Riding on a train

[MD-Blu]

I've been invited by a few family members to go with them to California sight seeing and how we'll get there is by riding a train. I've never rode in a train before, has anyone else, and if so, how was your experience?

[OI8T12]

Originally Posted by MD-Blu

I've been invited by a few family members to go with them to California sight seeing and how we'll get there is by riding a train. I've never rode in a train before, has anyone else, and if so, how was your experience?

I once took the train from Boston, all the way down to Sanford, Florida. I was by myself, and it was also February school vacation week for all the little kiddo's on the east coast. This was 30 years ago, and I was meeting my son in Orlando. The train was packed on the way down, but no so bad on the return trip. My son had already flown down to Orlando, and I was meeting him there. We stayed at my sister's house the whole time I was in Florida.

I did not get any sleep on the train, but I wasn't expecting too. I spent most of my time in party train section drinking most of the time. It wasn't a long trip, as I believe it took us 28 hours to reach Sanford. I didn't get a sleep cabin or anything, so I only had a seat for the whole trip.

My experience was pretty good, except for the trip back. I was all burnt out by the time I arrived back in Boston 11 days later. I think your trip is going to be much different than mine, because you're going to have a sleep cabin and all of that. Or are you?

[civiclx]

How was the scenery on your trip OI8 or were you too sloshed to even notice I would imagine that was quite a trip and 28 hours seems pretty damn long to me lol
I did take a train trip once when I was younger and I think I was by myself. It might have been a California to Washington trip but I'm not sure.
I'm just thinking of scenery MD but I think it will be a great time. Where are you from? I'd love to do a train trip through British Columbia or the Alps one day

[MD-Blu]

Originally Posted by civiclx

How was the scenery on your trip OI8 or were you too sloshed to even notice I would imagine that was quite a trip and 28 hours seems pretty damn long to me lol
I did take a train trip once when I was younger and I think I was by myself. It might have been a California to Washington trip but I'm not sure.
I'm just thinking of scenery MD but I think it will be a great time. Where are you from? I'd love to do a train trip through British Columbia or the Alps one day

I'm from Kentucky and probably going from Louisville to Cal. OIB, yes there will be a sleep cabin.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by MD-Blu

I'm from Kentucky and probably going from Louisville to Cal. OIB, yes there will be a sleep cabin.

When are you going and hopefully you will see some great scenery and take pics.

[MD-Blu]

Originally Posted by civiclx

When are you going and hopefully you will see some great scenery and take pics.

Sometime in mid July.

[Agent Bond]

Still on my bucket list. You can take a train from San Francisco to Chicago.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by civiclx

When are you going and hopefully you will see some great scenery and take pics.

My pic out the train window a couple of years ago.

D8A65E3E-93F1-496C-AC8B-849FADCF6F48.jpg

[Krypton_Son]

Originally Posted by MD-Blu

I'm from Kentucky and probably going from Louisville to Cal. OIB, yes there will be a sleep cabin.

Hey, a fellow Kentuckian. Have fun with it. That's a long trip.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

My pic out the train window a couple of years ago.

Attachment 176518

Hope it's ok I don't spoiler tag the pic. That is an amazing shot Bullitt! Where was this taken?

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by civiclx

Hope it's ok I don't spoiler tag the pic. That is an amazing shot Bullitt! Where was this taken?

That was heading to Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland for the day,beautiful train journey with the Atalanic Ocean to the other side.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

That was heading to Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland for the day,beautiful train journey with the Atalanic Ocean to the other side.

Ohhhh, I thought that was the States! Awesome! I have heard of Londonderry but I never made it or even intended to go to N.I. on my 2013 trip. I know I've mentioned several times but I'm not sure if you heard but I was in a car accident back there so my 13 day trip ended up being 60. 11 days were spent in hospital and then I spent 47 days recovering in Kilkenny which is about 1.5 hours SW from Dublin.
I certainly want to go back someday and visit N.I. as well. Did you go to Belfast?

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by civiclx

Ohhhh, I thought that was the States! Awesome! I have heard of Londonderry but I never made it or even intended to go to N.I. on my 2013 trip. I know I've mentioned several times but I'm not sure if you heard but I was in a car accident back there so my 13 day trip ended up being 60. 11 days were spent in hospital and then I spent 47 days recovering in Kilkenny which is about 1.5 hours SW from Dublin.
I certainly want to go back someday and visit N.I. as well. Did you go to Belfast?

