Another Adventure

I am really starting to enjoy travelling! I remember when I took my first plane flight--only a year ago! I was fascinated by the process. Since January 2006 I have flown three times---and loved each moment. There is something truly exhilarating and thrilling about being several thousand miles up in the air. I can't quite explain it, but it is kindof, well, peaceful.

A couple of weeks ago, I started another adventure. This one is the far opposite extreme of flying.....for it is quite near the ground! Riding the train. I finally got my lesson schedule set up for the next few months. In order to make it downtown within a reasonable amount of time--and without driving in rush-hour traffic--I have to take the train.

Now let, me explain a little bit. Chicago has an abnormal amount of train travel options. There is the Metra, the Blue Line, the Pink Line, the Brown Line, the Orange Line, and the Red Line (and who knows how many other lines). There may be a Green Line too! Each professes to be the fastest. Don't believe them. The L moves faster than the Metra, but it also stops more than the Metra. So, in short, it takes the same amount of time. You just have to determine which option works best for you.

For me, it was the Blue Line, which I took for the first time about two weeks ago. And hence my life, continues to never have a dull moment! I found out about my lesson time on a Sunday night. So I thought---"Good, I have several days to figure this out!" I even called CTA. The woman gave me the whole SHPEEL: "Board the Metra at 7:17 am, get downtown at 8:23, walk 1 mile from Union Station to Roosevelt or catch PACE number blah, or blah, or blah--or you could take a taxi." I thought-----yeah right! So I asked about the Blue Line. Now get this. The woman told me if I boarded at 8:11, I would be downtown by 8:20. I asked her three times about this and oh yes, these were the times. I thought, "Wow! Quick trip!" She even went so far as to tell me that the walk from the Blue Line Station would be a plesant 4 block walk since I was walking with the wind and not against it! How is that for service?!

So, I thought I was ready to go! I got up the morning of my lesson, got ready, had my breakfast, and headed out the door. What a day! Instead of 25 minutes to get to the train station--it took me 40 minutes. The sun was so bright, I could barely see, and I took a wrong turn.

I finally made it to the station and parked my car. I then proceeded to pay for my parking by following a young man up to the pay machine who looked like he knew what he was doing--for I did not! I tried very hard to get my dollar bills to go into the machine; but dog-gone-it, they just wouldn't go. MY LUCK! I finally figured out that it was because the one I was trying to stuff in was ever so slightly folded at the top. So, as I began digging in my billfold for another one, I became increasingly aware that the line behind me was getting rather long. I quickly paid for my parking, then moved on. As I headed through the door of the station building, I heard this high voice squeak out, "HI." I saw no one, so I just kept walking. I walked all the way down to the turnstile and became very confused. Where was I supposed to get a ticket? So I turned around and walked right back out the door of the station. I walked over to the little window from which the voice came from. Inside was "the voice." There, in a small cubby-hole, sat a Dunkin Donuts salesgirl! As pitifully as I could sound, I asked, "Could you please tell me where to buy a ticket?" She pointed me back inside. So I went back inside. I ended up asking a security guard for some help. It took him 5 minutes to figure out what I was doing. He tried to sell me so many train tickets it was ridiculous. There was a 70 dollar pass, a 30 day pass, a 10 ride pass, and something called the Chicago Card. By the time all was said and done, I just purchased a round ticket for the day and went to board the train. Oh yes, and I should mention trying to figure out which way the transit card fit into the turnstile slot. Need I say more?!

So I boarded at 8:05. The Blue Line made 18 stops along the way. I got off the train Downtown at 9:06 for a 9:00 lesson, then had to walk a couple blocks. Granted, it is a fabulous walk, but not when you have no clue where you are.

So I stopped in the first building I saw (not that finding buildings is a hard thing to do Downtown Chicago). How ironic that the building I chose was the department for Homeland Security! But the security guard was so nice. Told me right where to go. Needless to say, I showed up 20 minutes late to my first lesson.

When I got back to the Rosemont Station, from which I had left early that morning, I made a bee-line for the Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee. I felt that I deserved one! Trying to get out of the CTA parking lot was another huge ordeal---but the mission was eventually accomplished. And believe it or not, I arrived home quite safe from my excursion---albeit 6 hours after I originally left my home---a little tired and with a splitting head-ache..............but nonetheless feeling rather successful about the days events. I had conquered yet another adventure!