After swimming last night, we showered and reorganized. I feel like whenever we travel, I spend so much time reorganizing.....a lot like home. We packed light so we still needed most of our stuff to dress in the morning. We retired as quickly as possible because we knew it would be tough getting up in the middle of the night for the train.
We had to board the train at 4:30 AM, so we had to leave time to ride the shuttle to the platform, dress, and pack up the little that we had. So we woke the kids up at 3:30 AM to get started. No surprise that we were all feeling that "hit by a semi truck" roadkill feeling in the morning. I guess in my old age, I haven't felt that way for a long time!
Mike made some hotel coffee in the pot, and we still had some stale bran muffins left from home. Yuck and yuck. I don't like coffee much even when it is from Starbucks, so drinking this strange brew was a no-go. The kids and I started on our new bottled water pack and swallowed hard to get the several-day-old muffins down. I tossed back a couple of Excedrin Migraines too for good measure!
After we were all dressed, Mike called Amtrak to make sure the train was on time. It was already 50 min. late they informed him. Grrr....Why ever didn't I think to call before we woke the kiddos?? At quarter to four, the desk attendant called to say that the train was running way late and that he would call to reassess the situation in an hour. Jeepers, if the train is already an hour late out of Los Angeles, this is going to be a really long train ride going home. We lolled back on our beds, watching TV. We weren't really able to go back to sleep, but were starting to nod off when the phone rang 20 min. later, catching us off guard. We needed to be in the lobby in 10 min.! How did that happen? I thought we had an hour to get ready to go. Wasn't the train more than 50 min. late? We flew into overdrive and quickly packed everything, checking twice to make sure we left nothing, brushed our teeth, rebooted our feets, donned our coats, hats, and gloves and sped (as much as you can speed carrying luggage pressed full with dirty laundry and bottled water) down to the reception desk area. About 10 people boarded the shuttle with the same guy that brought us here just two days before.
Back we drove to the platform, down dirt roads and winding roads, through the woods. There we sat....waiting....trying not to fall asleep. One time Mike went on a field trip with Harrison's second grade class to the Indianapolis Zoo. While the kids were jumping around and entertaining themselves on the 2 hour bus ride home, Mike fell asleep. Harrison called from the back of the bus, "Dad, wake up! You're drooling!" Oh, the horror! Oh, the shame! Lesson learned: Never fall asleep where people can see your mouth! I opened my book and started reading to divert my mind from falling asleep.
Some people got off the bus in the freezing cold to smoke. So we were left with the driver inside. He started talking to Mike about the train's tardiness. He said that last week the train was really, really late because the train hit a deer, which happens all the time with no effects, but this time the deer ripped the brake lines from under the train, so there was a long delay. Several months ago, someone died in their sleep on the train, so there had to be an investigation by the police to make sure there was no foul play before the train could go on. Again that made the train hours late. However, he said most of the time, the Eastbound train has to pull over more often on the leg of the journey between Los Angeles and Williams, AZ because the freight trains that actually own the tracks get first dibs on the rails. Amtrak (owned by the government) only gets to use the rails when the freighters aren't using them.
The driver called Amtrak again. It was going to be an additional 35 min. Eventually, the train showed up. I lamented that we wouldn't have had to get up at 3:30 AM. However, this did make the trip more adventurous! We gathered our gear and stood on the platform waiting for the train to brake to a stop. I suppose we looked just like the family we had seen standing here when we arrived. A lady and her husband emerged from one of the cars and looked eagerly at me just as I had looked at the family standing here a few days ago. She approached me and said, "We're from Los Angeles. Did you come here to see the Grand Canyon? How was it?" I answered just like the lady before me, "Like nothing you have ever seen before." With a big smile I couldn't have managed 35 min. ago, I encouraged them to enjoy their trip.
