Our Train Trip to KC - Part 1

DC to Chicago – 2^nd Day, Tuesday

At last it was light out, and we got up and went for breakfast. We had just ordered our food when the attendant told us there was a problem with our train connection in NY, and we needed to call Guest Services to see what changes were being made in our plans, and it couldn’t wait, because we were only ½ hour away from DC, which was the possible place we could change trains. So I sat there, calling Guest Services. First the line was busy, then I was on hold. Time was ticking by. The attendant came back and said the conductor had called for us, and we were to get off at DC, which was now 20 minutes away.

We forgot about breakfast and hurried back to our room to gather our stuff. The attendant was very helpful in helping us get our stuff off the train and onto the platform. She even took our claim check to the baggage car and got our 1 piece of checked luggage so it would travel to NY without us.

Not knowing what else to do, I left Hubby on the platform with all our luggage while I went off to find the ticket counter to ask for help. The ticket people gave me new tickets for the rest of our trip, and one took me to show me where the lounge was at. Apparently, since we had sleeper accommodations, we were entitled to use the lounge! Furthermore, we had gotten an upgrade for the next leg of our journey and would have a bedroom rather than a roomette.

As he was about to leave me, I asked him for help in rescuing Hubby, who was still down on the platform with too much luggage for both of us to carry, let alone him. He asked another employee for help, and that employee, whose radio was chattering away at him, said yes, there was a Red Cap helping him get to the lounge. I thanked them and wandered back toward the gate I had come from, expecting to see them somewhere on the way. I didn’t find them, but my phone rang. Hubby was wondering where I was, he was at the lounge.

I went to the lounge.

I saw him as soon as I entered, and all our luggage was in the temporary storage room. The lounge attendant could have printed our new tickets for us, but couldn’t check luggage, so I took Hubby carryon and went back to the ticket counter to get it checked in.

It was not quite 9. Our train wouldn’t leave until 4.

The DC station was huge; multi-leveled, with lots of hallways, doorways to the outside, stores galore and signs all over the place. I was glad to get back to the peaceful oasis of the lounge, where we could have our pick of coffee or soft drinks and a variety of snacks. It wasn’t breakfast, but it helped soothe our jangled nerves. Hubby pulled out the laptop and worked on his WiP until about 2. I worked in my notebook until he got done with the laptop, then I switched and started working on a short story I had barely begun.

We did leave the lounge once, about lunchtime, to go to the food court in search of ‘real fool’. All that was available was fast food, so we each picked something and went back to the lounge to eat.

We had been told to be in the lounge at 3:00 to be ready to catch our train. I packed up the laptop and put it back in our luggage about 2:45. At 3:00, they announced there was a problem with the displays, they weren’t updating as needed, but the lounge employees and the red caps could see the correct times, and they would get us to our trains on time.

About 3:30, a red cap came looking for my party of 2. He helped us get our luggage out to his golf cart and zipped us out to our train. We were in a 2-level car, so we had to climb a tiny square staircase. The train’s attendant helped get our stuff upstairs and to our room. It was at least twice as big as our roomette had been, with a couch along one side, and a bathroom, sink and chair on the other. We put our carryon bag on a shelf above the single chair, piled the boxes and cpaps on the sofa, and we both got to sit near the window.

Soon the attendant arrived to take our orders for supper. There was no dining car, only a café car, so their choices of food were limited, and everything was microwaved. (Okay, I suppose the bread, salad and drinks were not.) What I had wasn’t great food, but it was edible. And it came with a complimentary alcoholic drink. (Try getting complimentary drinks on an airline!)

We ate at 5:45, and it was dark by the time we got done. Hubby had finished his word count for the day and he hadn’t brought anything to read, so he decided it was time to turn in! After all, we had to get up by 6 to get breakfast before he hit Chicago. We had the attendant make up the bottom bed, which we’d been told could hold 2 people ‘snugly’, and place all our boxes on the upper bunk.

Okay, we tried, but after 40 years of sharing a CA King bed, we couldn’t make a not-quite-full bed work for us. After a couple hours, I climbed out and told Hubby I would sleep in the chair. I’ve slept sitting up many times and didn’t think it would be a problem. It was.

