Friday February 7 - train to Chicago

Yesterday dawned sunny and cold and the State Capitol building looked wonderful bathed in the early morning light straight out from my hotel room. I had monitored the train last night and woke up at 6 am to check, yes it was running late! So I reset my alarm and caught a bit more sleep. I eventually left the hotel about 9.45 and the hotel shuttle took me to the station.

I had an eTicket for this section but had been unable to print it out, no worries as all I needed to check in was the reservation number and my ID. Just after I had done that an announcement came over that the train had just left St Cloud so we would be on our way only about four hours behind time!

 

We eventually left about 12.15 so not sure what time we will reach Chicago and already we had three stops for freight traffic after only an hour! At one of these stops there was a huge crowd of pigeons all waiting for their chance to get some of the corn that had been dropped between the tracks.

 

Red Wing should have been reached 64 minutes after leaving St. Paul, instead it was  nearly two hours after! We were travelling through the same countryside that I saw from the road on Monday when we went to the National Eagle Centre at Wabasha although we are seeing it from a slightly different perspective. The journey on Monday was much quicker!!

We were following the frozen Mississippi although there was an area where a hot spring obviously comes in and so the water was not frozen, the ducks were homing in on the area to enjoy a nice swim! 

We passed Wabasha where we went on Monday and then stopped at Winona and the train stopped about 3 metres too soon so held up traffic at the rear which was half across a railway crossing. As this was a smoking stop for five minutes a truck driver was not very pleased!! I went out for a quick stretch and it was still quite cold.

Just before stopping at Lacrosse we crossed the frozen Mississippi River which is so wide it splits into three parts with islands in between. This took us from Minnesota and into Wisconsin. We travelled through Fort Mccoy a large military training establishment. 

As we travelled on through to Wisconsin Dells and beyond there was another gorgeous sunset, it might be cold but I have had very few cloudy and/or rainy days so far on this adventure.

Is it because it is so flat that the sunsets seem to go on for so long??? In the midst of the sunset, I saw the largest car graveyard I have ever seen!!!

Coach passengers were offered a complimentary entree in the Dining Car so I availed myself of the opportunity. However, as I was sitting waiting I suddenly realised my wallet was missing. I ate rather quickly and went back to my seat. It was not lying around and then I felt down the crack between the seat back and the seat itself, phew I put my hand straight on my wallet!! Must be more careful, I cannot afford to lose that!

Finally, we arrived in Chicago, only six hours late. We then had to wait nearly half an hour for our bags! Then out into the cold to fight for a taxi. Hotel seems very good and I got a very good rate through Hotels.com

Once more, today dawned bright and sunny though it was, of course, still cold, brrrrrr! I had a slow start to the day as I wanted the ground to stop moving before I went out walking! Eventually I headed out and it was 13 degrees F and I could feel the wind chill! As per usual I was dressed in layers, with my NZ “beanie” hat pulled well down over my ears – never thought I would ever get this much use out of it, lol!

My idea today was to go out and try to work out where I was in relation to various sightseeing options as well as Starbucks and somewhere to replenish my supplies. Google helped me and I found a few Starbucks around as well as a Whole Foods store. So I headed to the nearest Starbucks knowing I could get WiFi and do some more investigating.

I discovered a Trader Joe’s not too far away and I know that things are relatively cheap there! That is where I headed after my coffee and then onto Michigan Avenue. I came into it by Cartier and, of course, lots of name stores all the way along. I wandered along towards the Water Tower and saw the Chicago Visitor Information Centre so made a beeline for that. They were very helpful and I found out about the City Pass (a reduction to visit five of the best sights), the Metra and the Trolley tour. I came away armed with more maps and information. I decided to return to base so I could plan my next few days.

On the way back, another coffee was in order so I used the Starbucks by Trader Joe’s!! Then back to the hotel and spent a few hours using Google maps and planning. Snow is forecast for tomorrow afternoon so I think I will make for the Navy Pier in the morning and then see what happens. Sunday, I think I will go to John Hancock as long as it is relatively clear!

Someone I suggested that I go to the Fat Cat Rescue but that is quite a way from me, I did find PAWS and that is a lot nearer so I might go there on Monday and then Tuesday it looks like The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and Skydeck Chicago!! That will be some day, but the weather may dictate some of these plans of course! Sorry did not take my camera today but tomorrow I will!!