Archive for November 2nd, 2009

02
Nov

Day 1

It is animals instinct to go to water, and so after my quick rest at Starbucks that’s where I went. Sitting on the lake side, looking at the waterfowl, the people, relaxing. It really is nice to have nothing to do at all. There was a man sitting near me on the lake side who looked to be in deep contemplation, holding his phone. After about 30 minutes I saw him on the phone and he was soon gone.

I sat for a while longer and wondered what and who he was waiting for. A sick family member, maybe an angry girlfriend, it’s hard to say.

A few hours later I met up with Phil in Millennium Park and we went to the metro station to take an hour train ride back to Lake Forrest where he goes to school. It is a beautiful campus in a small town, I enjoy it here. On the ride here a man sitting next to us striked up a conversation. First he asked us for change for a five, which neither of us had. But we began to talk about where we were heading and he mentioned that he was going on a small trip to Minnesota (I think). I started to tell him about my trip and we talked about that for a while. I gave him my blog address and told him to comment (hopefully you’re reading this!)

I’m glad I got to meet a stranger on a train today, I thought it would take a while, and I thought it would be a person on the Amtrak, but there are friendly people everywhere!

02
Nov

Arrived in Chicago

Uhhhh…. wow. Well i’m in Chicago now. And I’m currently sitting outside at a Starbucks on the corner of Wells and Adams. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, it’s a bit overwhelming. The train ride was good, I didn’t do much but stare out the window, take pictures, and listen to music. This backpack is really heavy, I think I packed too much so I might have to ditch a few things. Am I really going to need 4 pairs of pants? Well.. probably, but I feel like I need to narrow it down some more as I’m not sure I’ll be able to carry this all around with me everywhere I go. The weather is pretty nice, I’m going to try to stuff my coat in the bag as well once I leave, we’ll see how that goes. Right now i’m just going to sit here and relax for a while, and then I’ll probably head over to Millennium Park to take some pictures.

02
Nov

Here We Go

Here we go. I’m sitting on the train in the Toledo Station waiting to leave. I’m still nervous but I’m also pretty excited. About to leave for Chicago to hang out with my great friend Phil for a few days. I’m planning on visiting Millennium Park when I get there, and then probably just wander around for a few hours until he gets out class. And here we go, the train is taking off, slow steady, bumpy. Goodbye mom, goodbye Toledo, goodbye Emerald Avenue.