The day started yesterday with a sunny morning and an inviting Allen street so I dressed and left the apartment to do some groceries for my trip and get a coffee at Starbucks. Followed by a Skype call that did not bring a lot of good news; my dad was hospitalised again today and they found more in his spine. New treatment directly tomorrow. For now I will continue my trip, after talking to the home front.

Ik wou dat ik dichterbij jullie kon zijn en van steun kon zijn. We gaan de komende dagen veel in contact blijven tot er meer bekend is en we hebben afgesproken dat ik tot dan in ieder geval door blijf reizen. In gedachte ben ik natuurlijk constant bij jullie en was ik op dit moment in ieder geval liever thuis in Nederland.

Left NYC 15:45 by train today, after a subway ride to Penn station. It left right on time and some of the scenery was right away very beautiful, driving for a long time along the riverbeds of the Hudson. At 18:00 it got dark.. Talking to an American couple who want to visit Europe but were not sure it was safe. "As an American there is this safety issue, risk of being kidnapped and all". Yeah ok sure.

This train to Chicago takes 19 hours and is called the Lake Shore Limited. It will take me through New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

The second train from Chicago to Flagstaff will take 32 hours and will pass through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and finally Arizona. Both trains are operated by Amtrak American Railways.

Approaching Chicago by train is great, in the distance you'll see the skyscrapers while on your right you'll see the mighty Lake Michigan.

I am now in Chicago for 4 hours, I walked around Millinium Park, saw Lake Michigan and talked to some really nice locals. Bought some groceries for the upcoming 31 hour train ride, bread, cheese, water. A lot cheaper than NYC, at least half! Bought my Yankees cap finally, so Tuomas don't get me one anymore ;-) just the L shirt!!

Two more things I heard in some conversations i had today with Locals;

1) "once you get on that train and you start heading towards the West coast, you will pass the equator, so there will be no more chance at all of snow.."

2) "things are a little different here than in Europe, what I heard is that it needs to freeze there for the snow to stay? Well here it doesn't, it just always stays. Even it is like +2C? Oh yeah, always!"

I guess only above the equator though... Will board my train soon, call home and more from Arizona soon!

Dennis