Almost Vegan No-Bake Energy Balls

While visiting in New Mexico, my sister introduced these yummy treats to me via Pinterest. The honey makes them not truly vegan. Since it isn't a refined sugar and I haven't seen a Food Inc update on bee factory farms, we eat honey with a clear conscience in our household. Patty has also made them into bars. With my Pampered Chef dough scoop, it is easier for me to make them into balls. They are so tasty and so healthy for you!
Enjoy!
http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

Major League Baseball Players

have to go through security but train riders don't! It was wonderful - never were we or our baggage screened.

Just realized -

That I would never make it as pioneer woman for the 3,492nd reason.* With the delays, the train trip home took us 41 hours. That doesn't count the car service ride to Akron from Cleveland's Amtrak station OR the two hour car ride to Zanesville. We had a joyous reunion at home and then a yummy salad lunch. Then I crashed and napped for two hours. How pioneer whimpy is that?!? I bet it would have taken more than 41 DAYS to get from Cleveland to Albuquerque?!?! But, I LOVED our train trip and would definitely do it again! Pioneer women did NOT get served extra meals and get deluxe sleeping berths when they had delays!
(*As I've read more of pioneer life as an adult, I've come to realize I would have been dead early on. I'm such a klutz that "hearth death" surely would have gotten me. Our midwife also "assured" me that I would have died in childbirth had it not been for modern medicine.)

Almost!

We are nearly to Cleveland - yay!

Delayed - again!

Stuck right outside of Union Station in Chicago. The train's power keeps cycling on and off. Our beds are made so we are chilling and praying the train doesn't get cancelled. :-(

My Favorite City

CHICAGO!

The Oasis: Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station

Ah!
We are reticketed and awaiting the Lake Shore Limited while snacking on complimentary pretzels and pop. The desk clerk told us a wine and cheese reception awaits us on the train -wow!

After 28 consecutive hours on the train -

Andy finds a new way to sit!

Another Free Dinner

Because of our delays, Amtrak gave us dinner. Like the other meals, it was free. How nice is that?!

We're east of the Mississippi!

Plan B stands for (God's) Best

A little over an hour ago, we were told that our train was "officially" late and connections would be missed. I pressed the call button for our car attendant to ask for advice. He suggested we contact Amtrak's 1-800 number to see what could be done. Since we were still on the outskirts of Kansas City, MO (it looked like such a nice city, even in the rain), I still had 3G service.
A wonderful gal was able to get us on THE LAST SLEEPER BERTH on the Lake Shore Limited that leaves Chicago tonight at 9:30 PM. Had we not been able to make the reservation we would not been able to catch a train into Cleveland until 6:10 PM on Wednesday. She even made notation about the missed connection so we would not have any additional charges. We just ate lunch with a couple from Pittsburgh who have no idea how they will get home. We are grateful we have a sleeper because our train won't get into Cleveland until 5:35 AM. Grandpa Long will transport us the rest of the way to Fernbank, as originally planned.

The Bad

At this point we are running about five hours behind schedule. Our train left New Mexico an hour late. We had numerous stops overnight because of broken switches. (The battery boxes were vandalized.) At this point, it looks doubtful we will make our original train from Chicago to Cleveland. We are hoping to catch a later one that would get us in Wednesday morning. We know God will get us home safely. .

The Good-

We've had two lovely meals (dinner last night and breakfast this morning) with delightful people. We ate dinner with a CHRISTIAN couple. It was refreshing to share our faith. This morning we ate with some nice Chicagoans who just came from a visit in Albuquerque themselves. The food and service were outstanding once again.

FLAT!

We got the other side of the train this trip

And get to see snow-capped mountains!

We're off!

Our train was an hour late getting into ABQ. But our awesome car attendant made us lunch reservations for 25 minutes after we boarded. We are hanging out in the observation car while he makes up our room before lunch. (And yes, that's Andy playing Scrabble on the Kindle.)

All good things must come to an end-

Waiting for the train at the ABQ station. We LOVED our special time with family but are REALLY looking forward to our return to southeastern Ohio.

Day One of Babysiting

Today was the first day Andy and I watched Zach. We will return to blogging about our train adventures when we begin our return trip on Monday, March 19th.

WE MADE IT!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore

White Out In the Mountains

AKA "Glad I'm not driving in this!"

