Delicious Indeed!

[HowWeird]

I'm so so glad that Amtrak wasn't as bad as I had imagined! I mean, it would've been okay since we would end up in Florida, but still, we would've been recovering from being miserable.

I definitely liked sitting there and enjoying each other's company! It felt like a typical Saturday but at the end of it, we'd be in Florida! We seriously need to move south. Let's go!

DAYTONA!!

 

[RachelNinja]

Sounds like you are having fun on the train. My youngest ds would love to go on a train ride.

The kids on the train seemed to be having a lot of fun! They walked up and down the aisles probably to and from the lounge car over and over again. I think they enjoyed having that kind of limited freedom.

I'm here! I dont know how I missed the link in your PTR. Gonna get caught up now.

YAY! Glad you're here! Haha, hopefully I'll keep up to date with this instead of letting it sit for a while like I did with my PTR.

I'm so so glad that Amtrak wasn't as bad as I had imagined! I mean, it would've been okay since we would end up in Florida, but still, we would've been recovering from being miserable.

I definitely liked sitting there and enjoying each other's company! It felt like a typical Saturday but at the end of it, we'd be in Florida! We seriously need to move south. Let's go!

DAYTONA!!

I'm still nervous because you wanna fly in a little over a year! Haha. I'd do Amtrak again in the future. Maybe during a non-peak time booked really early ... that way, we'd save a lot of money. Plus, it wouldn't be as crowded.

YEAH!!!

 

[RachelNinja]

Saturday, February 19: More Amtrak Fun!

Before I move on, I wanted to post more pictures from the first leg of the trip. Like I said in the previous post, I typed up the update on the train, so I didn't have the pics next to me. I don't know where to stick these in terms of order, so I'll just add them here.

I lost track of where we were at this point.

We were confused!

That little knob is to make the bottom recline. I hung the grocery bag there for our garbage so we wouldn't have to keep getting up.

Of course, I got hurt when I was trying to do it! Haha, I think this was only a few hours in!!!

I thought it would be okay, but it kept bleeding, so I had to put a Band-Aid on it.

Mickey was happy to get out of my backpack too.

He enjoyed looking out the window!

He had fun watching Blades of Glory as well!

At some points, we were driving on these bridges that had us right above the water! It was insane, and I was really fascinated yet scared at the same time!

There can be some really pretty views as you get farther down south.

I think we were in Washington DC here. This is when they switched the engines. We didn't go outside because of the smokers, but we did stand up and "visit" with Nik!

That's when I got a Hi-Chew from her. I had never tried it before, and I really liked it! It did take about 4 bites from me though. I'm always paranoid I'll choke on chewy candy like Starburst! Or I could also get a locked jaw due to TMJ.

Okie dokie, that should be enough to entertain you for now, right? Haha, at least I'm moving at a better speed than my April 2010 TR that's still not complete. Of course, I started that one at a good pace too ... hehe.

 

[Heffielump]

YAY! You started! It's okay to miss your mom! When I went to Paris for the first time and saw the Eiffel Tower I called my mom crying!!!

You guys were so well prepared for the train ride! Can't wait to hear more about your trip! I'm doing a super commando trip at the end of March so I can't wait to hear your favourite parts!

 

[LilAnn]

Oh my gosh, I started laughing when I read your post and saw the pic where you said Howard thought his head was too big. That happens with me and DH all the time! I may have removed it from FB, but I'm not sure. Sometimes his head looks twice the size of mine!

Love your TR so far. It's making me rethink a train ride. I've done an Amtrak trip to NYC before and it was fun. Not sure if I could make it all the way down to FL though, especially with a little one.

 

[Bridora]

Woo Hoo! On your way to Disney! I'm so glad you are reporting on your Amtrak journey as well; I've always wanted to travel somewhere on a train!

 

[klacey1]

I love reading your Amtrak updates!! I'm sorry my "go to the back of the train" advice didn't pan out! I guess it's different on overnight trains. (Although it seems many people gave you wrong advice about where you needed to be, lol).
There is something so novel about traveling by train-- feels very vintage! (That is, vintage with laptops and other electronic modes of entertainment!)

