So.
Took my wife to the train station tonight to catch the late train out of St. Paul bound for the west coast, where she is visiting her parents and picking up the kids to bring back in a few weeks.
Thought I'd help her on the train and get her settled. Because contrary to my grumpy-ass reputation, I'm actually kinda a nice guy like that some times.
Got her settled, said our good byes. Headed down to the lower level of the train car to get off - only to find the door locked and nobody around. 30 seconds later the train starts rolling, with my hitchhiking stupid ass aboard.
And, of course, I left the dog in the car at the train station.
All's well that ends well. The Amtrak staff were super professional about it - courteous and had a sense of humor. They arranged to stop at the old abandoned station that they quit using a few years ago and booted me off the train. Was kinda weird getting dumped in the middle of a dark, abandoned, industrial area, but I had called en route and had a cab on the way. Kudos to Amtrak for letting me get off in Sketchville instead of making me ride all the way to the next stop.
But my brief adventure in stowaway-ing was awfully fun.