Safely back home

Getting home after Christmas often seems to be complicated.

This year, the absolutely unexpected flooding in  Missouri was the big complication - I wrote about my parents' town (mostly) losing power from an ice storm. That was the leading edge of a massive storm that caused blizzards in New Mexico and then horrible flooding in Missouri and Arkansas.

So, the train arranged for a "bus bridge" between St. Louis and Little Rock. I will say it could have been far, far worse than it was: for one thing, by the time I traveled (Tuesday into Wednesday) I-55 was back open (though I think we were on 67 for most of the way).

Also, as we approached St. Louis, the sleeping car attendant came on the intercom and told us in the sleeper to go out, wait by the car, and he would walk us to the buses. As it turned out, they had designated one bus just for people in the sleepers - which meant two things:

1. The bus was a lot less crowded. It had a capacity of 55 but wound up with about 30 people, which meant those of us traveling alone got a seat to ourselves. (A lot of retired couples tend to travel sleeper, and they seemed to want to sit together, even though the seats were not spacious)

2. Sleeper car people are, how do I put it diplomatically? They tend to be more seasoned travelers, they tend to be better at rolling with stuff, and they tend to be people who appreciate quiet. So everyone who wound up sitting around me was generally resigned to what was happening, and after a few minutes of banter, everyone settled down to try to get a little sleep.

I didn't sleep much - it's hard to sitting up and I was worried my feet and ankles were swelling because there really was no way to prop your feet up much - but it was okay.

At one point we stopped at a minimart type place so people who needed snacks or drinks or who wanted a bathroom but didn't want to use the one on the bus. (An aside: I'm startled a bit at how much some folks seem to need to snack. I might have a snack - some cheese or something - midafternoon when I come home from work but otherwise I try to confine my eating to regular mealtimes. Amtrak had bottles of water (much appreciated as it was dry on the bus) and snack-packs they handed out. I took mine but didn't eat it - I think it's still in my purse. But there were people getting off and getting big-gulps, and large bags of chips, things like that. I don't like to eat late at night....some people even got coffee, which I suppose could have been decaf but still, it seemed odd to me to be drinking coffee at midnight if you're not having to stay up for something).

Anyway, there was someone outside the bus, speaking in a very loud and very angry voice about how "No (expletive deleted) person is picking up, it's all going to (expletive deleted) voicemail" and similar things. I don't know if they were trying to call Amtrak and talk to customer service (which closes at 5 pm) or what, but wow, did they sound angry. (I suppose they could have been distressed, had someone they cared about in the hospital, trying to reach family members for an update, but the voice sounded more angry than worried to me).

Later on, once we were back on the train, I ate breakfast with a couple riding in coach, and they said the bus they were on had people who were yelling and cursing at each other and the bus driver did nothing. (We had a couple Amtrak employees on our bus, I guess we were the only ones who did, but I suspect if there was an Amtrak employee on that bus they would have told the people to cut it out - Amtrak personnel have the right to stop and put disruptive people off the train)

So the bus wasn't so bad. Once we got to Little Rock, things were a little disorganized as we got in a bit earlier than expected and also the train sitting there had run out of sheets (!) so they had to wait to make up the beds until the buses got there with new sheets. At least my car attendant was pretty efficient and he got my bed made up fast. So I slept a bit on the train.

Once I got to Mineola, I was relieved to find that (a) my car started and (b) the donut spare hadn't gone flat. So I got down to the tire place - it turned out I had had to call a THIRD time, that time I got the owner and he said he couldn't find his employee's notation about the tires so he was going to the station to get the specs off my car and he would order them personally. And yes, the tires were there.

Surprisingly, it only took about 15 minutes for the new tires, so then I had the better part of a day to hang around in Mineola. (I had arranged for a hotel room, correctly assuming I'd be way too tired to safely drive home). I did run to Stitchin' Heaven (a quilt shop) and bought a few piece of fabric. And I roamed around a bunch of the nice little antique shops there - and bought one thing that really delights me and I will photograph later.

The tires were $300 but my dad said he's going to send me a check for them - ironically, my brother and sister-in-law had a $300 car emergency last week (a coil? I think that's what he said it was) and as they've had a lot of expenses this fall (glasses for my niece, some serious dental work), my dad offered to pay for the new coil. So at least I don't need to worry about the cost of the tires.

I got lunch (a grilled cheese sandwich) at one of the little downtown places. And then I thought: maybe it's worth trying to see if my room is ready even though check-in is 3 pm. And yes, it was ready. So I dropped off my stuff and then thought: I want to wash my hair but also I need to figure out how I'm going to get dinner. I didn't think I wanted to drive somewhere, especially after it got dark, as tired as I was. Then I realized the room had a little fridge. So I looked in the phone book and found out that there was a Brookshire's not too far beyond where Stitchin' Heaven was. So I ran to Brookshire's and got a container of yogurt and some applesauce and a packet of plastic spoons and a little carton of milk and one of the big cupcakes they do, and took it back to my room. So I was able to wash my hair, and relax, and call my parents to let them know I was there safely, and then I ate dinner watching the local-to-them evening news. And I went to bed early.

I got home today. I don't feel GREAT (my shoulders are very stiff from all the carting of luggage and also from the bus ride - Arkansas roads are VERY chewed up and at one point we were hitting what felt like a bump every half-second) but at least I'm home.

More later.