Life on the Slow Train | Excerpts from The Empire Builder

Until January 20th, I am riding Amtrak trains all the way around the United States. This is the fourth leg of my trip, where I’m traveling from Seattle to Chicago on The Empire Builder.

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The sun is coming up over Montana

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Breathtaking #amtrak

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What a way to start the day. #amtrak

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Montana needs no filter #amtrak

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You Think

I tell him that part of my mission is to show people that you can talk to anyone, even if you might disagree on politics. That people are just people, no matter how far you travel. “You think?” says Matt, chuckling.

There are a number of oil workers on the train. I share a dinner table with two more. They both tell me that when they first arrived in North Dakota, Williston was “a cowboy town.” 

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Pronounced "have-er" #amtrak

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Wisconsin's frozen shore #amtrak

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Lord Have Mercy, They Found Out

The conversation over breakfast is so good that we stay at the table for three hours. When the sun rose this morning, we will pulling into St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Oh!” Pat cries, “Please don’t leave until I get off in Chicago.” Steffen and I start to trade stories about celebrities who are difficult to work with and Pat says, “In Mississippi, we’d say they have a cob up their rear.”

We’ve been chatting for three hours at this point and the Amtrak servers are very discreetly eyeing our table. We part ways and I send them all a copy of the picture I took. Pat is tearing up again. “This has been the best conversation I’ve had in years,” she says, “Maybe it’ll hold me for another fifteen years.”

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I saw @billwarmuth waving!!

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Chicago

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