Showing posts with label Southwest Chief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southwest Chief. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, March 19, 2012
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.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Front of the train going into Raton Pass
Steepest railroad grade in the US. It parallels the Santa Fe Trail. 
Friday, March 9, 2012
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. 
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."
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