We were on a quick trip,spent time in Dublin,Belfast and the short trip up to Derry.
Dublin and Belfast were great,just we were pushed for time and really only done the train journey(recommended)to Derry other than a bit of lunch.

You OK after the accident?

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

We were on a quick trip,spent time in Dublin,Belfast and the short trip up to Derry.
Dublin and Belfast were great,just we were pushed for time and really only done the train journey(recommended)to Derry other than a bit of lunch.

You OK after the accident?

Oh yeah, I healed up pretty well. I can still feel a little sharpness or get some cramps every now and then but it's not too bad. I broke four ribs, suffered a punctured/collapsed lung, a tiny laceration on my liver and I guess some internal bleeding. The crazy thing is, after it happened, I was not expecting to go to the hospital. My first thought was what the hell am I going to do with a rental car now lol It was just an accident (my fault) that could have happened to anyone anywhere. I would not hesitate to drive in Ireland again. I really wish I had made it out to the West. I really wanted to visit the town of Clifden which I'll post a pic of. Oh, and I wanted to go to Cobh as well.

I drove in Germany and Austria two years ago and that was cool. I was freaking out like 15 hours before I left to start the trip though. The thought of driving with all of their different signs was scaring me. It was pretty easy peasy though and driving on the autobahn was cool.

Clifden, Ireland


Cobh, Ireland (The houses kind of remind me of the Painted Ladies (Full House opening credits) in San Francisco

[Bullitt]

Stunning,I sure want to see more.

[civiclx]

Oh, well those aren't my pics sadly. I never made it that far. Hmm, I have plenty more pics to show you. I'm going to use google maps to route the trip that I was expecting to take and then I'm going to show the trip I actually did. I'll do it right now and be back in just a bit

[civiclx]

Ok so this is how my 2013 trip should have gone. The points plotted aren't the only towns that I was going to go to but they are the towns I was going to stay the night in and use as bases. As you can see Clifden is a straight shot across from Dublin. I was going to end the trip there and return to Dublin but then I planned to go further North to check out Slieve League.


And this is the trip that I actually took
I spent three days/nights in Dublin which I really enjoyed. I don't drink so I wasn't out at the pubs all night but I still had a good time. I was actually back at the B&B by like 8pm and that's where I discovered Geordie Shore and the fact that England also has wildly obnoxious people just like America
Anyway, I was on my way from Graiguenamanagh, where I spent 2 nights, to the Rock of Cashel when the accident happened. I had stopped in/near this little town of Inistioge and took a few pics and then started to head toward RoC. Shortly after I left Inistioge, I was in my accident. I was taken to St Lukes Hospital in Kilkenny so that is why I spent the 47 days there recovering after I got out of the hospital. I didn't have to stay that long after I was discharged (although doctors strongly suggested I stick around for a short time because they were worried about blood clots) but I was having such a good time that I decided to stay as long as I could!

[Bullitt]

Damn,you missed out on quite a bit,at least you were OK in the end,you must have been badly injured to have spent so long in hospital.

Maybe a train journey would be safer for you.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

Damn,you missed out on quite a bit,at least you were OK in the end,you must have been badly injured to have spent so long in hospital.

Maybe a train journey would be safer for you.

You know but I still had quite an experience in Kilkenny. I'd say it was almost worth it. I met some cool people that stayed at the same B&B as me. I stayed at the same B&B for all 47 days and nights and eventually it got to where I was calling the hostess, Eimer, my Irish mom
She lived at her own private house, as opposed to in another part of the B&B, and it got to the point to where she'd sometimes say to me as she was leaving, "well Mike if you're still here and anyone comes, just show them room number 6 (for example) and if they want breakfast it will be 40 Euros" or something like that haha

I think that I did show a room one time but I can't remember. I did meet an American girl that was working and living in Ireland one time and while I didn't check her out, I did take her payment the next morning because she left when Eimer wasn't there.

Regarding the injury, yeah four broken ribs and a punctured lung can ruin your day lol The crazy thing is that the car rental place (Dan Dooley) told my mom via phone (she was back in California) something about getting me another car to continue my trip if I was up for it! I was too bruised/sore to do anything but just relax as best I could and recover.
Again though, I would not hesitate to drive in Ireland again. Next time I'll just make sure that I don't look right, left and go but instead look right, left and right one more time before I go. I was at a T-intersection making a right hand turn and got hit by a lorry.

I could talk more about the trip but I'm going to shut up for now Out of curiosity, have you heard of Veronica Guerin or seen the movie starring Cate B?

[Bullitt]

No I had never heard of it,had to look it up on IMDb.