The Adventure

So, one summer Hannah and I decided to go to Nauvoo. We were faced with three travel options: bus, train, plane. The bus was definitely out, and we basically decided to just fly across the country, even though we'd have to fly to an airport about 5 hours away from our destination city.

THEN someone (probably me) had the genius thought: "Wait a minute. Neither of us has ever been on a train. A train would be an adventure! We have to take the train." So...we purchased two round-trip train tickets to Burlington, Iowa (the Burlington station was only about 30 minutes away from Nauvoo, so that aspect was easier than flying).

The date of our departure came. We thought we were so prepared for this adventure. But I think we forgot we were taking the train. It was a 30+ hour ride to Nauvoo. No stops (besides those we ended up having in the middle of nowhere because the train's brakes were having issues). We had brought enough food--by food, I mean chips and candy--but we failed to think about other practical aspects like our toothbrushes, washcloths, fresh clothes, etc...those we left packed in our big suitcases.

We also were surprised to discover that scary people ride trains. We got on at 4 AM and there were two guys who wouldn't stop staring at us. We feigned sleep so we wouldn't have to talk to them. I don't think we slept more than a few hours the whole ride because we were so scared and uncomfortable.

Once we got to Nauvoo, I called my parents and asked them to buy me a plane ticket home. They said I had to finish the adventure the way I had planned. Luckily, two weeks later Hannah and I were so sleep deprived that we slept for probably 75% of the journey home. Or something like that. Anyway, it was better.

So, it was an adventure. Just a scary and uncomfortable one. But an adventure nonetheless.

This picture was taken at the Burlington station right after we got off the train. We were trying to look excited. We were really relieved to be off the train. And we look tired, because we were exhausted.