Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Inner Journal 01/03/18



01/03/18  Inner Journal -What I’ve learned thus far

This far I have learned that I am not an efficient packer.  I have costochondritis so anytime I lift something heavy or move something heavy it inflames the cartilage in between my ribs.  I knew this was going to be difficult to avoid being on my own and having so much luggage.  Usually I have my husband and my kids to help me out.  The train station expected me to lift all my luggage on this tiny yellow step stool to get onto the train.  Not to mention it was slushy outside from the snow so my feet were wet, not making a good combination with a metal step stool.  I made it aboard.  I for sure thought I was in the clear and then they told me to go around the corner and up the stairs.  STAIRS??!!!  Did they see how much luggage I was carrying?  Did they see my size?  It wasn’t just a couple stairs straight up it twisted and turned!  Finally, I just collapsed in my seat.  They were not that horrible of a space, roomier than I remember.  I am thankful that I get to sit next to my bestie.  Hope we’re still besties by the end of this trip😊.  I try to settle down for the night, which is morning.  I was so hot and worked up from carrying everything that I just tossed and turned for hours.  My stomach was hurting, the more I thought about how long I was going to be on the train the more anxious I got.  The thought crossed my mind that maybe I had motion sickness.  Then I got more nervous.  How was I ever going to make it to New Orleans and back feeling like this.  When I finally was afraid I was going to throw up I went to the restroom.  I did not know that people were getting ready to get off the train at a stop.  I had to stand down stairs for 10 minutes before I could get a clear path to the bathroom.  Yet another tight area.  The train is a much smoother ride down below.  I sat in the bathroom for quite some time just trying to get my stomach settled.  I may or may not have drifted off to sleep for 10 minutes.  Flushing that toilet scared me!  When you flush it doesn’t go down right away so you think it isn’t working then it is extremely loud and sucks it down real fast.  When I felt like my stomach was in the clear I went back to my seat where I tossed and turned the rest of the night.  There was no temperature regulation.  I was suffocating one minute and freezing the next.  My foot would fall asleep, then my arm.  I’d wake myself snorting, which I was later told by my friends I had my neck cranked all the way back.  I was probably chocking in my sleep and waking myself up.  Finally dawn broke.  People began to bustle around.  I am sore today.  Sore from hauling my luggage, sore from tossing and turning in my seat, and sore from trying to maintain my balance on this bumpy train ride.  On the plus side I do not think I have motion sickness!  I believe it was just a combination of taking my medicine, being up way past my bedtime and feeling pure exhaustion.  What adventure will the rest of this train ride bring?

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