It is so easy, compared to flying or driving. You can get your ticket sent to your phone or computer. The conductor can even scan from your phone, so you don't have to have a paper ticket. Neat.
As you can see, there is lots of room on the Amtrak train. This is the observation car, which has swivel double seats, single swivel seats, and cafe table style seating. There are outlets for your electrical appliances at every seat, too.
Looking out the window as we passed Town Lake in Austin, I spotted two rowing teams with their coach following in a little flat bottom boat. I can't hear the coach yelling a rowing cadence through his bullhorn, but I can imagine it. The sun reflected off the closely spaced rippling waves, creating a blinding brilliance for observers to appreciate.
Somewhere around the town of Bartlett, I spotted this incredibly vibrant mural. It's not facing the main road. It is facing the back of the building. Some artist went all out, creating a work of art, and I got to enjoy it.
I like to take pictures of the water towers, because that helps me identify where the previous and upcoming shots were taken. It is a challenge to take interesting photos of water towers. Since this tower was just a few frames away from the black mural, I can assume that the building is close to Bartlett.
My three year old grandson, Joe, loves Frank, the combine, and the tractor cows from the movie, CARS. When I saw this large yellow tractor and the herd of smaller red tractors bunched together, I immediately thought of Frank, the combine.
There are six stops between San Marcos and Fort Worth: Austin, Taylor, Temple, McGregor, and Cleburne. The nastiest stop is in Austin, It is in a very run down area, and the buildings, bridges and underpasses are filled with grafitti. My daughter tells me that the cartoon characters used in grafittI each have their own hidden messages. I don't have any idea what Tweetie Bird means.
This shack is sits somewhere in Temple. Once again, the train passes through a very run-down, poverty-stricken area. First, I shot the scene with a broad angle. The train was moving slowly, so I had time to notice the group of men sitting on the street. That gave me time to zoom in as we got closer.
Two of the men were seated in cheap, white plastic lawn chairs, sipping their large glass containers of booze. I may do a series on them someday, the five or six shots I took, for in each one, there is action: a swig of a drink, a puff on a cigarette, and even a look at the photographer, which you can see here.
This is a part of America that most of us never get to see first hand. Here it is, taking place in the hidden parts of our cities and towns.
There is such a range of sights on any typical trip. Some, like this view of a soggy meadow, with trees reflected in the pooled water, have a beauty that is breathtaking.
So, here is a final rave on the goodness of God to this humble little photographer...
Thank you, God, for the beauty of your creation. Thank you for the gift you have given me, small though it may be, for capturing some of your gems scatterered here and there. Thank you for the eye to see what you have done. Thank you for the equipment to record it. Thank you for everything. I love you!
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