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I'm very happy to report that my travel from Edmonds, Washington to Morristown, Tennessee via Huntington, West Virginia was a complete success and I'm now home with my family, none the worse for the wear.
The Empire Builder could not have been a more pleasant experience... on time, great food and the most pleasant car attendant (Cheryl) I've come across in years. I was in Roommette #12 on the bottom level and it was a very smooth ride... best sleep I've had in quite some time actually. I believe we even rolled into Chicago a few minutes early, so there was no problem making the connection to the Cardnial. Union Sation was a bit of a zoo and not at all what I remembered from many years back, but at least there was a train waiting there to take me to Huntington, WV! I did manage to lose my beloved University of Tennessee ball cap somewhere in all the madness of Union Station, but if that's the worst obstacle I came across it hardly feels fair to fuss... except that I loved that damn hat!
Got off a little late in Huntington and walked 15 minutes or so to the Hertz rental office and was off in no time. It did POUR the rain from about the Va/WV border, and although that's not the most pleasant driving conditions on I-81 (trucks trucks and then a few more trucks), I did make it home in one piece, much to the great surprise of my dad.
I'm taking a boring old airplane back to Seattle in a week or so, but it sure was nice to work in a bit of train time this trip.
Again, thanks to all for the advice and best wishes,
Sue
Posts: 31 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Apr 2006
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Glad you lets us know how things went. Call on us again sometime if you want to / need to.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Thanks for posting and letting us know how it went. We're happy to be of service.
Hopefully your Vols will take it easy on my beloved but battered Kentucky Wildcats this afternoon. (My driving by the outskirts of Morristown that I mentioned earlier was en route home from having been to Lexington for the Kentucky-Arkansas game last week!)
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Be sure to check your blood pressure as March Madness approaches, Mr. Presley.
Don't think it will be problem here this year (sure was during '05). I doubt if Illinois will even be invited to the dance. Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Well.....the Wildcats showed up and played above themselves this afternoon. They entered 15 point underdogs and left 3 point losers. Taking a page from the Cubbies, we're optimistic about next season but don't expect to make much more noise this year.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Mr. Pressley - I could have my True Vol Fan card revoked for saying this, but I really felt bad for Kentucky... they put up a terrific fight. My poor, weak dad literally had to leave the room he got so nervous! Even in the best of health he's a terrible Nervous Nellie during close games, so I was actually relieved he gave up and took to his bed.
Sojourner - Yes, I was in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago for a brief spell, but then I got restless and started wandering around. I called Amtrak and they gave me a general number for Lost & Found in Union Station. You call and leave a message with a description of your lost item and a phone number, but I've yet to do that. I've been pretty consumed with my folks since arriving here, so the lost hat has taken a backseat. I do plan to call though.
Enjoying being a barefoot hillbilly during this sunny and 75 degrees day, Sue
Posts: 31 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Apr 2006
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The Vols have an outstanding basketball team this year and the majority of Kentucky fans are hoping to see them make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Within the confines of the regular season the battles are heated but once the tournaments begin there is some pride in seeing conference rivals represent the SEC well on a national level.
Sounds like your fanhood was passed down from your father, as was mine!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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That's really great to hear that Kentucky fans will be behind the Vols in the tournament. I certainly have always cheered for any SEC team in contention for whatever.
I forgot to mention that I was so distraught about my silly hat, that Saturday when we returned the rental car to the Knoxville airport, I insisted on stopping at the UT bookstore and buying a new one. I wore it during the game, so now my family has instigated the "Sue must wear the new hat for all UT games" rule! OK, I will.
And yes, I definitely inherited my Vol fan status from my dad. Some of my fondest childhood memories are going to Tennessee basketball games… the Ernie and Bernie show… how fun were those days? But maybe my very favorite memories are going to football games in Knoxville with my dad. We used to go early so there would be time for a visit to the UT bookstore. I always LOVED paper and pens/pencils and a university bookstore was like Christmas morning to me. He’d turn me loose and I’d come home with what seemed like pure gold in the form of a few new pens and a new notebook. These memories are so close to the surface now as I watch my dad in the final stages of his life. Very good memories.
Go Vols… Go Cats!
Sue
Posts: 31 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Apr 2006
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Completely off-topic now - I hope our forum regulars will forgive me......
Time now with your dad is time to treasure and those UT memories will be so important to you as you navigate new landscape. You may recognize this on an intellectual level now but in time the memories you treasure will be a part of you that comes as naturally as breathing.
My dad was the first UK fan in our family. He had grown up in Western North Carolina but my mom had family in Kentucky and that's why we moved up there for a couple of years when my dad went to graduate school at UK. The Kentucky basketball games are something that we would roadtrip to after returning to North Carolina and something I enjoyed doing with my dad (who passed five years ago) as recently as 2000 or so. I caught the bug completely but continuing to follow the team now conjures memories which are more and more a treasure as time passes.
It was more than just basketball games but the whole experience of having a weekend adventure with my father. The last 40 years of my life have been measured in part by making regular drives from Mars Hill, NC to Lexington, KY (out through Greeneville and Bulls Gap down by Morristown and up over Clinch Mountain to Cumberland Gap and on up to Corbin. I am sure you know many of these places well.) My dad navigated this trip by restaurants that served a good country fried steak or great homemade pie with coffee and a fascination with each new section of 4-lane highway that had opened.
Now we're down to just the last handful of stretches of 2-lane road (and the last bastion between Clinch Mountain and Tazewell will fall soon) and one by one I've watched my dad's favorite restaurants become seedy and close then burn or get bulldozed or, worst of all, be replaced by Taco Bell's.
