Well, this was a huge success. Taking the train this year was something I talked my wife into, and I was afraid things would go horribly awry and she'd hate it, but my fears were unfounded. Actually I was the one that had a less-good time, but only because I'd aggravated a back injury the weekend prior and still wasn't feeling so hot.
11/25 LSL: CUS-BOS
Arrived at Union Station at about 7 after Metra-ing down from Evanston. The 4-block walk from home to our Metra stop turned out to be the most harrowing part of the journey. We had a hitch with the Quik-Trak machine, as it ran out of paper at ticket 2 of 8 forcing us to get in line anyway. After checking our carryons in the Met.Lounge, we had a nice dinner in Greektown a few blocks away. We got back to CUS in plenty of time, as they were about 40 min. late in beginning boarding. So we got to admire a TSA sniffer dog, a lovely yellow Lab. Her handler had to tell several folks not to pet her (the dog, that is), as she was working, and lamented that she'd asked for an ugly dog. Oh well.
Boarded, got settled into our roomette, then went over the wine/cheese tasting. We were seated with a same-sex couple headed to Buffalo. As with most of the meals on the trip, once people found we were from Chicago, we were mostly asked about how the city was excited in the wake of the election. (I sorta wish I was making the trip this week, given Blagomania). So we hung out there until the staff kicked us out, then went to sleep somewhere in Indiana.
My wife is a much lighter sleeper than I, but on the trip I was the one that slept fitfully-- fortunately I dont need all that much. K. found the "rocking to sleep" pleasant, while I felt like someone was coming up and shaking me awake every 2 minutes. We switched berths on the return trip, and the upper bunk was only slightly better. I will mention, however, that the Doppler "whoosh" of another train passing you at full speed is now one of my favorite sounds.
So we woke up in Erie, PA. I grabbed a shower (I didn't think we slept in that late, but it was a pretty sketchy shower by then. Just a couple of towels left, I ran out of hot water, and I had to negotiate a full sack of trash as well as the linen bag in the changing area. K. had the presence of mind to shower before we left for the station).
For breakfast we were seated in the one deuce in the dining car. I had passable French toast. K. had a semicircular sponge masquerading as an omelet. We headed back to our room and napped and read for a while. The lunch offerings were a little better; I thought the Angus burger was decent. K. had the pizza. For lunch we were seated with an anthropologist and her Czech husband, headed to NYC from Rochester.
We arrived into ALB about 90 min. late, and they rushed us onto 448 to get us moving about an hour behind schedule. Not much to say about this leg--we were pretty tired, it was dark by then, so no scenery to speak of, and our car was nearly empty. But we made up lots of time, arriving at South Station about 20 minutes ahead of schedule! This allowed us to catch the MBCR instead of hopping the Red Line T. The downside of that was, those double-decker cars on the Kingston line are crap if you've got luggage. The jump/handicapped seats in the doorways were already taken. But...we arrived at the in-laws' while they were still awake, which was nice.
More later. Did the rancor and pettiness of the election season adequately prepare us for visits with extended family? These questions and others, etc., etc.
11/25 LSL: CUS-BOS
Arrived at Union Station at about 7 after Metra-ing down from Evanston. The 4-block walk from home to our Metra stop turned out to be the most harrowing part of the journey. We had a hitch with the Quik-Trak machine, as it ran out of paper at ticket 2 of 8 forcing us to get in line anyway. After checking our carryons in the Met.Lounge, we had a nice dinner in Greektown a few blocks away. We got back to CUS in plenty of time, as they were about 40 min. late in beginning boarding. So we got to admire a TSA sniffer dog, a lovely yellow Lab. Her handler had to tell several folks not to pet her (the dog, that is), as she was working, and lamented that she'd asked for an ugly dog. Oh well.
Boarded, got settled into our roomette, then went over the wine/cheese tasting. We were seated with a same-sex couple headed to Buffalo. As with most of the meals on the trip, once people found we were from Chicago, we were mostly asked about how the city was excited in the wake of the election. (I sorta wish I was making the trip this week, given Blagomania). So we hung out there until the staff kicked us out, then went to sleep somewhere in Indiana.
My wife is a much lighter sleeper than I, but on the trip I was the one that slept fitfully-- fortunately I dont need all that much. K. found the "rocking to sleep" pleasant, while I felt like someone was coming up and shaking me awake every 2 minutes. We switched berths on the return trip, and the upper bunk was only slightly better. I will mention, however, that the Doppler "whoosh" of another train passing you at full speed is now one of my favorite sounds.
So we woke up in Erie, PA. I grabbed a shower (I didn't think we slept in that late, but it was a pretty sketchy shower by then. Just a couple of towels left, I ran out of hot water, and I had to negotiate a full sack of trash as well as the linen bag in the changing area. K. had the presence of mind to shower before we left for the station).
For breakfast we were seated in the one deuce in the dining car. I had passable French toast. K. had a semicircular sponge masquerading as an omelet. We headed back to our room and napped and read for a while. The lunch offerings were a little better; I thought the Angus burger was decent. K. had the pizza. For lunch we were seated with an anthropologist and her Czech husband, headed to NYC from Rochester.
We arrived into ALB about 90 min. late, and they rushed us onto 448 to get us moving about an hour behind schedule. Not much to say about this leg--we were pretty tired, it was dark by then, so no scenery to speak of, and our car was nearly empty. But we made up lots of time, arriving at South Station about 20 minutes ahead of schedule! This allowed us to catch the MBCR instead of hopping the Red Line T. The downside of that was, those double-decker cars on the Kingston line are crap if you've got luggage. The jump/handicapped seats in the doorways were already taken. But...we arrived at the in-laws' while they were still awake, which was nice.
More later. Did the rancor and pettiness of the election season adequately prepare us for visits with extended family? These questions and others, etc., etc.
