LET'S TAKE A TRAIN RIDE.

Newsweek's Alexandra Schonfeld presents the case for a cross-country train trip.  "Marie Baro did just that, when she and her husband decided to embark on the Amtrak's California Zephyr which runs from Chicago to San Francisco clocking in at just over 51 hours over the July 4 weekend." They were riding a Superliner roomette, and the etiolated food service is just the thing for social distancing.  The article of course mentions the sightseeing (regular readers will have seen Emeryville - eastern Nevada, Colorado, and Denver - Chicago previously), and it offers a refresher on the opportunities to mingle and get to know something about the country. "We still got the chance to meet people with very interesting and different paths from ours: a farmer from Illinois, a diplomat, an Amish couple," Baro said. "It was definitely one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life, and the COVID-19 did not refrain us from enjoying it 100 percent—it might actually have made it better."

Yes, once the house arrests are done, I plan to get back on the rails.