the goings on of Dan, Gary and Todd (and I suppose me too...)

After the adventures of the White House, the Pentagon and all the gloriousness that was Washington DC we hopped on a night train yesterday afternoon headed for the windy city.  The trip started off relatively uneventful however at around 830 or so there was some commotion at the front of our car involving a black lesbian couple (I only mention they were black because of an upcoming quote).  Apparently keys were stolen from a dining car and the employee pointed the two of them as the culprits.  You can only imagine the drama that then ensued when the "train police" asked to look through her bag and she dumped the whole thing on the ground and then proceeded to tell the "racist" employee to sift through the stuff herself.  These ladies brought a whole new meaning to the term attitude.  All the while her girlfriend proceeded to list off how much money they had and why she wouldn't need to steal from the train.  The quote "Go ahead and call my momma - shit, go call Obama" was one of the lines of the night.  Needless to say they were escorted off the train somewhere in Maryland and we continued on our journy.  During this escapade Dan and I struck up conversation with our surrounding train mates, Gary - a four time divorce and self-proclaimed cowboy from Northern Idaho and Todd, some guy who kept hinting at Dan to buy him beers (thankfully I have a bit more backbone than Dan in times like those).  They regaled us with great stories of women, bar fights, Gary's battle with "copper tunnel"and what it is like being forty-five and never having left the US of A.  I went to bed at the decent hour of 1130 as Dan had found a new BFF in Gary.  After quite a wild night we arrived in Chicago this morning.  After two amazing days of sun and warmth in Washington we arrived in the windy city to some pretty dreary weather.  We wandered around Millenium park and the magnificent mile before eating the BEST deep dish pizza ever at some place called Giordanas.  It has to be good because Oprah eats there.  We have another full day here tomorrow before we fly to San Francisco tomorrow night.