There's more to the story and it's mostly good but this is far enough to hijack the forum. I hope that there are more good train trips in your future and I wish you the very best in making this time count.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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David, you are so right. Thank you for reminding us that memories are so important as are family traditions.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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WOW!! What a great group we have!! We not only discuss trains, but we also discuss bagpipers, ponies, fluorescent lighting, and now college basketball!!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: WOW!! What a great group we have!! We not only discuss trains, but we also discuss bagpipers, ponies, fluorescent lighting, and now college basketball!!!! Keep up the good work!!!
You forgot country-fried steak (of the non-Amtrak special variety) and homemade pie! Anyone who has only had country-fried steak aboard an Amtrak train has not really had country-fried steak.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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What a wonderfully thoughtful post. It truly made my day. Thanks for that and to all the regulars for tolerating our off-topic musings.
It was especially fun to learn that you hail from Mars Hill. My family has a lot of roots in western North Carolina, mainly in Marshall. I mentioned your posts to my dad, and he perked right up at the mention of Mars Hill. He starting spouting Tilson family genealogy left and right! Turns out that his great uncle was very involved in getting Mars Hill College off the ground. Small world, hu? Heck, we might be related!
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts and memories.
Sue
P.S. Speaking of Bulls Gap, my brother buys homemade pimento cheese at some little store there … excellent stuff!
Posts: 31 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Apr 2006
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I also enjoy many of the "off topic musings" just because we have such a great group of folks on this forum. I will now forever associate Obama with CF bulbs, but does he really have a policy on bagpipes and ponies?.
As long as we feel just a little bit guilty about going off topic, it should definitely be allowed. And now to link myself to the SE college basketball discussion: I am so glad I can soon go back to being a college hoops fan again, because up here in frozen zip5 country we now have Tubby! (Ex-Kentucky coach Tubby Smith is now coaching my alma mater, Minnesota)
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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It is March after all. This is the time to talk about college basketball even for people who normally do not! To make a derby allusion, March is a whole lot more fun when you've got a horse in the race!
Tubby is a first rate bench coach and a person of significance (ie: a good guy). His ability to adjust a gameplan on the fly is uncanny.....as evidenced by Kentucky's upset of Duke in the 1998 NCAA tournament. Duke had gotten a little disorganized and squandered their last timeout with six minutes left in the game. Realizing this, Tubby did not use any of his timeouts and left Duke to dangle in the breeze as Kentucky came from 17 points behind to win in the final minute.....that was a great day to be a Kentucky fan. I would have liked nothing more than to see Tubby pull in a couple more prize recruits and mount another serious run at a national championship at Kentucky. I wish him much success at Minnesota although I do find it a little odd to see him wearing a maroon and gold tie on TV now.
Sue, my dad was a faculty member at Mars Hill College for 34 years.....that's why this place is home. We've known some Tilsons over the years but don't know if there is any relation. Our family goes back to Pressleys and Brysons in Haywood, Jackson, and Macon Counties. I'm not associated with the college myself other than sending them a student from time to time....I'm a high school guidance counselor in real life. Every now and then I manage a truly thoughtful post.....I've been practicing on teen-agers for close to twenty years!
Have a great day folks....
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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WAAAYOT Mr. Presley, but how often have your student/clients ask if you have any relationship to Elvis?
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: WAAAYOT Mr. Presley, but how often have your student/clients ask if you have any relationship to Elvis?
Rarely these days. Happened more often when I was fresh out of college in the 1980's. I think it's generational in that Elvis had been dead (supposedly) for 12-15 years already when our current students were born. Of course my screen name, notelvis, first appeared as part of an email address in 1994 so it was more a topic at that time.
To wind back toward topic just a little, I find it really odd that when I recently booked a spring break Amtrak trip (using Guest Reward Points) from San Diego to MEMPHIS, the young lady completing my booking took my number and travel request. She then checked my name, mailing address, and email address at least twice. At no point did she connect 'notelvis', Pressley, and Memphis and make a comment on that. I had expected that she would and was a little letdown when she did not.
For the record, I do not belive there is any connection to THAT Elvis.......even though I did live in Memphis for a year back in 1983.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I know what you mean, David! I STILL am often called "the one-armed man" after all these MANY years since that popular TV show starring a character named Richard Kimble hit the air waves! (even though my name is Kimmel, not Kimble) --aaaarggggh!! And I still HATE being called that name!!!! It about drove me crazy in high school, when that show was on the air.....
--"Railroad Rich" Kimmel
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Railroad Rich... LOOK... OVER THERE!!! A TRAIN!!!!!!
{Ok, folks... now that he's distracted... Any time anyone meets RRRich, you MUST ask him if he knows of an old TV show about a one armed man that had a character with his name... Shhhh... he's coming back...}
Sorry RRRich... My mistake... it was a bird.
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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quote:Originally posted by railrev: This thread was a very enjoyable read. Not every forum would appreciate the benefit of being off copic for a while.
Last SEC comment: Any chance UT will claim two championships in March Madness?
Not sure.......if they get a 1 seed Tennessee has a great chance......depending on who else is in their bracket. If they have to play a North Carolina or a Duke just to get to the final four, it's hard to say.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Oh, Mike.........!!! I KNEW I shouldn't have mentioned that old TV show again!!!!!!! What say we get back to discussing college basketball or ponies or bagpipers or something, eh? (maybe even trains)
--Railroad Rich
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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