Coloring a Train Picture on a Train

Yet another S-curve

Front of the train going into Raton Pass

Steepest railroad grade in the US. It parallels the Santa Fe Trail.

Pringles: The Perfect Train Snack Food

Chillin in CO

We're taking it easy after breakfast.

Breakfast!

Authentic Pullman French Toast and awesome coffee!

Kansas Sunrise

Today's only regret -

I spent five hours in my favorite US city and was only outside on train platforms. I would have loved to walk around downtown but feared for our safety. So I did the next best thing and bought a Chicago Tribune, my favorite US newspaper.

Sunset over the Mississippi

No, I'm not making this up!

In Honor of Ingeborg -

My favorite fictional Norwegian pioneer, I had a lemon cake with blueberries and strawberries. (When I would get nervous about preparing for this journey, I would tell myself "At least you speak English, unlike Ingeborg."

Dinner with Dignity

Meals in the Dining Car are "free" with our sleeping berth. We both had salad and rolls. Andy had pizza and veggies. I had vegetarian lasagna rolls (recommended by our attendant since she's a "noodle girl) with veggies. We could have even had strip steak!

Observation Car

Hawk Eye Matzke noticed a HUGE wind farm on the horizon.

Travel Scrabble

The board came out within five minutes of departure!

Sit back, relax, and let the rails do the work!

So saith our conductor and how very true! Rail travel is such a pleasant way to go.

What a day! We LOVE traveling by train. My belly is full of dining car yums and we are hitting the hay. I promise to blog more tomorrow.

Details in a bit but we wanted to let everyone know we've boarded the Southwest Chief. Next stop (for us), Albuquerque!

One train down, one to go!

We'll we pulled into Union Station right on time after riding right past US Cellular Field! Andy was a real trooper walking in between two loud, smelly locomotives while pulling his suitcase and carrying his fun bag. A super kind ticket agent checked our suitcases and gave us all the information we needed about the Food Court and First Class Lounge. The latter is the bomb and where I am blogging from right now. It is the Disney World of waiting train waiting rooms: couches, carpet, free pop and muffins, and clean restrooms. We also get to check our backpacks in a coat room wIth a security guard. It made going up to the Food Court for brunch (and blessed coffee) a lot easier.
Here's the kicker: The grandma on the couch next to us is LUTHERAN. Her children and grandchildren are all Lutheran teachers! It's a small, small world!

Old Stomping Grounds

We just passed through Lowell, IN. Andy wasn't too excited to see the town where Mama used to do her laundry when she taught in Crown Point and lived in Hebron. But it brought back pleasant memories of living in Dinwiddie!

It's the simple things -

We got a much coveted electric outlet for our coach seats! The handy tip I read online about bringing along an extension cord really helps!

We're Off!

Waiting in the Waiting Area

"Safety Pups" please note the police stand right near our seats. :-)

"Let it Begin, Let it Begin"

Mark drove us to Indianapolis yesterday and we all spent the night at our favorite Drury Inn. With alarms set for 3AM, we got to the ticketing station by 4:30. Andy REALLY liked seeing downtown at night. Mark and I enjoyed a sentimental drive-by of the War Memorial. (Site of Mark's proposal.) Yes, we are early for our 6AM train but our family would rather be early than late! A nice Crowned Plaza lady let us cut through the employee area so we didn't have to walk outside to go around the block. With my email confirmation number, we picked up our tickets and awaiting boarding the 851 Hoosier State. Oh boy!

"Travels Lightly"

When we first got married (almost 14 years ago), I would pack so much that I joked my Indian name would never be "Travels Lightly." For our Big Train Trip, I piled the necessary items in the spare bedroom for several weeks, wondering if we would make Amtrak's fifty pound limit. (We never fly and have learned that totes fit best in our Honda Fit.) Wednesday was packing day and I was amazed to find out each of our bags barely registered twenty pounds. So my Indian name could be "Travels Lightly!"

March Game Night

Our dear Poppy has less evening commitments at our new congregation. Since he was gone two nights in a row, we just had to do something special. We set up three activity stations for our red-headed pals: Kindle Fire UNO, No-Stress Chess, and Write Your Own Story. Buttons won the chess game, Dancing Andy won UNO, and we came up with a great story about a train ride. Here's Andy with his best pal, Buttons. The evening ended with a Pile-Up, of course.