Weekend in the Mountains - 1

If you’ve been reading along, you know I spent last weekend with many of my co-workers—about 25—in the mountains at a hill center. It was definitely cooler there. For those who wondered—okay, for my mom & dad—here are some more details.

The trip started with a train ride of over 300 miles. Fortunately, since it ended up being about a nine hour trip, we traveled overnight. And we were actually in a sleeper compartment. I never thought I’d get to try one of those out, but this probably cost less than the gas would have cost if we’d driven a car there. As you can see from the pictures (modeling being done by my friends Steve & Mary, as well as Alain), we started out sitting, with the highest bunk over our heads. When it seemed like time, we all got up and raised the backrest up to make a middle berth, while our seat became the lowest berth. You could rent a pillow, and I probably should have, since my makeshift one was a little hard. We were awakened at 4:30 AM, to be ready to hop off at one of the shorter stops, but ended up with a couple more hours on the train. A three-hour bus trip up the mountain allowed for some nodding off, but with that scenery, you really didn’t want to miss much. And praying for the bus driver as we took those hairpin turns couldn’t hurt.

Did you know it’s monsoon season in India? If there hadn’t been scheduling problems this trip would have happened well before I arrived here. After moving into our rooms and then driving to some botanical gardens, the rains began. Umbrellas kept our heads dry, but not much else. Plan B went into effect, and we ended up in a house on the garden grounds, with several small, portable heaters put into service. That felt good, but really drying things out would take some creativity that evening. If light bulbs are the only heat source in your damp room, you figure out a way to use them to dry those soaked shoes. Just call me MacGyver.