We boarded the train to a dim and quiet car. We were careful to be very quiet as we know how hard it is to sleep when people are noisy getting off and on. In a way, we felt like we were back home when we stored our gear and sunk down into the seats. We spent most of the day reading, napping, and looking out the windows. I was mesmerized by the painted desert. We hadn't traveled this part in the daylight on the way out. The sun to the South was really playing on the mountains, mesas, and cliffs. It was so colorful and sparkly. I couldn't believe the amazing beauty. However, I didn't take even one picture because I was so tired! I just gawked out the window at the reds, oranges, blues, yellows, browns, and greens. Mike and I tried to follow the landmark guide, published by Amtrak, as we were going along. I tried to find the Kneeling Nun rock formation. While I was asleep Mike saw it, but hated to wake me up because I was so tired. (I may or may not have been drooling!) I did see the tipi with the outhouse on the side of the mountain again. :)
The highlight of this day was eating in the dining car for all three meals. The dining car looked a lot like the club car with table booths. However, these tables had white tablecloths and fresh flowers. Breakfast was good for Mike and I with some eggs, croissant or raisin bread, potatoes, juice, and tea. The kids' meals, on the other hand, were way too small. We decided in the future just to go with an adult meal for them. Breakfast was 30.00 plus a tip.
About the time we were pulling into Albuquerque, we decided to have lunch instead of getting off the train. There were so many people who smoked on the platform that we decided to skip getting off. Lunch was yuck to me. Mike and I had hamburgers served with a bit of potato chips and iced tea. The hamburger wasn't very tasty or done. Harrison had the grilled cheese, but it was served with potato chips, which he doesn't care for, so he didn't have much to eat. Natalie had a tiny plate with chicken fingers and chips. She was still hungry. Despite leaving the table hungry, it cost $50.00 plus tip. We also waited a long time for our food because the train was refueling and restocking, so the train didn't have electricity. However, I have to say the dining attendants were wonderful men, very funny and kind. We enjoyed the service if not the food! Mike liked seeing the scenery rolling by out the window as we dined.
Dinner in the diner was much finer. Earlier in the day, the dining car boss came to every one's seat and asked if they would like dinner or lunch reservations. This is to help disperse the run of people on the diner. Tonight, Mike had roasted chicken, baked potato, and vegetables. I had lasagna and vegetables, Nat had grilled cheese with chips, and Harrison had the chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was all served with a salad and roll. The dinner was more substantial. It wasn't haute cuisine, by any stretch of the imagination, or even equal to what you might get in a restaurant at home, but it was good enough. This meal was $60.00 plus tip. While we awaited our food, Mike commented that we had everything on the table with which to make cookies: Flower (ha ha.), butter pats, sugar packs, salt, and cream.The diner personnel are very friendly and personable. George is running the show and is a bundle of energy to stay on top of everything. He is efficient and funny. He gave Harrison the bill to be funny. So we made Harrison figure the tip. Juan is a lovely middle aged man who has the most beautiful manners and twinkly eyes. I think our dinner was $60.00
After dinner, we sat in the club car waving to passing cars, talking and laughing. Mike entertained the kids with stories about funny things that happened to him when he was a kid. As the kids get older we realize that moments like this might not last forever as they don't want to be with their parents as much. Yet right now everything is still really, really good, and both Mike and I cherish that. I don't think I have ever laughed so much as that night in the club car. Later, we moved to a table and played Euchre until midnight. We knew we wouldn't be able to sleep much anyway. There was a family from Bloomington, IN. playing Euchre too. Their daughter was in her twenties. They only had 3 players, but showed us how they made a pretend 4th player since they only had a family of 3! Too funny! It was nice because they were just another family completely enjoying their time being together.
We weren't in a hurry to get to our seats for the night because we knew it would be a hard sleep. We used the restrooms, kicked off our shoes, and settled in. True to form, it was fairly uncomfortable and hard to sleep. Tonight's conductor and attendant were fairly rude. They were rather harassing to new passengers who were boarding. They were loud and rude to people getting off and on. There was an old man and woman who didn't speak English, but had their tickets paid for somehow. The attendant kept telling them she had to have a ticket, yet she never put them off. When we got closer to Chicago, a passenger who was bilingual was able to convey enough information for the conductor to call the Amtrak office and confirm that their fare was prepaid by the couple's son in Chicago. I am sure this older couple was extremely humiliated by attendant's loud rudeness all night.
