On the Way Home
I enjoyed the train ride that night and slept well.
The next day the train pulled into Chicago. I got off, but I forgot my book bag. I just didn't see it. There are so many things to carry that it's easy to forget one thing in the chaos of everybody getting off the train.
When I got to my Chicago hotel room, I noticed that it was missing and headed back to the train station to look for it. I wondered if they had a lost and found? I checked on that. That book bag had a lot of important notes, books, and other stuff in it. Most of it wasn't important to anybody except me. That's something in my favor. It wasn't as likely to get stolen. Now my laptop I was worried about, because those are a prime target for thieves. But my book bag? Nobody wants it--except me. I was upset to be without it. I walked all the way back to the train station, in a strange town, going on nothing but my sense of direction (good fortunately) and a crudely drawn map the hotel staff gave me. I was in a hurry and feeling guilty about passing up a bag lady's cup. I got to the train station and they directed me to a certain office. I was told the lost and found was closed and I'd have to come back in the morning. I was going to do that anyway, to catch a train.
I went back to my hotel room, very dejected and upset. Lousy ending to a good vacation. I called the Daystar Ministries prayer line and a lady answered the phone. I told her that I was returning from the Refreshing Times Conference in Fort Worth. I said that I'd just gotten off the Amtrak train in Chicago, and had lost my book bag on an overnight layover there. I told her what was in it and how I wanted it back. She assured me that God knew exactly where my book bag was, and we prayed about it. We prayed that God would send that book bag right back to me, supernaturally if need be.
The next morning I was up and off to the train station. I went back to the same office I'd been in the evening before (some sort of passenger service office). The lady told me that the person who ran the Lost and Found office was on vacation. I was upset. But they said that they would look in the back and see if it was there. They went in the back and then said it wasn't there. I went away, ate something, and then came back. They still said it wasn't there. I whined and complained. I hate to make a pest of myself, but sometimes it's the only way to undo your disasters. I asked if I could go in the back with them and see for myself, as I figured that I could recognize my stuff better than anybody else could. They said no, only employees are allowed back there.
I kept describing the thing to them and they said no, they hadn't seen it. Then I went out to the train tracks to talk to somebody about whether it was found on the Texas Eagle train. One black man tried to help me, calling out to the train on a phone. But in the end he sent me back to the same passenger service office where I was before.
So I went back there. I figured even if they didn't have my item, it might be therapeutic for me to whine about it, and maybe get some sympathy (if I could whine without being too obnoxious, quite a tightrope walk). I did this and described the item to the lady behind the desk. I had already described it several times before, but people would describe it back to me wrong.
Finally the woman said, "Wait a minute. What's your name?' I told her my name and she asked if I'd put an Amtrak name tag on it. I said I had. She said, " Wait here. I think I might be able to help you." She went back in the back room and came out carrying my book bag.
"That's it!" I squealed. She gave it to me and said that someone had brought it in from the train yard that morning. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I said.
Our prayers were answered.
I gathered all my stuff together and counted the number of items I had. Two suitcases, an overnight bag, my book bag, a back pack, and a purse. Six items in all. Seven if you count the cell phone case, but that was carried in my back pack. So only six items to keep track of. I counted them all constantly while waiting for my train, to make sure they were all there. Then I made sure all six items were with me, or at least in my sight, at all times. I didn't want to allow any of my things to grow legs and walk away. Hauling six large items to the ladies room is no small feat, but I didn't see any other way. Meanwhile I prayed that there would be no more disasters or crisis situations on the remainder of this trip.
It's important to eat lunch in the train station, since the Empire Builder train to Seattle, leaves Chicago too late in the afternoon to serve lunch. So I ate before the train left.
Then I got on the train for the last leg of the journey home. The train ride is half the fun. After counting all my stuff again, I settled into my roomette, and enjoyed looking out the window at the constantly changing scenery. The first night out, I slept well. I enjoyed the prairies and all the beauty it has to offer. I saw groups of pronghorn antelope. They were cool. Some of the train staff tell me that when the train passes through Glacier National Park, they have seen bears. Cool, I'd like to see a bear. But I don't get to see one. (Didn't pray about it though.) Oh well, I've seen bears in zoos. Nobody will admit to seeing a bigfoot. OK, give it up, Ceecee. It's not going to happen this trip.
Just before the second night, we entered the Rocky Mountains of Montana. It's beautiful. (No bigfoots anywhere within sight of the train though.) I didn't sleep well that night. The train went around the mountain curves real fast, startling me awake. No sooner would I drift off to sleep, when the train would zip around a curve, and the centrifugal force would startle me awake. I seem to remember this same problem the first night coming out. Now I'm having it the last night going back.
Then before I know it, I'm back in Seattle. Then my shuttle ride comes to pick me up, and I'm back in Kent (a small town outside of Seattle), where I live.
I deliberately used up or gave away all my food before I left for this trip. I didn't want to come home to deal with rotten food that had been sitting around two weeks while I was gone. So now I come home to an empty refrigerator, and I have to go grocery shopping to get some food in the house.
I also called Daystar Ministries and give them a praise report about finding my book bag. God really does answer prayer. Take note people. It looked really hopeless for a while there. But the Lord God came through.
Travel advice:
1. Count your items, bags, purses, suitcases, backpacks, etc. Make note of the number and recount frequently to make sure you have everything, especially when getting on or off the train (or bus, plane, car, taxi, or whatever you're traveling in).
2. If you can, put tags on ALL of your items with your name, address, and phone number on it. That way if you lose it, people will have an easier time getting it back to you.
3. Don't forget to pray. You're more vulnerable when away from familiar surroundings, so you need to rely on God's protection more.
The next day the train pulled into Chicago. I got off, but I forgot my book bag. I just didn't see it. There are so many things to carry that it's easy to forget one thing in the chaos of everybody getting off the train.
