ETA is 6:30 AM in New Orleans. That would be 11 hours behind schedule. But whatever - I’m having a great time meeting new people, etc. Chris, Melissa and I are a regular trio now. People who strike up a conversation with us assume we’re travelling together!

Arriving in Houston… about 10 1/2 hours behind schedule. Why is Amtrak losing money again?

Moving again. Hooray! I’m thinking we’ll be in New Orleans around, oh, 4 AM…

Uh… we just stopped again.

A guy who seemed rather unstable was just escorted by the conductor off the train and into an ambulance. It’s unclear whether he demanded to be let off because he was fed up with the delays, or was forced off because he was drunk/on drugs/crazy. It may have been some combination of the two. I opened a window you’re not supposed to open, stuck my camcorder out the window, and got dramatic footage of him stumbling off the train and across the tracks. BULLETIN: We’re finally moving again!

Stuck sitting on the tracks in a Texas town called — no joke — Flatonia. No idea what we’re waiting for.

Another plane crash, in China this time? What’s going on?

In San Antonio. Took a brief walking tour with Chris, now back on train. Should be leaving shortly. Next stop: Houston.In a related story, the FBI says the suspect in the mailbox pipe bombings was last seen in Texas!!! I’ll be on the lookout for black or gray Honda Accords with Minnesota plates!

Had pancakes for breakfast and chatted with a talkative Italian guy from Bridgeport - what a character! Kept talking about how things cost too much and Lincoln’s assassination was a set-up. :) Passed by a Texas chain gang working in the fields! 25 miles to San Antonio, where we stop for an hour and the train splits in half - some go to Chicago, some (like me) to New Orleans.

Awake… looking out at the beautiful, boring landscape of Texas… 120 miles west of San Antonio. In Central Time Zone now.

Awake… looking out at the beautiful, boring landscape of Texas… 120 miles west of San Antonio. In Central Time Zone now.

Going to sleep soon…

First time I’ve been in Texas aside from the airport. Just “set foot” in the state by stepping outside at the El Paso station, where we are presently stopped.

Sorry for the lack of updates all afternoon. First my cell phone’s battery died, then after I recharged it, the cellular signal went dead - no reception all through New Mexico.

Anyway… after getting out to stretch my legs at the Tuscon station, I had lunch with Melissa, a New Orleans native who is heading home after visiting her mom in L.A. (Note: The rest of the post mysteriously never appeared. It should have said that I also had lunch with Chris, a Southern Californian who is touring the East Coast, and a train enthusiast named Jim. I then proceeded to outline the rest of my day… but I don’t remember what all I said. Sorry.)

In El Paso, TX. More in a sec (if I don’t lose reception)