Officially on My Way

I'm not certain if I can really say that I am officially on my way yet or not? I am away from home. I made it to Chicago via Amtrak today and am lounging at the Hyatt (got a great deal on Hotwire). It was a little bit of an adventure getting here though (no, nothing bad).

I couldn't sleep last night and had an early morning wake-up call for 0530. I had to make the train in Waterloo at 0730 and didn't want to feel rushed. About 0400 I finally got tired and figured that if I fell asleep, I would be a horrible bitch to everyone if I only got an hour of sleep so decided to spare everyone and stayed awake.

I was surprised at how busy the mock-station was at Waterloo. There were at least 20 people boarding at the same time as me! And here I though that I would be the only one there.

I slept on the train most of the way to Chicago. Getting from the Amtrak station to the subway was a bit of an adventure. I had forgotten that the transfer wasn't in the same building and couldn't for the life of me, remember where I needed to go. After 2 wrong directions and about an hour and half of walking (with backpack) through and around downtown Chicago, I finally found the right place! At least it didn't pour down rain on me!

If I've been asked once, I've been asked a thousand times; 'aren't you excited?'. I am...I think? It's weird, I was more excited when I first found out and now that I am actually on my way it's almost like I am numb to it. I don't feel apprehensive or overly excited, I feel more at peace than anything. I don't know if it hasn't hit me yet or what?

So tomorrow I hop on a plane to Germany.....

The weirdest thing about all of this is the fact that I have NO keys...!!