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.

 

Monday, 8/15 - Getting Home, Part 2

I don't think either of us got any sleep. The benches were made of cold, hard rock, and every time I started to doze off, somebody would walk by, and either their heels clattered on the floor, or the wheels on their suitcases were insanely loud. 

Sometime around 4, we got up and went to find the Canadian TSA place, which opened about 5, so we spent some time standing in line in order to stand in line. We got through that, and found our new gate. Hubby said he would go and try to find something for us to eat. I noticed a restaurant right across the hall was opening, and I asked if they accepted food vouchers, and they said yes. So we got a decent breakfast, although it took more than the $40 in vouchers.

Our first flight of the day was to Boston. I think it was pretty uneventful, but I was trying to doze, so a dozen screaming monkeys probably would have struck me as uneventful.

I don't remember much about the airport in Boston, except we were changing airlines. We had to walk all the way out of one terminal, through another long terminal, and into a 3rd terminal to get to our gate. I felt like we were doing a marathon, except we didn't have to run. Walk fast, yes, but not run.

We finally got on the plane to take us to Orlando. Here, too, I was trying to sleep, or at least relax, so I really don't remember much about it except that it seemed long.

Once we got back to Orlando, and got our luggage, then we had to wait for the shuttle to our parking lot. All this time, I was worried they would try to charge us for another day of parking, because I had said we would pick up our car at 1 am that day, and here it was, late afternoon. But nobody said a word about it, so we got in our car and drove home, picking up some burgers on our way home.

It took me 2 days to recover from this last 'adventure' of this particular cruise. Now, as you read this blog, I am finishing up another cruise. No long-distance flying required this time! The ship starts and ends in Port Canaveral, about 1 1/2 hours from home. Wish us luck.

Sunday, 8/14 - The Long Way Home

It was only a hop across the pond. How exhausting could it be? Unfortunately, it got complicated.

We got up and had a quick breakfast, then went down to claim our luggage and get on the bus to take us to the airport. It was not the slickest conversion from ship to bus that we've ever had; the people herding the passengers onto the buses had to ask us twice what airline we were taking so as to get us on the right bus. Then I think it was a 2 1/2 hr drive from Southampton to Heathrow. The airport is nearly as confusing as the one at Barcelona, and their version of TSA nearly came to loggerheads with hubby, but eventually we got through that and found our gate. For some reason, even though we were sitting next to each other on the plane, hubby and I were in different groups for boarding. So we both had to wait until the latter group was called, because I can't lift my overnight bag into the overhead bins. I'm just too short, and my shoulders no longer will lift that high.

The flight from Heathrow to Montreal was pretty uneventful. I was looking forward to actually getting home that night, even though that meant being up and awake for about 24 hours. Once we got to Montreal, we had to take our overnight bags and go through US customs before we could find our gate for the flight to Orlando. Part of that involved riding up an escalator. Here I was, juggling 3 bottles of water, a cpac case and an overnight bag, and when I lost my balance on the escalator, I just kept tumbling down to the bottom. A nice man in a uniform (not a security uniform) came over and helped me up, made sure I was okay. I had lost a shoe, which had ridden up the escalator without me. Hubby went up the escalator to claim my shoe. The uniformed man showed me where the elevator was, and then rode up with me to make sure I was okay. I was shaken a bit, but not too badly stirred.

Shortly after that, we arrived at the US TSA outpost, and I had to throw out all 3 bottles of water, because you can't take food or drink past that point. Then came US Customs, and that was even more of a madhouse. Everybody had to get in one big line, but as flight times started approaching, the crowd handlers would call out for people with that destination, and they were rushed to the front of the line so they could make their plane. If they had just had 1 or 2 more customs officers working the booths, that probably wouldn't have been such a big problem.

Eventually, we got through that, and then we found our gate for our flight to Orlando. We were just trying to decide if we had any time to grab something—chips or a drink or something—when they announced our flight was cancelled. We were lead down a couple hallways, and told to go downstairs and claim our luggage. No word on which carousel our luggage would be on, so hubby was wandering around this huge stadium-sized room, trying to figure out where our luggage was. I got to sit on a bench with our 2 overnight cases and 2 cpacs.

People were getting notices on their smart phones of what flight they had been shifted to, but our phones don't work outside the US, so we had to find the counter than handled such things. We happened to stumble on the counter we needed and got in line just before they started hollering at people to go upstairs to the ticket booths. An hour or more later, we were given our tickets for the 2 flights it would take on Monday to get us back to Orlando. We were also given $40 in vouchers for food, and a voucher for a hotel, and they told us what door to go out of to find the shuttle.

We stood outside that door for at least another hour, but the shuttle from our hotel never showed up. We noticed a sign that gave telephone numbers of hotels with shuttles, but a) our phones don't work outside the US, and b) there was no telephone number for the hotel we were assigned.

We went back inside. The airport was shutting down. So we found 2 benches next to other, shoved our luggage between them and tried to get some sleep. It was 11 o'clock or later, and we figured we had to be back by 4 am to catch our first flight. Good night, all.

Taking Some Time Off

 This past weekend, Hubby and I took some time off.

On Friday, we got up at 3 AM to head for the airport. We parked at our chosen parking lot, caught the shuttle to the airport. We didn't have any bags to check in, and we already had our boarding passes printed out, so we headed straight for the security checkpoint. We were there 2 hours before our plane was scheduled to leave, so we thought we'd have time to catch some food for breakfast, once we were through security.

Unfortunately, the TSA line was full, and people were being sent all the way down the shopping mall branch hallway to line up. My back was aching by the time we reached the end of the line, and they claimed it would only take 1/2 hour to get through the security checkpoint.

Right.

