I won’t lie to you.  You will not get your best night sleep ever when riding coach on a train. Our car quieted down starting around 9:30pm. I read in the dark (the glowing iPad is useful in this circumstance) while waiting for the two women behind us (the only people still talking) to shut the #@%@ up! (Pant pant.  Excuse me. I value my sleep.)

When I finished the book I was reading (“Alanna,” by Tamara Pierce—I’m trying to get a sense of YA fiction), I switched to an audible version of “Monster Hunters Vendetta,” by Larry Correia, on my iPhone.  I was asleep within 30 seconds, which is not intended as a slam on the novel, which was entertaining enough. I woke up after a bit, realized I’d missed a chunk of the story, and turned it off.

Naturally, I couldn’t get back to sleep after that. Without Owen Zastava Pitt to distract me, I became all too aware that the seat reclined at the perfect angle to send me on a slow slide toward the footrest. At the best of times, the footrest ended mid-calf, leaving my feet dangling off the end. Without occasional vigilance, I might find myself oozing off the end and onto the floor. I began to suspect that my feet would be asleep long before the rest of me.

Eventually, I found a position I could live with and dozed off for a bit, enjoying the gentle sway of the passenger car.  Around 1:00am, the train pulled into the station in Spokane, Washington. The sudden quiet and stillness was too much for me.  I woke up and, energized by my little power nap, wandered downstairs to inspect the washrooms. The door to the train was hanging wide open and people were lounging outside, enjoying a smoke and the night air (assuming you can do both of those at the same time).  I chatted with our car’s attendant and a passenger who was heading for Cleveland while we waited for the Portland train to arrive.  Our train would pick up a lounge car and a couple of passenger cars from the other train before heading east.  I waited a while, wanting to see the exchange, but the Portland train was running late, so I headed back to “bed” to try to sleep some more.  Apparently I managed to pass out — I didn’t feel a thing when the train was reconstructed.

Next thing I remember, it was getting light outside, giving me an excuse to get up for the day. I think I managed four or five hours, altogether.  That was enough, considering the novelty of the whole experience.