When I got to my Chicago hotel room, I noticed that it was missing and headed back to the train station to look for it. I wondered if they had a lost and found? I checked on that. That book bag had a lot of important notes, books, and other stuff in it. Most of it wasn't important to anybody except me. That's something in my favor. It wasn't as likely to get stolen. Now my laptop I was worried about, because those are a prime target for thieves. But my book bag? Nobody wants it--except me. I was upset to be without it. I walked all the way back to the train station, in a strange town, going on nothing but my sense of direction (good fortunately) and a crudely drawn map the hotel staff gave me. I was in a hurry and feeling guilty about passing up a bag lady's cup. I got to the train station and they directed me to a certain office. I was told the lost and found was closed and I'd have to come back in the morning. I was going to do that anyway, to catch a train.
I went back to my hotel room, very dejected and upset. Lousy ending to a good vacation. I called the Daystar Ministries prayer line and a lady answered the phone. I told her that I was returning from the Refreshing Times Conference in Fort Worth. I said that I'd just gotten off the Amtrak train in Chicago, and had lost my book bag on an overnight layover there. I told her what was in it and how I wanted it back. She assured me that God knew exactly where my book bag was, and we prayed about it. We prayed that God would send that book bag right back to me, supernaturally if need be.
The next morning I was up and off to the train station. I went back to the same office I'd been in the evening before (some sort of passenger service office). The lady told me that the person who ran the Lost and Found office was on vacation. I was upset. But they said that they would look in the back and see if it was there. They went in the back and then said it wasn't there. I went away, ate something, and then came back. They still said it wasn't there. I whined and complained. I hate to make a pest of myself, but sometimes it's the only way to undo your disasters. I asked if I could go in the back with them and see for myself, as I figured that I could recognize my stuff better than anybody else could. They said no, only employees are allowed back there.
I kept describing the thing to them and they said no, they hadn't seen it. Then I went out to the train tracks to talk to somebody about whether it was found on the Texas Eagle train. One black man tried to help me, calling out to the train on a phone. But in the end he sent me back to the same passenger service office where I was before.
So I went back there. I figured even if they didn't have my item, it might be therapeutic for me to whine about it, and maybe get some sympathy (if I could whine without being too obnoxious, quite a tightrope walk). I did this and described the item to the lady behind the desk. I had already described it several times before, but people would describe it back to me wrong.
Finally the woman said, "Wait a minute. What's your name?' I told her my name and she asked if I'd put an Amtrak name tag on it. I said I had. She said, " Wait here. I think I might be able to help you." She went back in the back room and came out carrying my book bag.
"That's it!" I squealed. She gave it to me and said that someone had brought it in from the train yard that morning. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I said.
Our prayers were answered.
I gathered all my stuff together and counted the number of items I had. Two suitcases, an overnight bag, my book bag, a back pack, and a purse. Six items in all. Seven if you count the cell phone case, but that was carried in my back pack. So only six items to keep track of. I counted them all constantly while waiting for my train, to make sure they were all there. Then I made sure all six items were with me, or at least in my sight, at all times. I didn't want to allow any of my things to grow legs and walk away. Hauling six large items to the ladies room is no small feat, but I didn't see any other way. Meanwhile I prayed that there would be no more disasters or crisis situations on the remainder of this trip.
It's important to eat lunch in the train station, since the Empire Builder train to Seattle, leaves Chicago too late in the afternoon to serve lunch. So I ate before the train left.
Then I got on the train for the last leg of the journey home. The train ride is half the fun. After counting all my stuff again, I settled into my roomette, and enjoyed looking out the window at the constantly changing scenery. The first night out, I slept well. I enjoyed the prairies and all the beauty it has to offer. I saw groups of pronghorn antelope. They were cool. Some of the train staff tell me that when the train passes through Glacier National Park, they have seen bears. Cool, I'd like to see a bear. But I don't get to see one. (Didn't pray about it though.) Oh well, I've seen bears in zoos. Nobody will admit to seeing a bigfoot. OK, give it up, Ceecee. It's not going to happen this trip.
Just before the second night, we entered the Rocky Mountains of Montana. It's beautiful. (No bigfoots anywhere within sight of the train though.) I didn't sleep well that night. The train went around the mountain curves real fast, startling me awake. No sooner would I drift off to sleep, when the train would zip around a curve, and the centrifugal force would startle me awake. I seem to remember this same problem the first night coming out. Now I'm having it the last night going back.
Then before I know it, I'm back in Seattle. Then my shuttle ride comes to pick me up, and I'm back in Kent (a small town outside of Seattle), where I live.
I deliberately used up or gave away all my food before I left for this trip. I didn't want to come home to deal with rotten food that had been sitting around two weeks while I was gone. So now I come home to an empty refrigerator, and I have to go grocery shopping to get some food in the house.
I also called Daystar Ministries and give them a praise report about finding my book bag. God really does answer prayer. Take note people. It looked really hopeless for a while there. But the Lord God came through.
Travel advice:
1. Count your items, bags, purses, suitcases, backpacks, etc. Make note of the number and recount frequently to make sure you have everything, especially when getting on or off the train (or bus, plane, car, taxi, or whatever you're traveling in).
2. If you can, put tags on ALL of your items with your name, address, and phone number on it. That way if you lose it, people will have an easier time getting it back to you.
3. Don't forget to pray. You're more vulnerable when away from familiar surroundings, so you need to rely on God's protection more.
Posted by Ceecee at 10/13/2009 8:00 PM 
Categories: Chicago, Amtrak trains, travel
Tags: Chicago. Amtrak trains travel
Categories: Chicago, Amtrak trains, travel
Tags: Chicago. Amtrak trains travel
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