Recent content by Phager

RE: The lockers: I was going by this (http://www.unionstationdc.com/info/bagStorage) I personally didn't see them or price them, so I have no idea the value or safety of them. and frankly not a lot of information on the web site there, so your guess is as good as mine. Being my first time at...

When we were on the CL earlier this month, we were in a sleeper. We just put them in Club Acela after we checked out of the hotel, and bombed around Union Station for the afternoon. If you're in coach, it's possible the hotel will store you bags for the day. It also looks like there is lockers...

Well, the trip went great. The CL was on time coming in to PGH, parking and boarding went very smoothly. On boarding, my and my daughters roomette was read to go, but my parents (which was next door) was still set up for the prior passenger. The SCA set them up one room down, and then promptly...

Well, the trip's now a week away. Rhiannon is getting super excited (who am I kidding, so am I), we've been talking about what we're going to do, the hotel and especially the ride on the train, pretty much every night for the last week. It seems like this next week is going to take forever! I'll...

I can't speak for anyone else, and I realize that the question wasn't directed at me, but in my case our next sleeper car trip was paid for by switching to a different energy provider (10k points) and then points per dollar spent on power. That money would have gone to a power provider one way...

PVD, that's the plan. After we eat we'd all go hang out in the SSL to checkout the scenery (I'm thinking we'll be close to Ohiopyle by then, which happens to be one of our favorite campgrounds) until she passes out from getting up so early :D . I'm really wishing I could fast forward things to...

So here's a new random question. We're boarding in PGH at around 5:30a and as mentioned I'm bringing my super excited 7 year old daughter. I'm planning on putting our larger carry-on in the luggage rack downstairs and bringing a small bag with essentials to the roomette to keep the noise level...

Well, I contacted my Congressman to arrange the Capitol tour, I also booked 4 tickets for the Washington monument. I was surprised to see that there were less then 50 tickets available for Sunday the 16th, glad I booked them. I was really leaning towards doing a bus tour of DC, but I really...

We'll be staying at the Liaison Capitol Hill. I know we're going to want to hit up the various Smithsonian museums, the Lincoln memorial, Vietnam memorial (my father served on the USS Wasp, and I have an uncle who never made it home), the Washington monument is high on the list so I'll do the...

Well, my parents decided to get the roomette! As luck of the draw would have it their in the same car both ways and across the hall from us. Now for a little disappointment. I had emailed my congressperson for a White House tour, and it looks like the tours are Tuesday through Saturday. The...

Well, it's not quite overnight since we'll be leaving PGH at just after 5am, but I get your point :) . I think I'm going to send a link to this thread to my mom, she's pretty persistent, and my be able to convince dad to loosen the purse strings. I understand why it's so hard for them to...

@BCL, I didn't realize that the short runs for points had gotten knocked out in the AGR 2.0 revisions, thanks for the info. I have to say, what I've read about the changes, I'm not a big fan. It seemed easier to plan things when it was set up in a zone based system. @Bob Dylan, the Price...

Hello AU! After not having taken a trip on Amtrak in 6 years, last year I got a hankering to take a train trip an renewed my guest rewards membership. Unfortunately there aren't a large amount of opportunities to take the train in my new location (SW of Pittsburgh, PA) at least short points...

I have some photos on my Facebook page, but I plan on uploading them to my photobucket account if I can remember the password. We're catching the return trip on #14 this evening, so hopefully I can get some good pictures of the Cascades range in daylight. I'm glad you all enjoyed the report. Pat

The family and I just finished a trip down to California on the coast starlight. Here's the report. We began our rail journey on March 18th. We had made reservations on the Coast Starlight number 11 with a departure time of 4:10p from Albany, OR and living up to it's nickname of the Coast...