Jo Walton ([info]papersky) wrote,
@ 2004-10-01 11:10:00
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Now here's my plan...
It's still a crazy plan, and involves taking Z out of school for two weeks, but we're really going to do it.

World Fantasy Con, in Tempe, Arizona -- by train


This is the plan that everything should go according to, if you know what I mean.

Zorinth and I leave Montreal at 09h50 on Saturday 23rd October, arriving in Schenectady at an Amtrak estimated 16h23, for a connection to Chicago that leaves at 18h30.

(For some reason the Amtrak web page gives times, most confusingly, in folksy am/pm time. While this makes a great deal of sense for casual conversation, it seems a little strange that they havn't figured out that it's mad for a timetable. Not for the last time in using their web page, I mutter: "Not only could I run a railway better than this, I have!" Reminding myself sternly that Railroad Tycoon is only a game, I've translated the times into 24 hour for sensible understanding.)

If anyone would like to meet us in Schenectady station (where the ideas come from) with a picnic, we wouldn't mind at all. In fact, we'd be delighted.

Train leaves Schenectady (which, incidentally and to my great surprise the first time I went there, is pronounced to fit to "Schenectady, Schenectady, there's nowhere like Schenectady...") at 18h30, and arrives in Chicago at an estimated 08.55 on the morning of Sunday 24th. We're going to meet Cally there, and go to museums. AM says we mustn't miss the Seurat picture "La Grande Jete". Other people say we mustn't miss the museum of Science and Industry. Cally says she knows where things are. Later in the day, we're going to meet up with [info]beamjockey and [info]tanac and hopefully [info]whythorse. We're going to stay the night at [info]beamjockey's.

On Monday 25th, we may do some things in Chicago in the morning. One of them should involve buying food for the train. We leave at 15h15 and have a massive 31h41 minute trip to Flagstaff, arriving there at an estimated 20h56 on Tuesday 26th.

We're going to stay that night in a hotel I found online, the Hotel Monte Vista which looks like something Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might stay in. It's at the centre of Historic Flagstaff, and it's Arizona's premier historic hotel, built in an astonishingly ancient 1926. I thought Minneapolis was new -- this is like going to another planet.

On Wednesday 27th, sometime in daylight, [info]grumpywitch is hoping to be able to drive us to Tempe, where we'll stay the night with [info]dichroic. Wednesday is also my insurance day against Amtrak completely screwing up and being up to 24 hours late.

The con starts on Thursday 28th, and we're going to share a room with [info]sartorias and her kid. This will be cool. I'll also get to see lots of people, including [info]kijjohnson and [info]sdn, [info]marykaykare, [info]chance8808, [info]stevendj, [info]msagara, [info]pnh, [info]tnh and maybe [info]snofbabe, not to mention lots of other people. On the Sunday there will be the Awards Banquet, for which I am going to wear the dress I bought in January to replace my previous dress, which was getting shabby. I'm also going to wear the crown [info]elisem made me, because honestly, how often do you get the chance to wear a crown?

On the Sunday evening, [info]grumpywitch will take us back to Flagstaff, where we'll stay in that amazing orange hotel again. On the Monday morning, November 1st, we're taking a train at 06h27, which gets into Chicago at 15h20 on Tuesday 2nd -- and the rest of you who are US citizens, don't forget to vote. We leave Chicago again at 19h35 -- time to buy food in between I hope -- and arrive at Albany at 12h30 the next day, Wednesday 3rd. In Albany, we'll meet [info]katenepveu and leave our bags in her office while we go to a museum, then spend the night with her and [info]orzelc. Thursday 4th, we get a train from Albany at 10h55 that's due into Montreal at 18h30.

On Friday 5th, and subsequently for a little while, we will rest.

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[info]autographedcat
2004-10-01 08:14 am UTC (link)
Wow, that sounds all sorts of keen.

Have a great time!!

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[info]shsilver
2004-10-01 08:18 am UTC (link)
Actually I think that the Field Museum is a better stop than science and industry. Ten years ago, I would have been of the opposite opinion. If possible, I'd like to join you while you're in Chicago.

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[info]tanaise
2004-10-01 08:21 am UTC (link)
If it's not on your plan already, I recommend the Art Institute of Chicago, which has some really lovely impressionist pieces, including Caillebotte's Rainy Afternoon in Paris, and a magnificent huge painting of poppies. Actually, I think it's a really lovely museum in general, and along with a handful of other museums I've been to in the past few years (the national gallery, the Tate) totally spoiled me for the MFA here in boston.

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[info]pnh
2004-10-01 09:41 am UTC (link)
The Art Institute of Chicago completely rocks, and it's just a few blocks from the train station. Strongly recommended.

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Art Institute distance from train
[info]romsfuulynn
2004-10-01 07:55 pm UTC (link)
Umm. It is a few blocks but they are LONG blocks, a short cab ride, therefore. I work exactly halfway between the train station and the Art Institute and come into that train station every day.

(I believe it is slightly over a mile.

