Since just one weekend in Chicago was not enough for me, I decided to do one of my semi-regular day trips into Chicago four weeks after the Gathering. For these, I usually bus in since it's a lot cheaper and fits better with my schedule than the Empire Builder is. (I try and make up for it by taking plenty of rail trips while in Chicago, though.) This one would be a bit bigger, though, as SarahZ was going to meet up with me in Chicago and join on the trips for the day, which included a ride in the dome car!
I started by driving to Minneapolis, parking in Ramp C, and weaving my way through the parking ramp to get to the shelter where Megabus picks up at. I found about 10 people already there (I was about 45 minutes early) and so waited outside for a bit (as I wanted to talk on the phone for a bit without being that guy.) Once done on the phone, I ducked back inside and waited for the bus. The bus was on-time, and I got a pair of seats in the upper right-hand side of bus, right in front of the panoramic windows. As dangerous as they might be, there's not much that beats the view outside of that window coming into Chicago.
The bus left on time at 10:30 PM, I fell asleep within a few minutes, and the bus stopped in Mauston, WI at a Pilot/Wendy's combo (Megabus is a fan of Pilot gas stations, I've found) for a rest/rejuvenation break around 2 AM. I got myself a small burger, fries, pop, and a frosty. All was good for gas station fare, but I would've preferred a diner meal given the choice. After the rest stop, we drove for another hour until Madison. I dabbled in sleep but never could truly fall asleep. SarahZ (who I was meeting up with later in the day) also was awake, because she started messaging me back when I gave her a quick status update.
In Madison I got a seatmate, and so I had to un-sprawl my stuff. I then curled up into a ball and tried to sleep, going in and out of sleep for about two hours until I stayed permanently awake just north of Chicago. Despite hitting some construction, the bus arrived downtown only about 10 minutes late (6:50 AM.) This left plenty of time to wash up in the station before catching the Carl Sandburg south to Plano, IL. I met up with Sarah just outside of the bus and then went into the station, printed tickets, and then I dipped into the bathroom to change/wash my face/etc.
Once that was accomplished, we were close to boarding time. Rather uneventful, if I remember, and within a few minutes we were boarded and moving on our way to Plano. The train wasn't too full, and so we had our choice of seats. At one of the first stops we saw another family get on who had the same idea we did: go to Plano and do the turn to catch the dome car coming into Chicago. We started talking with them, and they tipped us off to a place that they were also going to eat at for breakfast in Plano. I rather liked this idea, as I hadn't ate yet. We kept chugging along and made it to Plano roughly on-time. The weather was a tad drizzly, if I remember correctly, but nothing bad.
We went over to the restaurant (can't remember the name, sorry!) and were able to be seated right away. The other family had called ahead, but we didn't. Despite that, we were able to be served right away and we let them know that we may need to eat pretty fast. They were accomodating and made sure that both of us were well fed. I had an omelette which was very filling and just had water to drink, while Sarah had pop, cereal, and fruit, if I remember correctly. We settled up at the counter, though I may have been overcharged by $1, not sure. I wasn't too worried about it.
There was no need to rush, though, as the train was running about 20 minutes late. We had time to explore the station, which had a museum in it showcasing their role as the external set for Man of Steel, one of the Superman movies. Interesting history, but a small museum so could be easily seen over our small layover. The train came in, and we all took pictures. I got a nice picture with Google helpfully cropped for me and made it look a bit nicer (though in the left corner you can see the kid's head cut off.)
More to come later! (I didn't proof any of this, otherwise I'd never get it done.)
I started by driving to Minneapolis, parking in Ramp C, and weaving my way through the parking ramp to get to the shelter where Megabus picks up at. I found about 10 people already there (I was about 45 minutes early) and so waited outside for a bit (as I wanted to talk on the phone for a bit without being that guy.) Once done on the phone, I ducked back inside and waited for the bus. The bus was on-time, and I got a pair of seats in the upper right-hand side of bus, right in front of the panoramic windows. As dangerous as they might be, there's not much that beats the view outside of that window coming into Chicago.
The bus left on time at 10:30 PM, I fell asleep within a few minutes, and the bus stopped in Mauston, WI at a Pilot/Wendy's combo (Megabus is a fan of Pilot gas stations, I've found) for a rest/rejuvenation break around 2 AM. I got myself a small burger, fries, pop, and a frosty. All was good for gas station fare, but I would've preferred a diner meal given the choice. After the rest stop, we drove for another hour until Madison. I dabbled in sleep but never could truly fall asleep. SarahZ (who I was meeting up with later in the day) also was awake, because she started messaging me back when I gave her a quick status update.
In Madison I got a seatmate, and so I had to un-sprawl my stuff. I then curled up into a ball and tried to sleep, going in and out of sleep for about two hours until I stayed permanently awake just north of Chicago. Despite hitting some construction, the bus arrived downtown only about 10 minutes late (6:50 AM.) This left plenty of time to wash up in the station before catching the Carl Sandburg south to Plano, IL. I met up with Sarah just outside of the bus and then went into the station, printed tickets, and then I dipped into the bathroom to change/wash my face/etc.
Once that was accomplished, we were close to boarding time. Rather uneventful, if I remember, and within a few minutes we were boarded and moving on our way to Plano. The train wasn't too full, and so we had our choice of seats. At one of the first stops we saw another family get on who had the same idea we did: go to Plano and do the turn to catch the dome car coming into Chicago. We started talking with them, and they tipped us off to a place that they were also going to eat at for breakfast in Plano. I rather liked this idea, as I hadn't ate yet. We kept chugging along and made it to Plano roughly on-time. The weather was a tad drizzly, if I remember correctly, but nothing bad.
We went over to the restaurant (can't remember the name, sorry!) and were able to be seated right away. The other family had called ahead, but we didn't. Despite that, we were able to be served right away and we let them know that we may need to eat pretty fast. They were accomodating and made sure that both of us were well fed. I had an omelette which was very filling and just had water to drink, while Sarah had pop, cereal, and fruit, if I remember correctly. We settled up at the counter, though I may have been overcharged by $1, not sure. I wasn't too worried about it.
There was no need to rush, though, as the train was running about 20 minutes late. We had time to explore the station, which had a museum in it showcasing their role as the external set for Man of Steel, one of the Superman movies. Interesting history, but a small museum so could be easily seen over our small layover. The train came in, and we all took pictures. I got a nice picture with Google helpfully cropped for me and made it look a bit nicer (though in the left corner you can see the kid's head cut off.)
More to come later! (I didn't proof any of this, otherwise I'd never get it done.)
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