Next week is my last week of summer vacation, and this has been the strangest summer on record. I expected to be updating this blog from Italy and from China this summer, but alas – COVID had other plans. So I settled in for a summer in Michigan, where I could enjoy bonfires, walking dogs, and the slower pace of life at home. I almost made it all the way through summer without leaving Michigan…but I couldn’t quite do it.

The tipping point was when my school put out a statement that all teachers are grounded – we can’t fly anywhere, or we’ll be quarantined and unable to work for fourteen days upon our return. It made me feel kind of claustrophobic. No travel at all – at ALL – until at least June 2021?! Eeeeep!

Luckily, not all travel is done on planes. This is why I find myself zipping across the country with my friend Lauren on an Amtrak train, somewhere in field-country Wisconsin, on my way to Glacier National Park.

The idea came to me as summer school came to a close, and the idea of spending another few weeks home alone while Rex worked all day was daunting and discouraging. On a whim, I texted my friend Lauren and asked if she wanted to go out West. Like, immediately.

Lauren’s nickname is “Bear Grylls,” named for the British survival guy, so she was the ideal friend to invite on my spontaneous adventure. She has a masters degree in Environmental Science, and she used to work at the Grand Canyon. She’s the type of person that you could drop in the woods with nothing but dental floss and a ruler, and she’d be running a small sustainable farm by the time rescue arrived.

To my surprise, she texted back right away that she was in. We initially set our sights on the Grand Canyon, since she knows it so well, but Arizona is looking awfully Covid-y. That’s when we switched to Montana and Glacier National Park, because neither of us have been there, and the bears outnumber the Covid patients in Montana.

With Montana as our destination, Lauren said she was excited – that she would bring her bear spray and her homemade granola. Not joking. She really said that. Classic Lauren.

Planning the trip went into hyperdrive, as we only had around a week from the day I texted her and the day we targeted leaving. She had to get the time off of work, and I checked with my work to make sure that train travel wouldn’t get me quarantined. When both of our works said we were clear, that was it – we booked our tickets! This was probably the quickest I’ve ever thrown a trip together…we’re practically making it up as we go. But so far, it’s awesome.

Last night when I was packing, I texted Lauren to ask if she was going to hike in jeans or leggings. She texted back that she was going to hike in specialty hiking shorts and hiking pants. Oh. I was supposed to have specialty hiking pants?! I suddenly felt like I was headed to space without a space suit. Who knew I needed specialty pants!? Well. We’re not all Bear Grylls, so I won’t be hiking in specialty pants. That’s for a planned-ahead trip, which this is not. Hopefully the bears won’t be too offended.

When Lauren picked me up to head to the station today, I saw that she packed for our week-long trip in a small backpack that she got when she worked at North Face (because of course she worked at North Face). She also had a tiny day pack from REI, but both could probably be personal items on a plane. How did she do that? And as she ticked through the things she packed (headlamp, rain gear, hiking boots, bug spray, sunscreen, map of the stars…), I started thinking we should change her name to Mary Poppins instead of Bear Grylls because of her magic bag that holds way more than it should.

I also felt like I’m a little in over my head here. I asked Bear Grylls to go on a hiking trip – what was I thinking? It’s like I was looking for a tee ball friend and ended up playing with Derek Jeter. Oh well. At least if we get lost, she can lead us back to civilization with moss and her star map.

We got a sleeper car for the train ride out, so even though the ride is thirty hours long, we have our own room! It’s got two beds – a top one that folds down, and a bottom one that’s formed when we fold down the cozy chairs we’re using. There’s a picture window where we can watch the scenery roll by, just like we’re pioneers on the Oregon Trail (except traveling at 100 mph and skipping the dysentery).

Because we got a sleeper car, we got to access the business class lounge in Union Station. I’ve never been in a business class lounge before! I feel like those fancy lounges are the adult equivalent of the teachers’ lounge. Remember in elementary school when you would walk by the teachers’ lounge and think, “Ooooooo! What a magical place…Wish I was allowed in there.” I mean, really, my degree in teaching was basically just to fulfill a lifelong dream of finding out what’s in the teachers’ lounge.

Hehe. Kidding. But you get the idea. I’ve always wanted to go in a business class lounge. This one didn’t disappoint. It was beautiful, with plushy seats and a butler-y guy walking around handing out snacks and drinks (with tongs, of course. Covid safe). We also got to board the train first, and we have our own sleeper car attendant named Terrance. I’m feeling pretty swanky. Unfortunately, we could only afford this level of swank for one way. We’ll be riding with the peasants in coach on the way back. But hey – I’ll enjoy this while I have it! Here’s our pile of books that we’re using to plan this trip on the fly (er…train):

Gotta go – it’s almost time for our dinner reservation in the dining car. We have to put our masks back on – I made us matching train-themed ones with help from my mom (thanks Mom!).

It feels great to be blogging again – talk to you soon. 🙂