Halli's Journal

30th Sept.. Beth Craig and I got up very early and they drove me to the train station..  and we said good bys.. Hopefully to meet up in Chicago for a night of fun before I fly back to the uk next Thursday.. we have some planning to do there but we can take that in our stride and all will be great..  The first train took me to Chicago where I had a cuople of hours before the train to Oregon..  I stepped out of the station for a bit and WOW.. it is a huge and scarey city.. with so much hustle and bustle..  a couple of homeless folk asked for some change which made me feel right at home and a smiley bald man said he loved my hair.. 'what hair' is what I thought.. but it is growing steadily and Beth and Craig were noticing the  progress day by day..  I no longer feel that I need a wig and don't think I will ever wear it again.. whooopieee.. a liberated bonce at last..  The clothes I bought with Beth were to suit my new look and I feel happier and more confident now with how I am..  I've had problems using my credit card in the US.. and went into a huge bank to try to sort it out.  the ATM machine there did accept it so managed to get some cash out.. phew..

The train to Oregon was HUGE.. spacious inside.. a double decker and I settled myself down for a 48hr journey across the width of North ,America.  I had a magazine, two crossword puzzle books and three books to read.. and guess what.. I didn't open a single one of these as I didn't want to miss anything along the way.. 

I was transported across the states if Illinois, Winsconsin, Minesota, North Decota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and into Oregon.  The scenery was spectacular. Vast areas of desert like crops, with astounding colours of oranges, yellows, reds, greens and the bluest waters.. sometimes appearing like a rainbow effect tapestry..  occasionally a woden shack would appear in the wildernes.. sometimes derelict and sometimes inhabited homesteads.. small farm buildings and I wondered how people could live in such remote places.  The trees in the East had turned to golden, red, orange, acid bright yellows and lime greens.. and the further west were still green and yet to change..  As we crossed N. Decota the scenery showed some dusty hills and plateaus.. like in the old westerns..  Then I discovered that we would be going through the Rocky Mountains.. I didn't know that was coming and got very excited..  It was so out of this world to see the vast range of mountains, first at a distance then pine forests, lakes and rivers..  We took a very windy track through the Rockies at a very slow pace.. narrow tracks with towering walls of forest either side of the train..  There were stops along the way.. log cabins and lodges..  I saw dear.. but no bears.. then it became dark half way through..

I met lots of interesting people on the train too..  all friendly and wanting to talk and share their stories, exchange views and to pass some time with others.. I loved that part of it..  One woman, with serious lung problems, wanted to drive me across America in her car, as she had nothing to do and was alone in the world.  A young girl had lost her miother to breast cancer a year ago and fell n love with my accent.. She got off whilst I was asleep and left me some gom and lovely note with her phone number..  A rather dishy guy wanted to know all about the UK.. and to tell me all he could about the US in the time we had.. we set the whole world to rights and he was like having a guide to tell me what was coming up and knew so much.. I loved meeting fold and learning and sharing so much..  so many others too.. the 17 yr old who was leaving his home town for the first time and told me stories of his life.. and when he rode a goat..  What a fabulous way to see the country and to meet people with time to talk..

The train was comfortable enough with a restaurant, a bar and a lounge with huge viewing windows.. where we could meet others, people played guitars and sang funny songs, played cards..  The train gards were all characters too and made us as comfortable as they could.  There were fourty one stops and sometimes we could get off and stretch our legs.. I saw every type of station along the way and such a range of life styles and cultures.. including and indian area..  all sorts of people getting on and off for all sorts of different reasons..  approaching Oregon we could see what a green an beautiful state it was.. the landscape became increasingly more interesting..  It seems to be a very special place and folks are very proud of it..  

We got to Portland early and I saw Lindamae pull up in the car park.. I knew it was her straight away and we hugged and greeted eachother like the old and familiar friends that we are.. no surprises just a wonderful, warm friend that I was so happy to be with..  It's late now and I will write about our first day together tomorrow...  Sweetest love hugs and dreams to all our friends..  from Mac and Lindamaes lovely home...  Inka xxx