If you are looking for prepared take out food to take on the train, I would highly recommend Cafe Baci of which there are several. You would pass by one if you were walking (across the street from my office in the Federal Building.)

Oh, and between the train and the Art Museum you will find a Calder sculpture, if he appeals to you.

With only one day I really don't know what to suggest. Art Institute, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, and not yet mentioned, the Shedd Aquarium, which has otters and moray eels and (small) whales and many other delights. Oh, and the Observatory.

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[info]bibliotrope
2004-10-01 08:23 am UTC (link)
Most people in the U.S. haven't made the leap to 24-hour time. (Oh, and while on the subject, note that the switch from daylight [or summer] to standard time will be made at 2 a.m. October 31 on this side of the border. Arizona doesn't observe daylight time at all, but most other states do. You may need to know that for your trip.)

I am jealous of your trip and happy for you and Zorinth that you will get to see so much of the U.S. and so many cool people.

Have a great time at the con!

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[info]papersky
2004-10-01 08:32 am UTC (link)
People, sure, people are happy with two lots of 12 hours. People can figure out from context what half-past-seven means. But timetables? When you're running a timetable over such a huge country, with thirty hour trips? Crazy.

Thanks for the thought on savings time. I haven't even figured time zones, but I've made a note.

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[info]dd_b
2004-10-01 08:53 am UTC (link)
Well, *I* got used to 24hr time as a kid using trains in Europe, and then that got reinforced when I started playing with computers in 1968.

But most Americans simply don't know what the notation means. People who sneak a peak at my watch usually just look puzzled in the afternoons and evenings. So any discussion of whether it makes more sense because of the size of the network and the length of the trips, etc., is moot; 24hr notation simply isn't in play.

None of the US airline sites I remember using use 24hr time, either.

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[info]yhlee
2004-10-01 10:25 am UTC (link)
*bemused* I use 24-hour time on my computer clock, and my husband's watch uses 24-hour time. I like the easy disambiguation in comparison to 12-hour time.

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[info]pnh
2004-10-01 09:44 am UTC (link)
It's actually even better than that. Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Savings time. The Navajo reservation, which comprises much of the northeastern quadrant of Arizona, does. Because the Navajo do, the Hopi, whose reservation is an archipelago of mesa tops scattered throughout the Navajo reservation, don't.

In an ideal world Jo would get to visit one of the Hopi villages, like Third Mesa, which has a sign as you go in reading "Founded 976." Much like home for Jo.

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[info]casacorona
2004-10-01 10:34 am UTC (link)
Second Mesa has a hotel that is spartan but quite reasonable. And if they like your looks and you aren't an asshole, they'll let you wander into Old Oraibi and look around. No cameras, though.

Jo, you'll see me and Tappan, too!

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[info]fairmer
2004-10-01 08:24 am UTC (link)
Oh! I'm jealous of many things in your plan, not the least of which is visiting [info]dichroic.

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[info]dichroic
2004-10-01 09:04 am UTC (link)
Aw, shucks.

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[info]kate_nepveu
2004-10-01 08:25 am UTC (link)
There is an off chance we could do something cooler on Wednesday, and if that works I'd ditch work that afternoon.

Z is okay with the couch again?

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[info]papersky
2004-10-01 08:28 am UTC (link)
After a couple of days in a train, I should think we'd be happy with floor, as long as it kept still.

If we could do something cooler, so much the better.

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[info]kate_nepveu
2004-10-01 08:31 am UTC (link)
Hah. Yes.

I will see about the cooler thing. I don't know if it's going to work, hence the unspecified nature.

Oh, and Chicago museums! Stained glass museum at the Navy Pier, really so very cool--we went to more museums than you could shake a stick at in Chicago last summer and that was still my favorite.

(Thirty Tiffany windows! I want to go back all over again. Isn't Chicago bidding for a Worldcon?)

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[info]shsilver
2004-10-01 09:05 am UTC (link)
Yes, we are. Chicago in 2008, although the page needs to be updated. Dina is no longer the bid chair due to health concerns.

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[info]kate_nepveu
2004-10-01 08:32 am UTC (link)
Pfui. The proper trip report link: http://www.livejournal.com/users/kate_nepveu/23079.html

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[info]oracne
2004-10-01 08:25 am UTC (link)
What an adventure. Have fun!

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[info]robling_t
2004-10-01 08:31 am UTC (link)
Too bad the Chicago layover's not a Tuesday, the Art Institute is free on Tuesdays... ;) Do let us know if there's any room in the schedule for "meeting random LJ people"-friendly sorts of events while you're in town?

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[info]king_tirian
2004-10-01 08:33 am UTC (link)
1) *chuckle* Amtrak is lucky to continue to have government support. Imagine what would happen if Congress found out that they were thinking of going to a (gasp!) EUROPEAN-style timetable. You'd be hitchhiking back from Arizona because they'd cut funding that quickly.

2) Schenectady, like most city names in western New York, is fun to say. The Iroquois had some great style there. If you want to be folksy, you can call it Sconnect-da-dots, as they seem to do at RPI. It's a bit far for me, but I'll wave when I hear the train whistle in Rochester.

