Unplanned Vacation

So last weekend a buddy of mine and I rode out to my alma mater to see our girlfriends. Mine had no idea I was coming till I got there. Work had made the mistake of giving me off on Friday and Sunday, so I made sure I came down with a wretched stomach bug for Saturday. Later on Saturday they called me back and cut 17 hours from my schedule, meaning no work again until this coming Saturday. This being the case I decided to stay in California, PA until Friday and take Amtrak's The Pennsylvanian from Pittsburgh to Paoli station. It takes longer than driving, but at $49.00 one-way I can't complain.

This only made my girl all the happier and I got to attend the fencing practice on Thursday that I helped start. I also got to play lots of Magic with my friends, including Shane over at Argyle State of Mind. I made several new card acquisitions as well such as Kiega, the Tide Star, Hivestone, Crosis, the Purger, Dromar the Banisher, Chandra Ablaze & Sorin Markov.  Keiga, Crosis & Dromar work wonders in my Scion of the Ur-Dragon Commander deck, and I'm thinking Hivestone plus Karona, False God will make an awesome Commander combo as well.

Now anyone who knows me knows that trains are one of the many things I geek out over. Everything from trackside scenery to our own locomotive's horn just make me feel more like a kid than I already am. Rolling through the town of Altoona really had me sitting up and looking every which way. I don't think I've ever seen so many locomotives in one place. They even have a bunch of old Pennsy cars and a burgundy GG1 sitting near the station. I believe I mentioned GG1s in an earlier post after New Years. The Harrisburg station even had a green GG1 and Pennsy bobber caboose.

GG1 at Harrisburg

The Pennsylvanian