Get your ow
n diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

11:44 a.m. - Sunday, May. 11, 2003
More About Altoona

Happy Mothers� Day. That�s all I have to say on the subject.

When neurotic-one suggested we see the world famous Altoona Horseshoe Curve, I thought, �Oh wow� what an exciting town Altoona must be�. I imagined a train track with a cow standing on it, in the middle of nowhere.

But I am the perfect guest. I think I hid my sarcasm pretty well when I said, �Sure! Tha sounds like a great idea�.

So the next day, or more correctly, later in the same morning we finished the historical tour of historic bars, neurotic-one met me at the Ramada for breakfast, then we headed out to see the Altoona Horseshoe Curve.

I�m never wrong. But sometimes, I suppose I�m less than right, strictly speaking. This was one of those times. The curve is, first of all, still a working rail line. I didn�t understand that going in. Because it�s also a historic landmark, it has a small museum and a gift shop below the actual curve. As I read the information on the displays, I slowly understood that the occasional train could be seen climbing or descending on one of the six sets of tracks. Just outside, I found the cutest little funicular�a tiny cable car that was pulled up the hill on tracks by a cable� that had been recently built and put into service to carry observers just such as myself up the steep hill to where the actual tracks and observation point was.

It was a pleasant place to chat a little bit with neurotic-one while we waited the few minutes until the car was scheduled to go up the hill. Suddenly, during a gap in the small talk, neurotic-one cocked her head, listening to something that was beyond my capacity to hear.

�Listen!, she said, Here comes a train!�

I listened to no avail, but I was willing to trust.

�Let�s climb the stairs! If we hurry, we can watch it!�

My eyes grew wide in panic. I felt suddenly very attached to the funicular. It was ready to leave just any minute. But I was outvoted by neurotic-one�s feet. She was already one flight up these very stairs:

I weigh more than two hundred pounds.. a lot more. It was already a hot day. There was a cablecar right there with Ms Leslie written all over it. But I could see that this was bigger than me. I was in the presence of a fan. So I took a very deep breath, tried to find some happy thoughts, and started climbing the cement stairs behind her.

Naturally, we missed the train. I took some evil delight when neurotic-one found it necessary to stop along the way to let her poor heart and lungs catch up to the rest of her. It was a short lived delight, though, and just kind of dropped away as I was looking back over the hill we had just climbed together.

It was then that she informed me, with a tiny little smile, that there were 60 trains each day, and that although we missed that one, there would be another in less than ten minutes. We were in a State Historical Landmark. Weapons are not allowed. Violence is punishable. neurotic-one is lucky.

I looked longingly at the cablecar we had needlessly left behind as it started up the hill with a full load of people �way smarter than me.

At least we rode it down.

I had a great time with neurotic-one. We have an interesting mixture of likenesses and differences. My guess is that, were we closer geographically, we might see a lot of each other. I think I could learn a lot from her, and she might learn a thing or two from me. We could be good friends.

(but I still can�t resist slipping in this pic of her trying to look nonchalant while trying to decide whether to call 911)

Happy Thoughts, Deep Breaths,

Coming Soon:

A Day in Luray

Driving in the fellership of Jeezus

What not to do with Dr Siang�s Pure Oil

6 comments so far

previous - next

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!