Did you stop at Galesburg, Illinois, earlier that day? That's where my alma mater is located. We used to hop the Zephyr to and from Chicago. Did you enjoy that long train ride?

I don’t remember stopping at all - but I just checked and this was taken at 6:58am - so that’s why! It seems like a very rural place to have gone to college - but hopping on to go on to Chicago sounds perfect.
The Zephyr trip was pretty fun, with amazing scenery and, for me, who had never driven across the country, it gave a new, powerful understanding of how vast this country is.
Interesting people and pretty good food - but towards the end it got to be a bit too much sitting,
It would have been really perfect to have been able to get off for a couple of hours a day!

When I was a boy, I used to love taking overnight train trips to and from New Orleans to visit my mom's family. We've considered taking the train to Boston to visit the kids. Maybe this year.