 

Our Train Trip to KC - Part 1

Day 1 – Orlando to New York

For a change of pace, we decided to take a train trip. Why? Well, a cruise ship would not get from Orlando (inland) to KC (even further inland). The trip was to meet our latest grandchild. We didn’t want to sit for hours in a brew of germ soup before we met her, so we didn’t want to fly. Ditto for a bus. We thought about driving, but didn’t look forward to it, what with stopping every hour for a restroom break, finding a motel every evening, and the big cities with their maniac traffic.

So I took a look at railroads. I wanted some kind of room for us, so we could cut back on the # of germs we’d face and have a place to lay down and sleep. So I asked for a roomette for the two of us. It seemed a little expensive, but maybe not, if you considered that not only were they transporting us and our luggage, but feeding us and providing lodging as well. We decided to do it, just so we could say, “Yes, we’ve ridden a train, and we remember doing it.”

The day came for us to start our journey. The dishes were in the dishwasher, getting cleaned. Everything was packed. The taxi was on its way to get us. The Amtrak station was in a part of Orlando we didn’t know, and it didn’t have any long-term parking there, so I had hired a taxi to take us there.

The taxi driver was surprised at the amount of luggage we had; 2 carryon suitcases, 2 mixer sets and a juicer still in their boxes (Christmas gifts), and 2 cpaps, but we got them all in his car, and got us to the station about ½ hour before I thought he would.

It was a nice almost-winter day in Orlando. The sky was deeply overcast, a soft breeze blew, and the temperature was in the low to middle 70s. We got Hubby settled on a bench on the platform, the luggage piled around him, and I went inside to the ticket window to ask questions.

That was when I got the news; they could not accept the boxed kitchen equipment as checked luggage. Even though I had called and asked if I could substitute Christmas gifts for some of my checked luggage, and was told yes, this guy said they did not accept boxes as checked luggage. So we put our heads together to figure out how to get everything to our destination with us. The solution was to pick one of the carry-ons, take out our medications, and take the bag to be checked luggage. Everything else had to be carried onto the train by us and stored in our roomette.

Our roomette was smaller than we had imagined. If you see some youtuber on traveling on trains and their ‘roomette’ has a tiny bathroom in it, that’s not what we got. Our train had that type of room, but our room was even smaller: Two seats facing each other, a small sink beside one seat and a trash can beside the other. There was a cubby hole way up at ceiling level that could be used to store some luggage. Hubby managed to shove the carry-on bag and 1 cpap in there, but it was hard to reach, and none of the boxes would fit in it.

The train left the station at 1:36 PM. We were informed we could go to the dining car at 2 and have lunch. We had purchased a quick bite at the hot dog stand at the train station; we hadn’t thought we’d get any lunch otherwise. But lunch sounded good, so at 2 pm, we lurched our way to the dining car. (Those movies that show people nonchalantly walking down train hallways and confidently stepping from car to car don’t take into account the swaying and jolting that an actual train does.) As we plopped down in a booth, I told Hubby I didn’t have my sea legs. He replied that the sea doesn’t usually toss you around this much.

Later, as we sat in our roomette entertaining ourselves, we asked each other how we liked the train ride so far. Despite the snafu with the luggage, I thought that getting ourselves to the mode of transportation was far less intense than getting through the airport. And despite having luggage piled up around us, the seats are bigger and more comfortable on an airplane. It had gotten dark, and we were still traveling (we would have stopped by then if we were driving). And it’s not as far a walk to the dining car as it was to the dining room on our last cruise.

I think I like it.

 

After a supper that Hubby said was at least as good as, if not better than, cruise ship meals, we had the attendant make our roomette into a pair of bunk beds. The steps to get onto the top bunk were at least 2 steps tall, maybe more, but I eventually got up there.

 

It was, I think, the longest night I’ve ever experienced. The train was rocking, which I thought would help me fall asleep. Instead, it kept me awake as I feared rolling off the bed, despite the safety harness intended to keep me in the bed. I clutched the safety harness for reassurance and finally fell asleep, but I woke up so often, it must have been a light sleep.

 

The Dr Who Cruise Part 7

Saturday, 10/28 – Day at Sea

We didn’t have any reason to get up, so we didn’t set an alarm, and got up when we woke up, which turned out to be about 8 AM. We went to the Main Dining room for breakfast, where Hubby was able to get Eggs Benedict, which he couldn’t get in the buffet. After hanging around our cabin until 11:30, we went to deck 5 to refill our beverage cups with soda at the pizza place. Then we went to the deck 3 Main Dining room for lunch.

