Train Trip

As many of you know, we took the train from Marshall, TX to Rochester, NY with a layover in Chicago for our holiday trip.

Overall, the trip was good. There are definite pros and cons when it comes to train travel vs plane travel. Plane travel is quicker for sure but also more restrictive. You have to go through security, pack a certain way (ie. no liquids in your carry-on) and then you are stuck in a tiny space, completely at the mercy of the flight crew. You have to wait for the flight attendants to bring you something to drink, you are lucky if you get anything at all to eat and can only use the bathroom at certain times during the flight. Plus, everyone starts to get suspicious if you just want to get up and stretch your legs a bit.

The train is better from this perspective because you can move around and you have more space, you can get something to eat pretty much anytime during your waking hours and you can get water any time you want it (at least in the sleeper car). Plus you can bring onto the train your own food and drinks (including alcohol) to consume at your convenience. You can use the bathroom whenever you want to even when the train is stopped at a station. All this and no security at all.

It took approx 43 hours from the time we left our house until the time we arrived in Rochester. Yep, it was a long trip and I had troubles getting a decent sleep but we got to have some much needed family time just to hang out together.

I posted pics on facebook as we went along so some of these photos may look familiar. There are more pics on my facebook page of the interior of the train and our sleeping accommodations.

Here is a quick synopsis of our trip:

The name of our train. This cool poster was hung in the dining car.

The kids in the lounge car. There were 6 tables at one end then the remainder of the car had seats that were turned towards the windows. Every spot was first come, first served. Roughly mid-car was a set of stairs that took you down to the cafe. It was open for the majority of the waking hours and sold various snacks, drinks, sandwiches, salads, etc. The dining car had limited seating hours and a limited menu but it was fine for us. Meals were included in the price of the sleeper car.
M listening to her iPod and watching the world go by. I love this pic of her.

We woke up the second day in St Louis. It was 15 degrees outside as O is demonstrating here. Our sleeping car windows are behind him.

C also taking the above pic of O.

The kids and I standing in the doorway of the train.
Pulling out of St Louis we saw almost 360 degrees of the Arch! It was pretty at night (on our return trip) but we couldn't take good pics of it then.
While on a 7 hour layover in Chicago, we walked the 1.5 blocks to Sear's Tower (now named Willis Tower). Those are my feet as I look through the glass floor down to the ground that is 103 stories below! Then the whole family standing in the glass box that extends off the side of the building. That excursion and having some Chicago deep dish pizza at a nice little restaurant another block further took up nearly all of our time in Chicago.
The second half of our trip was spent in coach class (not a sleeper car). Most of the trip was overnight and, while the sleeper was much more comfortable and private, this part of the trip wasn't horrible at all. We were in the same car with people getting off the train either in Buffalo or Rochester so there was not a lot of activity overnight while we were sleeping. The lights were kept low and we had planned ahead with blankets to remain a comfortable temperature.

The return trip for the same leg in coach class was not horrible but less pleasant. When we left Chicago, the train was clean and fresh and we got off roughly 1/3 of the way on its trip to NYCity/Boston. The return trip had us waiting for 90 minutes (train was late due to weather) at midnight and getting on a much less "fresh" train since it was already 2/3 of the way into its trip from NYCity to Chicago. Again, not horrible but not near as pleasant. The thing about coach is you can't control the lighting or the temperature and there are always people walking by going to the cafe/dining car, the bathroom and getting on and off the train looking for seats. I think I slept for about 2 hours total. UGH.

Our Chicago layover was shorter this time plus we arrived an hour late so we just ate at the food court for lunch and were back on the train in the sleeping car for our final leg of the trip. If you look at the pic of O above, you'll see that the sleeping car has an upper level. We had sleeping accommodations in the upper level on our return trip. The upper level sways more and seems like a rougher ride compared to the lower level. Something to note for future trips. Amtrack trains are not the smooth, sleek trains we've experienced in Europe with fast rails and on time arrivals/departures. These are passenger trains sharing the rails with freight trains which have priority. Numerous times we had to stop and allow a freight train to pass from the other direction. Not the end of the world but so much different than passenger trains in Europe.

The kids LOVED traveling by train and it allowed us some great family time. While I was a bit grouchy (ok, maybe a lot grouchy!) from lack of sleep, it was a fun way to travel. We now have another travel option!