3) According to my sister-in-law, you need to create opportunities to wear a crown. Tiara therapy, she calls it. Embrace it.

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[info]fidelioscabinet
2004-10-01 09:03 am UTC (link)
What's two weeks in school, compared to the opportunity to see just how big a continent is? Plus the geology and cactus and stuff.

It's a shame there's no time for pueblos. Those would be up to your standards of "old". Doubtless you have been told about the Heard Museum in Phoenix, though.
It's also a shame the U-505 exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry is closed. I remember seeing it when I was 9 or 10, and feeling cramped. How could grown men have managed it?

Does the Field Museum still have the mammoth and the gem collection out for display?

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[info]ex_erikvolso370
2004-10-01 09:14 am UTC (link)
Yes.

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[info]ex_erikvolso370
2004-10-01 09:21 am UTC (link)
A few notes.

Amtrack timetables are at best guesses. Most of the long-haul trains run on rented track -- most of that is freight. If the big freight is on the track, Amtrack gets delayed. This happens all the time.

Chicago is bigger than it looks. Just because the building is "right over there" doesn't mean it isn't a mile or so walk away. Be aware of that.

If I had to pick one museum, it would be the Art Institute, with the Feild Museum of Natural History a close second place.

If you have the time, and the weather cooperates, go to Navy Pier, walk to the end, and watch the sunset. Then check out the stained glass museum in the Pier.

Finally, the new, and very late to open Millenium Park is very, very cool.

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[info]rushthatspeaks
2004-10-01 09:27 am UTC (link)
Given what experience I have with Amtrak, it sounds as though you've figured in enough time. Mind you, Amtrak once put me on a bus for a short while in Ohio because the track was simply clogged for the foreseeable future with freight. However, I got the impression that this was a last-minute, emergency, fall-on-our-swords-by-way-of-apology measure, so it's pretty unlikely.

Yay trains! You've definitely picked one of the more pleasant ways to do it, and it sounds like you're both going to have a great time.

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[info]pyrzqxgl
2004-10-01 09:57 am UTC (link)
Wahoo!

As a child in Madison I used to love the Museum of Science and Industry, but as I haven't been back for 30 years I have no idea what it's like now.

I made myself some somewhat-low-key mylar-stars circlet crowns in different colors that I wear in parades and at some parties, but I'm sure yours must be really amazing.

Have a wonderful time!

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[info]davidgoldfarb
2004-10-01 10:30 am UTC (link)
Er, isn't it "La Grande Jatte", not "La Grande Jete"?

Have a great trip!

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[info]sdn
2004-10-01 10:31 am UTC (link)
oh, FUN!!!

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[info]ex_erikvolso370
2004-10-01 10:47 am UTC (link)
Oh yeah. You need to get a proper hot dog. Trust me on this.

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and pizza
[info]romsfuulynn
2004-10-01 07:58 pm UTC (link)
And real Chicago style pizza.

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[info]jinian
2004-10-01 03:17 pm UTC (link)
It sounds wonderful. I'd never taken a real train before five years ago, but I love them now. I wish I could go.

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[info]janetmk
2004-10-02 07:46 am UTC (link)
What a terrific adventure! I'm so pleased you're going for it.

I was just reading about the "Southwest Chief" on the Amtrak Web site. That they'll have National Park Service guides on board for sections in the West seems like a great idea.

You go through Dodge City and Gallup and narrow canyons and spectacular desert! And of course you'll get to experience the interminable flatness of Kansas (with luck you can sleep through some of it).



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[info]msagara
2004-10-02 04:12 pm UTC (link)
I'm really looking forward to seeing you -- and hopefully for more than the 30 seconds before the mad dash to get somewhere else on time <g>.

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[info]lensedqso
2004-10-03 03:11 pm UTC (link)
I should preface this post by saying I haven't actually been back to Chicago since I graduated from college more than a decade ago so I don't know if any of this is still true, but I'm going to say it anyway because I can :)

The Museum of Science and Industry is horribly overrated. I used to live seven blocks away and it was free and I still didn't want to go more than a handful of times. Consider that I used to carve out time to go to the Franklin Institute once or twice a month when I was in grad school (with a schedule that tried to keep me busy from 7am to 3am seven days a week) and you'll see just how unimpressive I found the museum. The Adler Planetarium, however, is wonderful with a lovely space museum as well as the planetarium. It was by far my favorite Chicago museum. The Lincoln Park Zoo is free and one of the nicest zoos in the country and well worth a visit if the weather is decent. The Field Museum is decent unless you're used to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC in which case the Field Museum seems like a pale imitation. The Shedd Aquarium was decent but very small (and yes, I was there after the rennovations - they finished my last year in the city). I never made it to the Art Institute because their hours were awful (in general Chicago used to close down incredibly early other than bars and jazz clubs). If you want to go to the top of a tall building, the Hancock Building has much better views than the Sears Tower. Also, Chicago is a fun town to walk around if you like interesting buildings.

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