After lunch, we watched a little tv in our cabin, then decided to go to the hot tub. Once I got into a swimsuit, Hubby confirmed that I had a bruise along my upper back/lower neck. Left-overs from the massage I’d gotten two days earlier. We found room in an infinity-view hot tub in the Solarium, a section that is for adults only. I tried to get my bruises submerged in the water as much as possible, but I had to hang on and squat, and the movement of the water tended to move me this way and that. The water was agreeably hot, and after about 25 minutes, I decided I was done.

While I was getting out of the tub, I noticed a man come into the Solarium with his daughter in a stroller. He paused right in front of the sign saying guests 18+ were welcome to rearrange the towels in the stroller so that his daughter would nap. Then a woman came in with her toddler son and stopped to stare at that sign. She turned to me and asked, “This is for kids, right?” I told her it wasn’t, and she turned around and left. The man with the stroller was still there, and later, as Hubby and I walked to the other side of the Solarium in search of towels, the man came pushing his stroller among all the adults as if his daughter belonged there. Some people just don’t believe the rules apply to them.

Then we went back to our cabin and packed as much as we could. As usual, we decided to carry them out ourselves, so we could toss the last few items in in the morning. Hubby decided to go walking, and I decided to catch up with my writing. (Blogs don’t write themselves, and neither do Works in Progress.)

After a while, Hubby returned with two photos. One he had bought from the couple who had organized the semi-group photo the night before, and a copy of the official group photo from D, which was part of our membership. He told me he had been told that they had had the readings and autograph sessions at 3 PM, and nobody had known how to get hold of us to tell us, because D didn’t know our cabin number. This was usually held after dinner on the last night, not the middle of the afternoon, but the last day wasn’t usually a day at sea. So we missed that activity and were saddened, but we had the photos.

We took the photos with us to dinner, and Hubby borrowed a sharpie from Jon (monster) and flitted from table to table getting autographs. In fact, two or three of the monsters approached him to give him autographed photos that they had prepared for us. We came back to the cabin with more photos than we had taken, which left us feeling happier. Eventually, D will edit all the video and audio he took during the cruise into a CD, and we will get a copy of that CD as part of our membership. That will include the reading of the stories/scripts, so eventually, we’ll get to hear those, too.

So we set the alarm to get us up to get off the ship and turned in.

The Dr Who Cruise Part 6

Friday, October 27 – Mexico

The alarm got us up at 6 AM. We crawled out of bed and got to the buffet for breakfast by 6:30. After eating, we slogged back to our cabin for bottles of water for the excursion. We each confessed that we were tired, and debated if we should even go on a 4-hour walking tour of Mayan Ruins. So we went down to the ship’s conference center, where the group was meeting, to tell D we wouldn’t make it to the ruins. Then another elevator ride up to our cabin, where I fell into bed.

About 2 hours later, I woke up and climbed out of bed. Again. We had about an hour before lunch would be served in the buffet, so we went to the card room, where I wrote. Hubby was done with his DW script and had turned it over to D on the only thumb drive he had brought with him, so he didn’t feel he could write. He tried to play solitaire on the laptop but got frustrated when it didn’t react as quickly as he thought it should. He took the laptop back to our cabin and walked until lunch time.

We were joined in the buffet by 2 other DW people, so we had conversation during lunch. Back in our room, we watched “Night at the Museum” (#1) to pass some time before we needed to head for the Music Hall, where Dominic would give a musical recital at 3:30. Dominic is a composer who has worked with the DW show.

We left our cabin about 2:50 and went to deck 8 to stroll through Central Park, which took us right to the Music Hall. We got there about 3 PM. The hall wasn’t open yet. We talked with a couple other early-birds for maybe 10 minutes, then Hubby wandered off into Central Park. I followed him until I found a table where I could sit and continue writing. It wasn’t long before Hubby returned with a couple desserts, which we devoured at my little table. Then back to the Music Hall, where we could now get in and choose our seats.

Hubby picked seats located in front of a small stage set to the left of the main stage. D asked us to move because the small stage was where Dominick was going to be. So we moved to seats at the bar, about 3 feet from where we had been sitting.