Lost Companion

I'm bummed.  Rusty went outside Friday evening about 8 pm.  I saw him sitting on the table in the back yard around 10 pm.  He didn't want to come in at that time and I haven't seen him since.  He has missed 4 meals.  He always comes home for breakfast.  I can only imagine that if he could come home then he would.  I would put signs up around the neighborhood except that there are several cats running around that look like him so it would just be confusing.  I just hope he isn't/wasn't in any pain or discomfort.  I still have hope that he might show up at the back door like he always does.  But with each passing day I'm beginning to believe that he is gone.  The kids were not really close to him so no trauma there.  Craig feels badly that we don't know where he is or what happened to him.  I really miss my little buddy.  I hope you are happy wherever you are Rustola.  I love you.

Weekly Recap

Whew!  Another whirl-wind week.  However, I was forced to slow down and have a fight with a bug.  It seems everyone around me has been sick yet I had been very lucky to not catch anything.  Mostly people have had the cough/congestion thing but I had a couple of clients this week with a stomach virus.  As you can see, just a little bit of everything.  My bug seems to have manifested itself into chills, body aches and general exhaustion.  It is frustrating because I have no outward signs that anything is wrong---no runny nose, no coughing, no stomach upset, no fever etc.  However, when I sit quietly on the couch or in bed, I'm pretty good.  Some low back ache but otherwise not too bad.  When I get up my whole body screams including joint and muscle ache--but not the same ache you have after a long workout.  I get up and accomplish some task for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and I am spent.  I have to sleep.  It is annoying.  

I try to make sure I walk the dog every morning so he spends some energy.  The past 3 mornings have been much shorter walks.  Today I pushed it a bit longer and by the time I got home I was a mess.  I had to crawl back into bed and ask C to take over.  He, of course, was happy to help out and got O up and out the door on time, got M up and going, fed the animals, played administrative assistant and took a few phone calls for me and got the kitchen cleaned up before he headed off to work.  Thank you, honey!  One phone call was a cancellation of an 11 am client.  While I was looking forward to the income, the chance to stay in bed longer was even better.  I slept until 10:45 am.  I now seem to have a bit more energy but am going to lay low today.  I have a client scheduled for 4 and I need to pick up some milk at the store but other than that, I'm sitting my butt on the couch for the day.

I've missed two days of classes including a quiz I'll need to make up.  I'll deal with that next week and get notes from someone.  I just need to get past this by tomorrow.  Saturday is a big 50th Anniversary celebration NASA event.  I have looked forward to it for months.  Originally it would have taken place in late September.  However, with the hurricane and all it was postponed to this weekend.  It is a dress-up, adults only event which is so fun for me to do every once in awhile!  I bought a new dress, shoes and the required undergarments, I've set up my client schedule so I can work, take a nap and then get myself ready to enjoy the evening.  The kids are set up at GAB.....Everything is done.  I just have to feel better!  There is food, drink and dancing.  There are people to see and fun to be had!  I cannot crash 2 hours into the evening!  While I've taken homeopathic meds for my bug (mostly the first day), I've saved the ibuprofen to help me get through Saturday.  I so want to be able to enjoy it!

Obviously that has been my focus for the past week but there are other things that happened too!  I passed all of my midterms getting strong Bs in all three classes.  We had a fun family event last Friday at O's school.  The PTA hosted a movie night in association with the new PTA movie store.  They have family friendly movies and are trying to promote it for the holidays I'm sure.  So, they offered a free public showing of Kungfu Panda.  It was a very cute movie and a great time.  We filled up the school cafeteria with blankets, pillows and snacks and had a great couple of hours enjoying the movie.  

Since we have plans for this weekend and I've been busier at work lately, I had a full day at work last Saturday.  All went well and I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be.  Sunday we met with a pet sitter who will take care of the pets for us over Christmas.  Then, just after he left, the dog started vomiting.  He suddenly could keep nothing down and by 4:45 Monday morning was vomiting on our bed and there was blood in it.  We were very worried and got him in to see the Vet on Monday morning.  They did a few tests and found he had not ingested anything toxic.  So, we are treating him for gastritis.  We came home with anti-nausea meds as well as antibiotics because his white blood cell count was slightly elevated.  He seems to be just fine now and never really lost his high energy so all is well there.  We are watching him just in case he relapses which might indicate a blockage in his GI tract.  That would involve x-rays etc.  So far so good.  

