I fully expected that someone would forcibly commit me to an institution. Perhaps I would find gift certificates to a psychiatrist in my stocking. I had decided to take the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Portland on the return leg of my winter vacation and an examination of my sanity was certainly in order.
In these early days of the 21st century, choosing to do something in 30 hours which could easily (though less efficiently) be accomplished in 5 is certainly grounds for psychological evaluation. The train was about 4 hours late - primarily due to multiple sidings (delays) which must be taken for the freight trains which dominate the Coast Starlight's route - so my journey took 34 hours station to station.
With Clan of the Cave Bear serving as a rare fictional indulgence, and nothing to do until about 11:30PM on New Years Eve, gliding past Pacific beaches, watching the sunset over Califonia's rolling Coast Ranges, waking to rare glimpses of volcanoes over Upper Klamath Lake (not to mention the pleasant, unintrusive train comradery) were all welcome components of what I call a vacation in motion. Rather than conceptualizing my trip as just a way to get from one place to another, I see it as a component of my vacation. And, in that manner - a unique and enjoyable way to spend a day and a half. Four hours late meant four more hours to (almost) finish my book.
Better luck next year. I'm back to newspapers, blogs, and nonfiction.