 

[PirateKate]

Taking a train to Disney would be quite the experience. I could see how it could be really fun, since no one would be driving and everyone could watch movies and talk. And it would be cool to get to see all the sights you'd miss if flying.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in too! I've never taken Amtrack anywhere and am enjoying all of your pictures and descriptions.

 

[GaRain]

I am in for the ride.....

 

[Nermel9]

I love reading about your train trip, it sounds like it was fun! And you're right, those seats do look roomy, much more than seats on a airplane! Can't wait til you arrive at Disney!

 

[RachelNinja]

YAY! You started! It's okay to miss your mom! When I went to Paris for the first time and saw the Eiffel Tower I called my mom crying!!!

You guys were so well prepared for the train ride! Can't wait to hear more about your trip! I'm doing a super commando trip at the end of March so I can't wait to hear your favourite parts!

I'm glad that it's normal to miss my mom! Haha, my mom thinks I need to be more independent! She was happy that I went away on my own because I learned how to handle everything by myself (well, with Howard really!).

Ooo, your trip is coming up soon then! We're in your vacation month!

Oh my gosh, I started laughing when I read your post and saw the pic where you said Howard thought his head was too big. That happens with me and DH all the time! I may have removed it from FB, but I'm not sure. Sometimes his head looks twice the size of mine!

Love your TR so far. It's making me rethink a train ride. I've done an Amtrak trip to NYC before and it was fun. Not sure if I could make it all the way down to FL though, especially with a little one.

Hehe, I'm a great fiance because I make fun of his big head size too. I feel that's okay because I too have a fairly large head! I told him that I wouldn't be able to date him if his head wasn't bigger than mine!

With your DD, it might be easier to get a sleeper car. You can get a roomette and have all 3 of you stay in one, I think. It might not be that expensive if it's during a slower time and not during the holiday time like when we went!

Woo Hoo! On your way to Disney! I'm so glad you are reporting on your Amtrak journey as well; I've always wanted to travel somewhere on a train!

It was definitely an experience. It made even the traveling part fun! We considered it an adventure!

I love reading your Amtrak updates!! I'm sorry my "go to the back of the train" advice didn't pan out! I guess it's different on overnight trains. (Although it seems many people gave you wrong advice about where you needed to be, lol).
There is something so novel about traveling by train-- feels very vintage! (That is, vintage with laptops and other electronic modes of entertainment!)

Don't worry about the "back of the train" advice. We didn't know which way we were going anyway, haha. No one was down there to direct us! We would've walked in that direction anyway! I wonder if they put coach in the front so we can listen to that train horn honking all the time! Haha.

YES, vintage is definitely the word! Yesterday one of my students was like, "How did you get there?" (despite the fact that I had mentioned Amtrak MANY times before the trip and all the other kids knew). One kid told him that I took a train, and he was like, "Yeah right. Miss Ninja didn't take a train all the way to Florida." I said, "Yes, I did. Why don't you believe me?" And he said, "Oh okay, was it a train with wings?" HAHAHA. It took a while for him to believe me because I was egging him on and saying, "Would I ever lie to you?" with a big smile on my face.

Taking a train to Disney would be quite the experience. I could see how it could be really fun, since no one would be driving and everyone could watch movies and talk. And it would be cool to get to see all the sights you'd miss if flying.

Since Howard and I did the car thing last year with him splitting the drive with my dad, the train was a much better experience. When Howard drove, I sat in the front with him, and because I HAD to stay awake, I immediately felt tired! Haha. This time, we could just nap whenever we wanted to. It was definitely fun seeing the difference between all the stops closer to home and all the stops closer to our destination!

Joining in too! I've never taken Amtrack anywhere and am enjoying all of your pictures and descriptions.

Yay! Thanks for joining me on this adventure! I've loved reading your trip reports!

I am in for the ride.....

Woohoo! More passengers for the ride!

I love reading about your train trip, it sounds like it was fun! And you're right, those seats do look roomy, much more than seats on a airplane! Can't wait til you arrive at Disney!

I was worried that I wouldn't be comfortable if it wasn't clean, so I brought Clorox wipes and all those things with me. I didn't even use it on the way down! I guess I got comfortable really quickly! I guess you're on a train, and everyone else isn't going to look absolutely fresh either, so it doesn't matter so much!

