Day 13: SATURDAY

Full day on the train today. The time change is still messing me up a bit; Alaska is three hours earlier than Indiana, so as we go east we keep losing time. A loss of three hours in as many days is kind of jarring.

Last night was even more ridiculous than I recorded, because as it turns out, David the attendant has only been doing this for about a month, and apparently hasn't quite figured out how the beds work. I noticed, when trying to squirm into my bunk around 1 a.m., that the vertical metal strut that attaches one end of the bed to the ceiling wasn't hooked. I figured this was just an oversight (though a major one, since only one end of the bed was supported), so I wrestled with it and finally got it latched properly.

This morning, I call David in to make up our beds and convert them back into seats. He slowly arranges the mattresses, folds them up, puts everything on the top bunk, and pushes on the bunk to stow it. Nothing happens.

Push.

Push.

He goes to check between the bed and the door to make sure something's not wedged between them. Nope, nothing wrong there.

Push.

Push.

Nothing happens.

At this point, I feel obligated to point out the big metal pole at the end of the bunk. “It's still latched on this end,” I say, pointing to the brace.

David turns and stares at the strut for a few seconds as if he's never seen it before. Finally, he goes over and pushes on it a few times, and after several tries gets it to fold down so the bed can be stowed.

Needless to say, this does not fill me with confidence...

Anyway, aside from that, today has been pretty normal. I spent part of the morning napping, since I didn't sleep well last night, and most of the afternoon blogging or reading Loki. We've done a little photographing and scenery-watching, too. We went through the Cascades yesterday, and this morning we passed through Glacier National Park again. We've also seen lots of cattle, a fair number of horses, some wild pronghorns, and a pretty cool ghost town.

Laura and I got out at Havre and danced a little to get the blood flowing. (On the way west, we got out at Havre and did DDR steps from memory to get our daily exercise in.) This time we were doing swing, though we had to quit and get back on the train shortly after we started. I already miss Leah and Patrick's daily dance sessions...

It's now a little after 4:30 local time, which is 5:36 Indiana time (we're changing time zones again this evening). Dinner is in either one or two hours, depending on when we actually change times. I've already had two large meals, and I've done nothing but sit around all day. I absolutely don't need to eat again.