The music started at 3:30 and continued until 4:33 or thereabouts. It was great fun, a composition based on DW music. After it was over, we all had to beat feet to the Aqua Theater on deck 6, so the photographer could get our group photo taken. After that, I stopped at the candy shop to buy some jelly beans, and then we returned to our cabin, where I convinced Hubby to lay down for a nap.

About 7, we headed for the social hour at the chosen bar. We traveled aft via deck 5, where we found several members of the DW group waiting to get a group photo, so we joined them. After the photo, we went to the floating bar, which periodically rises very slowly to deck 8. By the time we got off on 8, it was after 7:30, so Hubby and I took an elevator back to deck 5 and joined the crowd collecting in front of the doors for the Main Dining Room. At 7:40, those doors opened, and for once, we were not the last ones to our table.

The Dining Room was offering lobster tails. I think everybody at our table ordered one. Some—like me—also ordered a 2^nd main dish. The lobster tails were served, and several of them were then handed off to people who had ordered one, but wanted a second. (The ship was charging for a second lobster tail, but not for other second main courses.) So, for 20-30 minutes, I sat with a lobster tail in front of me as a favor for my husband. I was hungry, so I ate the carrots and broccoli, which I wasn’t sure he would eat anyway. When Hubby finally finished his first tail, we were exchanging plates when the waiter grabbed the empty plate and whisked it away, then brought my actual main course. It was cheese tortellini, and I enjoyed it a lot. I hope Hubby enjoyed his lobster tails as well.

The Dr Who cruise - Part 5

October 26, Thursday – Roatan

We got up at 7 with no shore excursion to do. Hubby did have a 9 AM appointment with 2 other fan writers to collaborate on a short story. The DW guests would do a table reading of the freshly written stories on the last evening of the cruise. Since he had that appointment, he opted to go to the buffet for breakfast. I wanted to go to the Main Dining Room. I like the Main Dining Room for breakfast and lunch because it’s less noisy, less confusing and less hurried than the buffet.

After breakfast, I went to the card room to do some writing. This would give the steward a chance to clean our cabin.

We had appointments at the spa for a couples massage. We arrived almost ½ hour early and had paperwork to fill out. For some reason, when it was time for our massages, they decided it was too soon after his stent was put, and they could not do a massage on him. Who knew one would effect the other? So I was the only one to get a massage after all. I knew I’d been dealing with a lot of stress, but she was really working my muscles hard! Afterwards, she told me my leg muscles were as hard as a wall. A few hours later, I realized my calves were sore, and my upper back/lower neck felt bruised. (Hubby confirmed that I was bruised there.)

Hubby came back after my massage, and the two of us went to the buffet for lunch. Then we went back to our cabin to write, but Hubby seemed restless and kept going off to walk about. One time when he came back, he brought the 2 women from Australia who were the rest of his writing team. He had made a change to their script and wanted to get their opinions on it.

The two ladies had found themselves with nothing to do for the afternoon. D had told them to just take a taxi to the dolphin experience, and everybody would meet there. They went to the taxi stand, but couldn’t get a good deal, so they just came back aboard. We had a nice chat, they approved the change to the script, and then they gave him their email addresses so he could send them a copy of the script once he got home.

About 7, Hubby told me to go down to the Schooner Bar and he’d catch up with me. I said I would first go to the pizza place to fill my tumbler with pop so I’d have something to drink at the bar, and he said okay. With such a large group, we very nearly took up all the seats at the bar, so I sat down with the first batch of DW people I saw, thinking I would see Hub when he arrived. A short time later, Tim came by and told me Hubby was farther into the bar, holding a chair for me. So I went to join him, but if he was ‘following’ me, how did he get ahead of me? Why didn’t he call to me when he saw me come in? Is it any wonder we lose each other?

We went to dinner, and the guest at our table tonight was a companion of the Troughton DW way back in the late 60s. Unexpectedly, another table complained that there were too many people at their table, and not everyone could sit down. So D went over to see what was going on, and even though he had already been at our table once, Ross came over to join our table. Double fun! And there was no soup drama tonight, although the servers did break out into a dance. And those diners who were so inclined joined in.

Others at our table were going mini-golfing after dinner, while others were going bar hopping. But our group shore excursion the next day started at 7:30 AM, so we went to our cabin and to bed.