03.05.07
Off I go to Montana
Amtrak’s Chicago-to-Seattle-and-Portland Train No. 7, the Empire Builder, cruises past the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Mt. Next door is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe helper engine yard, where locomotives couple to the rear of long eastbound freights to boost them over Marias Pass.
Today at 2:39 p.m. I’ll be boarding Amtrak’s Empire Builder at Glenview, Illinois, for another writing trip, heading across the top of the country for Essex, Montana, on the western edge of Glacier National Park. I’ll be staying at the Izaak Walton Inn, my favorite trainspotter’s perch and writer’s retreat.
With luck I’ll get a good chunk of writing into the laptop on a couple of literary projects.
The inn has wireless Internet, but I’ve had trouble with it in the past, so this may be the last blog entry until I get back Saturday. If the connection is good, I’ll post trip reports when I can.
For details on the Builder and the Izaak Walton, see the 1/12/07 entry in this blog.
