Friday Five (on Saturday): Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

The Scientist and I returned this afternoon from a nice overnight trip to San Antonio, where we were able to combine business and pleasure. Unfortunately, we discovered right after we got home that some dirty scoundrel had gotten hold of our credit card number and had gone on quite a spree today in a midwestern state far, far away. Card's cancelled, game's over, no lasting harm done, but I was still furious. We think someone at the place where we went for a nightcap last night must have copied the number and given it to someone else, who then hopped on a plane (we were very close to the airport) and had a fine time today until Visa brought it to a halt. Well, perhaps that's what we get for hanging out in bars...

Anyway, thanks to Songbird for these traveling questions:

1) What was the mode of transit for your last trip?

Car. That gave us plenty of room to bring a cooler for the Texas olive oil and olives we found at the farmer's market this morning, not to mention our leftover barbecue. We had to get home in time to pick up Riley at the vet, so the dairy will have to wait until next time.

2) Have you ever traveled by train?

Yes, several times. When I was in kindergarten, our class boarded one of the last passenger trains to serve my home town and rode with our teachers to the next town, seven miles east. The grownups knew that passenger trains were almost gone, and wanted us to experience a little bit of train travel while we still could. In college, friends and I took the Panama Limited from Memphis to New Orleans to visit a suitemate, but all I remember about the train ride is that we had to be at the station in the middle of the night. I must have dozed most of the way. About twenty years ago, the Scientist and I took the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. How we enjoyed the ocean views and scenes we hadn't seen from the highway, such as the space shuttle launching pad at Vandenberg AFB.

3) Do you live in a place with public transit, and if so, do you use it?

Alas, no. There is a rail line nearby that gets heavy freight use but (in my opinion) would be perfect for commuter traffic. The Scientist and I predict that will happen around the time of our retirement!

4) What's the most unusual vehicle in which you've ever traveled?

Perhaps the Venetian water taxis that go to and from the airport, and the water buses, or vaporetti, that everyone uses to get around town. The schedules are easy to follow, and riding in a vaporetto along the Grand Canal is a travel experience found nowhere else.

5) What's the next trip you're planning to take?

I can hardly wait for May, when a number of heavy church responsibilities will finally be behind me, and we can celebrate in the British Virgin Islands aboard the lovely Arabella!