Hello all you lurkers! I know you are lurking because I see a LOT of views on my blog, but no friends. The news this week is that our AMTRAK tickets for San Antonio arrived last week! We are gearing up to ride to the end of the line again!
I think there must be a lot of people thinking about riding the trains with their family. They just might be reading my blog and looking for ideas to make train tripping economical and family friendly. I conquered mammoth Disney World 6 or 7 times, making it economical, yet still enjoyable, so conquering train travel should be a snap. However, when I conquered Disney, I got a lot of help from the message boards on DISboards.com. Everyone shares their great Disney ideas there. There must be millions and millions of ideas there. (Don't go there right now because it will make you want to go to Disney instead of taking a train trip!) But where can families go for ideas to help them take a train trip? Try googling it. There is nothing out there. All the forums I can find are about people who ride in the sleeper cars.....totally not economical!
So today I was at my mom's house for Easter. My sister was excited to see me and talk about my blog....I wish she was my "friend" not just my sister! (Hint. Hint.) She told me that she thought the blog was really funny and that I could probably win a prize if I entered an essay contest. (Thank you so much!) However, she thought the food I took to feed my family was really, really bad! (I knew the compliments couldn't last!) In fact, both sisters, who were standing with me, said that they thought cold potatoes for breakfast was really gross! Actually, I think the fried potatoes we had in the train diner were cold anyway by the time they were served..... None the less, she said I needed to let her plan the food we take on our next train trip. Does she really know what she is saying?????? Here are my train trip food toting criteria.........
1. Everyone in the family has to like it. Harrison gets a migraine when he isn't fed. The migraines can result in not only discomfort, but also vomiting. So the tough love: "Eat it or Starve" mantra is out. He'll starve before he eats something he thinks is gross. Then get a headache. Then throw up. Really. We've tried it. Besides he gets his picky-ness from me, so I am quite sympathetic. :) Natalie on the other hand, would love a surprise menu of all new things to taste! Guess who she takes after????
2. The items have to be able to survive without refrigeration. We have enough to carry in the luggage department, we aren't going to try to carry a cooler too!
3. The food needs to contain protein, so it isn't just empty calories. Otherwise, we will just end up with headaches despite all the trouble we have gone to to pack food.
4. The choices have to be fairly inexpensive, otherwise we might just as well save ourselves the trouble and eat train cuisine.
5. Last of all, the food must now meet a new criteria! It has to be healthful! Mike and I are dieting. (Good-bye 10 #'s last month!) Well, maybe less than that after today....it was Easter, after all.
O.K. I think I just killed my sister's desire to "help" me plan my next train trip menu!
Now onto clothes to pack..... I thought we might have to really gear up in this department, but over spring break I cleaned out both children's closets and drawers. I was just a little disappointed to find that I really didn't need to go shopping. While they have stretched up, they haven't stretched out. Harrison needed some longer shorts, but other than that, they are loaded with everything from underwear to hats. The only item that was kind of needed was a new swimsuit for Natalie. There will be a roof top pool in San Antonio. She has a really cute swimsuit that is fairly new, but she wore it to a friend's swimming party in Indy last fall. The hotel they were staying in had such strong chlorine that the swimsuit is now a very light pink.. I am not sure if it is worth the cost to buy another. One dip in another hotel pool could immediately bring the same results to a new suit. However, I hate to go on vacation looking like the Indiana Hillbillies.
So the kids are covered (literally). But Michael's wardrobe will be another story. He says no one wears shorts in Texas. I say we need to shop. It is going to be mighty hot in San Antonio in June. I wonder if he would be as easy going and affable with a diaper rash........
A couple of other considerations:
When we are switching trains in Chicago, will there be time to do something in Chicago? Like possibly do the Skywalk at the Sears Tower? Is it worth the money? Does it take more than a few hours?
This time we are catching the train in Rensselaer, IN instead of Lafayette, IN. Who will take us to the station? Will we be able to find anyone who will set foot in Renssel-tucky? Maybe just someone who will let us hop out of their car as they drive off fast.
Should we bother to take a laptop? More to carry on....But we could watch movies. I think this train will be different than the last one. I have read about movies and cartoons being shown in the club car. More investigation is needed.
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