All Aboard!

Years ago, I took the now-defunct Amtrak Pioneer from Seattle to Denver.

If you’re a writer, trust me; there is no better way to travel.

After all, there aren't any dishes or dusty wainscoting to distract you, and you’re basically surrounded by characters.

In my thirty-hour journey, I filled an entire notebook with poetry, character sketches, reflections, and tales.

Without a doubt, writers and trains go together like PB & J… salt & pepper… fish & chips…

And it turns out that I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Zach Seward and Jessica Gross thought that writing and rail riding were so wonderfully Green Eggs and Ham that they tweeted their opinions all over the Twittersphere.

“Yo, Amtrak!” they chirped. “We think you ought to offer a ‘writer in residence’ program.”

Well, Amtrak crowed, “We think so, too, Sam-I-Am!”

And just like that, Zach and Jessica had something to write home about — a free ride on the Lake Shore Limited from The Big Apple to Chi-Town!

I love it when writing dreams come true.

Don’t you?

PROMPT: Rev up your writing by giving a train a try. Or think outside the boxcar and come up with a fabulous new writing residency of your own.