M enjoyed her weekly dance class on Tuesday and then the two of us headed out to shop.  I needed shoes and undergarments to go with my dress for this weekend.  I hate shopping and prefer to do it during quiet times so I figured Tuesday mid-day was the perfect time.  Ha!  The joke was on me.  We went to Macy's and hit the shoe department first.  It was chaos and I just figured that there was some sale going on plus, it was still the lunch hour so it should calm down.  It took a long time to get waited on but I had already dedicated this day for shopping and didn't want to leave.  I finally got what I needed, looked at the very long line for checkout and decided I'd take my shoes with me to Foundations and look for a bra.  That department is upstairs and I had already picked up my hose and bra before I realized how long that line was for checkout too.  What is going on?  I ask myself.  It is just a random Tuesday.  It is not a holiday week, is it?  What am I missing?  Well, Macy's is having a big one day sale.  Dammit!  I've already invested too much time and energy to leave my selections behind now.  Plus, I must have been working on fighting that bug because my head was fuzzy and I was tired.  I figured, I'm already here and I don't want to have to get back out and do this again this week.  My judgement was cloudy.  So, I decide to take advantage of the sale and find some jeans.  It took a bit of searching but I found a pair.  Then I took my place in line.  M was starting to melt down but was holding it together pretty well.  Then a sales associate came by to direct the line to a few other cashiers so we could get out of there faster.  I went over to the children's department happy that I had taken advantage of the price check computers to make sure all of my selections would ring up with the correct sale price.  To make a long story short (too late!) the cashier told me that she couldn't ring up the shoes because they work on commission in that department and she needed to give credit to one of the sales people there.  I about came over the counter at her.  I should have just given up at this point but, dammit, I had spent too much time and energy here and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!  I was going home with those shoes no matter what! 

So, I grab M who is in tears by now and haul everything back downstairs to the shoe department.  The long line was gone and I was able to finally purchase all of my items.  We practically ran out of the mall.  I really, really hate shopping like that.  But I am very glad I stuck it out and got it done while I had the chance.

Yesterday we had a quick conference with O's teacher.  We are so proud of him.  We all agree on his strong points and weak points.  He is doing very well and is at or above where he needs to be at this point in his education.  I really like his teacher and I really like the things they are doing in his classroom.  Today is his last day before Thanksgiving break--they have the entire week off next week.  We have things to work on with reading and math to keep him thinking.  He is having a little bit of trouble with odd and even numbers but he loves to write.  He has written notes to his teacher and his Kindergarten teacher from last year just this past week.  He is very sweet and loves to express his fondness for them.  He and his sister write notes to one another too.  It is very fun to watch them.

Anyway, this post is long enough and I need another nap to help me get through the afternoon.  M is watching Star Wars for the second time today so I should have some quiet time available.  I'll try to get pictures over the weekend from the NASA Gala.  Next week, O is on vacation, I'll need to catch up on school stuff, there is Thanksgiving and decorating for Christmas.  We plan to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving at the Texas Renaissance Festival which has become our tradition.  So, lots going on and lots to look forward to.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

A healthier addiction

My very first job was for Chick-Fil-A in my home town when I was a sophomore in high school.  The experience was a good one and I earned a $1000 scholarship that helped pay for my first year of community college.  When I moved to Jackson, the closest Chick-Fil-A was a 5 hour drive away in Salt Lake City.  I didn't realize how much I craved the stuff until it wasn't readily available!  Then we moved to Ann Arbor and I had gotten over my need to have Chick-Fil-A.  My darling husband (well, we actually weren't yet married at that time!) searched and found a Chick-Fil-A about an hour away in Toledo, OH.  He surprised me by taking me there for dinner for my 30th birthday! 

Once we moved to Houston we had 3 Chick-Fil-A restaurants within 5 miles of us.  We made it a Saturday night date every week to go eat there because I always wanted to eat there on Sundays.  They are always closed on Sundays for religious and family reasons.  What a great way to grow their following---being unavailable on a weekend day!  Now the kids are addicted as well and I take full responsibility.

Now there is another reason why I am a loyal customer:  Chick-Fil-A has removed all of the trans fats from their menu items.