We did the same breakfast again, with the kids getting an adult portion instead of a kid's portion of French toast. Natalie figured the tip. We skipped lunch as we were close to Chicago and would rather wait for a decent meal. We spent a good deal of time playing Mancala and Old Maid in the club car. There were a few homeless men riding in the morning between cities. They were extremely dirty and smelled terrible and were very loud and rude. One of them shouted at the attendant because she wouldn't let him get off to smoke at a non-smoking stop. One man with extreme filth and dred locks was bragging about his going-to-jail exploits while sharing a can of Spam betwixt himself and his new found friends. We didn't move from their highly toxic locale because the kids were really keen to play games, and Mike was amused by the tall tales being told. Meanwhile, I tried to find ways to cover my nose without looking too obvious.
When we arrived at Union Station, we were old experts at finding our way down the concourse now! We schlepped our bags to the monitors to check our next train, then dragged on to find where we thought the food court was located. However, it was just a bar. Since I had to use the restroom, I left Mike with the kids and the baggage in the big room with pillars and headed back to the restrooms. Feeling really good about train traveling, I picked up some brochures for other train routes and decided to follow the sign that said, "Food Court, UP." Who knew there was an upstairs! I thought I would be clever and ride the escalator upstairs, take note of what food was available, and report back to the crew. I did that.....but then found that the escalator that I rode up was only an UP escalator! There was no DOWN! I began searching for a down escalator and became quite turned around and lost as to where I was! I wanted to at least tell Mike that I hadn't flushed myself down the toilet....and maybe get some of his good advice on how to get un-lost...... I reached for my phone, but realized it was back with the crew in my purse. Now I felt the panic start to rise just a little. I finally found a down escalator, but found myself in a completely unfamiliar part of the train station. Signs that said what street each door was on were of no help as I didn't know any street names around the station. I hadn't realized this station was so big! Now I was really becoming more panic-y. I finally saw a doorway that looked vaguely familiar and found my way back to the monitors and finally to the big room where the family was waiting. Mike was on the phone with my mom, but Harrison snapped off a picture of me when I arrived. He looked at the picture and asked, "Mom, are you OK? You don't look right!"
We didn't have lot of time until our next train, so we set out to go back to McDonald's upstairs. Of course, MICHAEL walked us right up to the restaurant with no map. Some people are just naturally able to find their way in the world......and others are not.
We saw our porter getting a Big Mac. He was the same guy who was running the Indiana train before when we arrived. He didn't recognize us, believe it or not....ha ha....
We boarded the Indiana train with no snaffles. When the porter came to our seats, we asked if we could be changed from Lafayette to Rensselaer. We didn't want to call Mom and Dad until we knew where to have them pick us up. Our car was the last one the porter worked. The train was getting close to Rensselaer so we were hoping it would work out to change. It was no problem. Mom and Dad were waiting there when we arrived. Dad came up on the platform. He loves trains and was probably planning on chatting the porter up. Of course, when the train stops, the workers are in a hurry. They don't stand around and gab with onlookers. The funny thing was, the step broke and the porter couldn't get it to contract back into the train. So Dad got a little chatting done anyway while the porter was bent over fixing the step!
We had a lot to tell Mom and Dad on our way home. Dad took a "longer" way home so our luggage wouldn't blow out on the interstate......I think we were driving in circles because the country roads out by the interstate don't go straight through. We were glad to be home and felt very, very appreciative of our hot shower and soft beds.
Final verdict: We all decided that we would do it again. In fact, this just might have been one of the most fun and relaxing trips we have ever taken. San Antonio next??????
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