles along the way.

photo from Trainweb.org

I love riding on trains. Since I have the Amtrak credit card, I have a round trip Sleeper sized trip waiting for me to take it. The dilemma is that if I pay for a trip on May 9th, I'll get quadruple points which is Amtrak Point heaven for me.  I just noticed that Amtrak has partnered with 
Zipcar in the points program which is cool except that there isn't a program nearby.
I know the economy is bad but there really are some good deals now. We just found a little pickup truck for exactly the price we wanted and in better shape than we expected.   It doesn't hurt to have some savings on hand for times like this. 

Ok, the trip was fine, the beach was great but I'm glad to be home. The free (via Amtrak rewards) ride to Chicago was easy and a little boring, but we did go over the Mississippi River as it was cresting at historic levels. Looking down I could see the distance from the train wheels to the water was a little close for comfort. One benefit of traveling in a sleeper is the "1st Class" waiting area at the Chicago station. Wi-Fi, Snacks, Movies and (the best thing) Clean Bathrooms. The rest of the trip South was nighttime rain and wooded acreage.

I had a great conversation with the treasurer of the National Association of Railroad Passengers on the way up from Jackson. I told him I was a member but not that I had let the membership lapse. Then I pumped him all I could for news about the future of train travel. One good thing that came out of that conversation: when I got home, I read the latest newsletter and found that the bus service portion of the Amtrak trip to LA was restored to Raton. Hopefully, my letters of complaint encouraged the reversion. 4 hours on the bus to Raton, a ratty abandoned depot, is much more attractive than 8 hours on the bus to Albuquerque with their new Greyhound/Amtrak station.