AN: Nothing but the plot is mine.
It had been two days since Sheldon had taken off on a train, heading in a random direction. At first he picked a ticket heading east, the Trails and Rails route, on an old fashioned car was just the thing. The ride would land him in Chicago, where there was nothing particular he wanted to see, but it was 43 hours and he figured by the time he got there he could call Penny and the others and let them know he was safe. The ride also was a historical train, complete with old fashioned dinning car. And it went past the Grand Canyon, and he was told by the Amtrak employee had a wonderful view.
He had purchased a private room, paying extra so that he had it to himself. He could eat all meals on the train in the dinning car, and his room had a private toilet and sink. He figured he could wait until he checked into a hotel to shower, so he only purchased soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush from the little shop in the train station. While the train did not provide wifi, there was an area where he could charge his laptop and his iPhone, so he was in no way worried.
It was a few hours before arrival at the Union Station in Chicago that he received a phone call from Dr. Gablehouser. His sabbatical had been granted, conditionally, of course. Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio was working on some exciting things in Clean Energy. And they were willing to have a member of CalTech faculty come and work with them on a prospectus for NASA, whom both Universities had a relationship with. Most of the faculty at Case did double duty, not only having to teach multiple areas of physics, in addition to research. Many in the department were also only assistant professors at that. A seasoned researcher like Sheldon being on loan for the summer to Case would greatly aid in the joint project, and Sheldon would only have to give one class, ironically a History of Physics class, that was being opened up for Masters and Doctoral candidates. Sheldon, readily agreed, and when he got off the train in Chicago, quickly booked a trip to Cleveland.
It was then that he text-ed Penny, letting her know where he was headed and that he would call Amy, but no one but her was to know where he was. She text-ed him back 'will do MoonPie. Visit the Rock Hall for me?' This of course confused Sheldon. Since when did Penny have any interest in Geology? He put that out of his mind while he called Amy, letting her know he was out east, and he was safe and had a plan.
AN: Up next, Sheldon comes to Cleveland.