We were careful not to lose any stuff at security, and hurried toward the shuttle to get to our gate. Hubby put his shoes back on while riding the shuttle. When we got to the gate, they were already boarding, so no chance to get any food. Hubby got his belt back on after he got our carry-on luggage in the overhead bins.

Once in the air, they announced they had drinks and snacks for sale, but they would not be serving any complimentary refreshments. Possibly because the flight was less than 3 hours, I don't know; they didn't give a reason.

Things like that don't usually bother me too much, but Hubby gets irritable when he doesn't get any breakfast. So once we landed in KC and our son picked us up, he took us to get some breakfast. We didn't expect him to BUY breakfast for us, but he did. Possibly he remembers how growly Dad gets when he's hungry.

Son had some errands to run, so he dropped us off at his apartment while he did them with his friend from Massachusetts. Did I mention son was getting married this weekend? Massachusetts was going to be his best man.

Anyway, one of son's cats decided Hubby was okay, and chose his lap to sit on a couple of times. Hubby has a long-present allergy to cats, but didn't react as badly as he usually does. Still, he wasn't quite sure what to do with a cat on his lap.

With the errands run, we all got in the car (no, not the cats) and headed for the small town of Carollton MO, which was where the ceremony was going to be. There is a 4-story old mansion in Carollton that is used for weddings, big parties, and other events. The bride and members of her side would spend the night in that old mansion. There was a 3-bedroom house across the street where Son, Massachusetts, Hubby and I would get to sleep. Hubby and I spent an hour or so watching the news in that house across the street while son and Massachusetts helped get things ready at the mansion. They wanted the ceremony outside, but there was some concern it might rain, so back-up plans needed to be made.

We did wander over to socialize after a while, and got introduced to all sorts of parents, step-parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and what-not of the bride. We went outside and watched them discuss the ceremony, what would happen when, and how long it would take. It sounded terribly complicated.

We went back inside and socialized some more, talking mostly to grandpa of the bride. He was a little hard of hearing, but otherwise had his wits about him, and was willing to let everybody else deal with the details of What Needed To Be Done, so it was pleasant to engage with him.

After getting up so early, we retired to the house across the street shortly after the rehearsal dinner, which had been created by the bride's side of the family. I started out by taking a little bit of everything, but as I ran out of room on my plate, I had to limit my selection of salads. The food was all good, but I was favorably impressed by the Buffalo Chicken. I'm not a big fan of chicken, but this was good, nicely spiced so it had some flavor. The dates stuffed with walnuts were also very good.

But as I said, about 8:30, we went across the street and went to bed. It had been a long day.

Saturday morning, we got up and got dressed for the wedding, then sat around waiting for an appropriate time to go over. Son had gotten a text from his Brother that he couldn't come because his fiancée had had foot surgery and couldn't get around very well yet. Good thing Massachusetts was there to be best man. We asked Son if he shouldn't be helping to get things ready, and he said no, Bride was getting photos taken of her in her dress, so he had to stay away.

Eventually, we did go over, and somebody was pinning corsages to the bridal party's lapels, which included Hubby as Father-of-the-Groom. Somebody handed me small bouquet as Mother-of-the-Groom. Son introduced us to his boss, the only person from his job who had been able to make the ceremony. After a short while, people started moving outside to the chairs, since it wasn't raining. I was just stepping outside when I saw my Eldest Son, half-brother to Son. And right behind him... our Younger Son, who had felt so badly about missing his brother's wedding, that he had left his fiancée in her mother's care and driven the 4 hours to be there!

After the ceremony, we went back inside and had pastries and caffeine while more photos were taken. We counted the number of people on the Groom's side and there were 8 of us, counting the groom. Most of us found a table and had a nice conversation. We got along great. Even as shy as I am, I managed to contribute to the conversation. Brunch was served by the caterer, and while it was good, it wasn't as good as the rehearsal dinner. We kept talking until they cleaned our table of its centerpiece, as they had done with all the other tables. We knew they had a deadline for when they had to leave, so we helped carry a few items to the kitchen for them, and then we found the bride and groom and said our good-byes.

Younger Son drove Hubby and me to our motel in KC. It was nice to get that extra 1.5 hrs with him. But we knew he wanted to get home, so we didn't keep him waiting once we got there. We checked in and found our room. Hubby found himself a cup of coffee, and we watched The Bourne Legacy, then went to bed. Who knew having fun conversation could be so tiring?

Sunday. No need to get up early, as long as we got breakfast. They did serve a hot breakfast, but it was sausage, sausage, not-that-done scrambled eggs, pancakes and waffles. I settled for a cold biscuit (No butter or gravy available; I had it with honey), a banana and orange juice. Then I had a packet of instant oatmeal. Not the most inspired motel breakfast I've ever had. We checked out just before 11 AM and sat in the lobby for an hour. I printed out our boarding passes. At about noon, the shuttle took us to the airport. The way KC's security is set up, we were through it, at our gate and settled for a long wait by 1 PM. Our plane was supposed to take off at 6:10 PM.

About 3:15, we went to the only restaurant we could get to and had a sandwich and drink each. Came to almost $50 for the 2 of us. Talk about gouging.

Expecting, no refreshments during the ride, I went to the shop and got a bottle of pop, but they didn't have any chips, trail mix, nuts or gum, so I got a roll of live savers. I used the life savers during the flight to try to help my ears pop, but I never touched my bottle of pop. I fell asleep.

The shuttle to the parking lot would only pick us up in one particular spot, so we went there, and I spent 15 minutes trying to call them to let them know we were ready to be picked up. When they got there, they were packed to the gills for the ride back to the parking lot. Getting to the pick-up spot, waiting for them, and then getting to the parking lot took us about an hour.

And then another hour to drive home, so we got home just a few minutes before midnight. Needless to say, we went to bed. And then we found ourselves 'recuperating' on Monday.

Now to get back to work.