Between Dodge City and Garden City
0822hrs
Thanks to the rather brilliant idea of putting my pillow on my pull-out table-cum-tray and laying my head on that, I got a pretty good night's sleep, unlike all the other chumps on the train who laid back against their chairs and stood no chance. I've got neck cramp now, but a small price to pay.
I woke up this morning at about half past six, and was drifting in and out of sleep until about seven. During the bits where I was awake, I sat and watched the scenery go by. Unfortunately it was still dark, and the glimpsed images of vast desert landscapes and the silhouettes of strange-shaped trees were enough to fuel my craving for gorgeous views, but fell far short of satiating it. By the time the sun came up we'd gone past the best bits, but there was still time to witness a couple of views which will stay with me forever.
Two horses, mother and foal, galloping together in the thin morning light across great dusty, sandy plains, sweeping to the horizon in every direction.
And then again, an oasis, within an awesome, lifeless desert. I'd never given oases much thought before, and was surprised to see it surrounded by an area of dark, damp sand. It would be, of course - an oasis in dry sand would just seep into it - but they're never like that on TV, my only previous source of desert images.
Television has also let me down with its depiction of Dodge City. There wasn't a single shoot-out, not one cowboy. It's just an ordinary small American town.
We're somewhere around the border between time zones. It's half past seven again now.
Same day
Between La Junta and Trinidad, Colorado
1100hrs (Mountain Daylight Time)
Here we are, somewhere in Colorado, running on Mountain Time, and you can see where the time zone gets its name. It'll be because of all the mountains everywhere. The landscape is all very barren and dry, and I'd love to get out and climb all over it but I suppose I'd better not. We've been on trains for almost 27 hours now (I think), bar our time in Chicago, but I've not got bored yet. It's amazing how you can sit in a seat on a train for hours quite happily, whereas, in contrast, when you're in Detroit and have the entire city at your disposal, ten minutes seems like a year.
Last night I made up a poem to remember which way the sun goes through the sky, since I can never remember it and always have to work it out from first principles.
Each morning riseth in the east.
It arcs the sky and doesn't rest,
Until it setteth in the west.
Just thought I'd mention it. The driver's been telling us about
all the wildlife coming up. It's gorgeous round here.
Same day
Between Las Vegas and Lamy, New Mexico
1422hrs
Not the Las Vegas, another one. We never did see any wildlife, but we went right through the Santa Fe Pass, which I think is quite famous. The driver was telling us all about it over the intercom, he's doing it again now. I think he's got a guidebook, he's been telling us all about the history of things.
This Las Vegas we went through was just a run-down little town, consisting by the looks of it of about twelve buildings. I reckon they thought that if they called it Las Vegas ('which, as you all know, means The Meadows' - our driver), people would get confused and go there on holiday.
Since Detroit, apparently, we've gone 1951 miles, or will have by the time we reach Flagstaff. If you went that far in the other direction, you'd be in Russia or somewhere. You surely can't go that distance and find the place just the same - there must be respects in which the two sides of America are practically separate countries, and it's almost as if our first holiday is over and we're about to embark on another one in a totally different culture. It's taken about three times as long from Detroit to Flagstaff as it did from Heathrow to New York, anyway.
I'm talking as if we're almost there, but there are still eight hours of this journey to go. A bottle of orange juice, which I purchased some time ago, made a hissing noise when I opened it earlier, as of gas being released. Wisely cautious, I gave it a sniff. I'll not be drinking any more of that.
Which means that for the rest of the trip, whenever I want a drink I have to buy one from the cafe, which of course is hideously expensive. Oh well, it can't be helped.
There are some good views around here. I only hope my photos come out - there's a window between me and my subject, and the scenery is whizzing past. Not ideal conditions, but hopefully I'll get something decent back from the developers.
Same day
Between Winslow and Flagstaff
2049hrs (Mountain Standard Time)
We spent a couple of hours going through what I think was the Rocky Mountains, which were gorgeous, like everything else around here. Having passed through three time borders in the last couple of days, my body clock still thinks it's Eastern Time, and about ten to midnight. Since I awoke this morning at six thirty, I am therefore pretty tired. Of course, going by my body clock I really woke up an hour later, but I also went to sleep an hour later so it doesn't make much difference.
There's nothing I'd like more right now than to curl up in a lovely soft bed, but it will be another 45 minutes before we reach Flagstaff, and then we have to find the youth hostel and check in before finally getting some sleep.
