Traveling by train requires patience. If you can hardly handle a four hour flight because you just want to be where you are going already, trains are not for you. Taking the train makes the actual traveling as important as the destination.
So, taking that into consideration, I was not surprised when the train was two hours late getting to the Salem train station. It helped that Amtrak told me from the start is was going to be a 25 hour journey from point A to point B. In addition, the train plods along at about 40 miles per hour (at least it seems, haven't looked it up). The slow speed is great for looking at the scenery but not that spectacular for helping the time pass.
One the train finally arrived in Salem at about 5:30pm , I went to one of the cars where I was assigned an aisle seat. I had checked two bags (one of which is my first bag moving home) and had a backpack as a carry on. My plan was to listen to all the Beethoven symphonies in order and so as the train pulled away from Salem, I pressed play and got comfortable, knowing it was going to be quite a while before I made it to Reno.
