Adventure via Amtrak

We are on an adventure. My oldest son (9) and I are on our way to Washington DC via Amtrak train. He's been wanting to visit the Smithsonian but because he has extremely bad anemia, he can't fly. My mother suggested that we take Amtrak, I looked into it, and here we are! We boarded in Raton NM on a train that was over 2 hours late (due to an electrical problem, we later found out). We have a sleeper car and so after eating a late supper on the train (part of the sleeping car deal), we fixed up our beds and went to sleep.

At the Raton station

Sleeping on the train wasn't too bad. The car sways and bumps, but it's no worse than sleeping in an automobile. It's quite a bit better really because you can stretch out and the train is smoother than a car for the most part. I took my hearing aids out and wasn't bothered by any noise. I did have a small scare late in the night though. Before leaving I'd cleaned my ears to get some wax out (so I could hear better). I didn't get it all because I feel the water getting trapped, but I thought I was okay. In the middle of the night, though, I woke up with a little pain in that ear. I'm thinking, great...an ear infection! After rubbing it and clearing my Eustachian tubes a bit, I felt better and when I woke up, I felt fine.

We are currently sitting in the “view” car, which is a neat car with big windows, tables, and chairs where you can sit and watch the world go by. It's an interesting experience in other ways, too. The car is currently full of Amish from IL and while I'm sitting here a Muslim man and his woman in full black veil walked by. What an interesting contrast. The Amish with their full beards and consistent clothing, and the Muslim man with his full beard and his woman trailing behind.

The view of the view car

David is having a good time. He's talking constantly, although he soon got invited to the next table to visit with a lady we had supper with last night (the train deliberately puts full tables together). At this moment, he's talking to her and the Amish men at the cross table. It's too bad the kid is so shy.

In the view car

That's the news for now. I'll get some of this posted when we hit Chicago Union Station where, hopefully, I'll have internet access.

We are in Union Station in the 1^st Class Amtrak lounge- another benefit of sleeper cars!- waiting to board in 30 minutes or so.