Murf and her quirks

As anyone that knows me can attest to (and this includes the long time readers of this blog who I feel know me fairly well), I have bathroom issues. I wouldn't necessarily use the word 'issues' but others would. An example would be when flying, I go through a pre-flight ritual of no strange foods 24 hours before take off. On the day of, I ration the water, do one last waste removal before heading to the airport and use the terminal bathroom 1 hour before departure to prevent any use of the airplane bathroom. I've flown fairly often over the past 6 years when my oldest nephew was born and this ritual has never let me down even during the 5 hour trips from Detroit to L.A.X.

I could go on and on with examples but if you are reading this, chances are that you are aware of these quirks of mine so I will leave it at that. If not, by the end of this entry you will be.

My upcoming train tour of Agawa Canyon in Northern Ontario has me worried. The only specific mention of a restroom on this 10 hour trip on the website is this:


I'm a bit concerned that the info includes the fact that this train has a dining car, a cafe car and a souvenir car but no mention of bathrooms. If I remember correctly, Ed Abbey once included a bit about the bathroom on a train that he was on but thankfully, I couldn't find it to be reminded of how horrible it may have been. On the other hand, because the train is Canadian National and not Amtrak perhaps it's a bit nicer than what I remember his experience to be.

Once the train reaches the bottom of the canyon, we can exit for about 2 hours to look around, eat lunch, hike, etc. at Canyon Park. I'm really not looking forward to their restrooms. According to the description, it has a special type of environmentally friendly restroom called a Clivus Multrum that some how produces wonderful compost that the park uses in their flower beds. Just close the lid and walk away. No flushing involved. I'm happy to hear that it's a somewhat normal toilet (i.e. has a lid) but I hope there's a locking door involved and not that type of outdoor restroom you run across occasionally at scenic lookouts that involve 3 foot high walls and a 2 foot maze leading up the toilet. Just in case, I'll have to get my whistling or my throat clearing ability warmed up.