Oh wait, it IS Friday! After over 2 days of travel, we arrived in Iowa. I have to keep reminding myself what day of the week it is and what time it is.
Train travel is really a fun way to travel if you take things in stride. I will travel the train again (I mean I DO have to get back to Florida at some stage in my life). I’ll do things almost the same with a bit of difference!
What will I do different when I travel to Wyoming next month?
First, I’ll take another kid with me! Okay, that was already planned but I will be so grateful to have our 17 year old daughter traveling with us. We are heading to WY after IA to see my married daughter and my baby sister, her family and friends. Stephanie is looking forward to seeing her cousins and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. Melanie is just looking forward to seeing her sister’s horses (okay maybe her sister, too and the cats).
Why, then do I need the third person? For one, Stephanie is amazing with 9 year old Melanie. They play, sing, talk and get along well as they entertain each other. I’ll make sure they sit together on the train (I mean I DO have books to read). Secondly, Melanie was such a trooper with me as we carted many bags through trains and Chicago Union Station for hours yesterday but it WILL be handy to have an extra set of strong muscles for the next leg of the trip.
Second, I will pack differently and rearrange our baggage to check in more! Amtrak is wonderful as you can check up to two bags FREE per person and two more bags each at $20 per bag. For three of us traveling that is 6 bags FREE so that is more than enough. They also allow for two carry-on bags per person and one personal bag. It is very generous and I saw people hefting HUGE suitcases on with them. However, yes, we are allowed so much but I’m going to pack much lighter in the future. That being said, one whole suitcase I brought was gifts for people in WY so I know my load will be getting lighter.
What I do differently may be only a couple of things but I will look forward to future train travels because the experience was easy, relatively painless (any pain I had was my own doing since I carried so much onto the train) and free of hassle. The staff were amazing and the passengers pretty quiet. I even talked to a few and bonded over different subjects. I am my daddy’s daughter afterall. He never knew a stranger.
For now, I’m on my tenth cup of coffee (okay fifth but they are tea cups) and my brain is still waking up to the fact that I’m in a different time zone. I’ll keep it short and let you enjoy some pics from our trip here to Iowa (my home sweet home).
Mellie loves to find fun ways to travel.
Unexpected blessing – seeing the Washington Monument (We saw it almost fully but I was so shocked I didn’t take a pic)
Zoom in to the right side of the pic for a look at our Capitol Building! Anyone know what the long building is?
Proof we WERE in Washington D.C. (okay, you’ll just have to take my word for it)
Chicago Union Station – can you find Melanie?
The way to travel if you want to have a road trip without the pressure of driving is definitely via train!