 

[RachelNinja]

Saturday, February 19: Howard's Amtrak Pictures

Here's Nik with her cow! I think she just calls it cow, but for a while, I think its name used to be "Steak"!

Thrilled that we had the outlets! PHEW!

Howard is learning to take one-handed pics! Of course, doing it with his camera is much more difficult because it's heavier!

You can get a feel of where we were located in our car. We were a little bit behind the middle, and we really liked it because we weren't too close to either door. Plus, we weren't too close to the bathroom to have to smell it but also not too far away that we'd have to trek there to catch it before someone else went in (there were yellow indicator lights that turned on the outside when someone locked it from the inside).

I look like a boy because my hair is pulled back, but this is when I was finally calm enough to realize I was hungry and I could eat my sausage egg McMuffin!

This is at the first stop in NJ. I think it was Newark?

Haha, you can see that I'm typing up part of the trip report here!

This was Ray and Dani's set-up.

Okie dokie, next update will be waking up on Amtrak after the overnight portion!

 

[LilAnn]

It's fun to get home from a night shift and have an update to read! Looks like you guys had a nice little setup!

 

[HowWeird]

Yay for new readers! Haha see, you do have friends

I know I said I wanna fly for our Disneymoon but if you're really adamant against flying, then I'd hate to force you! I need to plant the idea of flying as being a good thing now ...

Another good thing about Amtrak is that it makes my commutes seem VERY short!

 

[Jennifer48]

I'm here!

Riding on Amtrak doesn't seem so bad. We looked into it after you mentioned you were doing it. It would have added another few hrs for us because it takes a strange loop around MA before heading to NY. We could have been on the same one!

I really need to get mine started but I'm trying to catch up on the DIS first! Plus, DH needs to finish uploading all the photos so I can add them to photobucket.

I'm still so sad we didn't get our DISmeet!

 

[therussells08]

I love reading about your time on the train! It seems so exciting! This is going to sound really weird but I went to bed last night and dreamed that I was going somewhere (Disney I guess) on a train and you and I met each other. I told my mom about it this morning and she advised I do not post that on here lest you think I am a weirdo, but I just had to tell you!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Subbing to the TR now! I like how you started writing on your way down...it's a good way to kill time, plus everything will be so fresh in your head...it's kinda like...real time! LOL

You seats on Amtrak look really comfy. I used to ride Acela all the time for work to Baltimore and they are quite comfortable. It's not a bad way to travel at all. I'm curious to see how your overnight stay went.

I love hi chew! The grape ones are really good. I also like the green apple ones.

Did you go to the snack cars at all? I am curious to see what you guys ate on the way down...aside from your egg mcmuffin and the huge sandwich.

 

[RachelNinja]

It's fun to get home from a night shift and have an update to read! Looks like you guys had a nice little setup!

Hopefully, those updates will keep coming for you! It was definitely a fun thing to do with a larger group of people. Howard said if it were only the two of us, he might not have wanted to do it.

Yay for new readers! Haha see, you do have friends

I know I said I wanna fly for our Disneymoon but if you're really adamant against flying, then I'd hate to force you! I need to plant the idea of flying as being a good thing now ...

Another good thing about Amtrak is that it makes my commutes seem VERY short!

I know the benefits of flying. I'd love to just get there right away and relax! I just hate doing it! I know it's only a little bit of time, so that's comforting. We'll see. We'll see we'll see we'll see. I guess for our Disneymoon, it would only make sense to fly what with Magical Express and all that too!

But your commutes don't have ME

I'm here!

Riding on Amtrak doesn't seem so bad. We looked into it after you mentioned you were doing it. It would have added another few hrs for us because it takes a strange loop around MA before heading to NY. We could have been on the same one!

I really need to get mine started but I'm trying to catch up on the DIS first! Plus, DH needs to finish uploading all the photos so I can add them to photobucket.

I'm still so sad we didn't get our DISmeet!

That would've been so cool if we were on the same train! It seemed like you go there really quickly though as I watched you reach all your markers on Facebook!

The only reason I can start this one is because I started writing on the train. Nothing is really being written now. I just had to add pictures in, but I did that on Sunday for the few updates I have. I'm pretty sure we'll hit a dry patch once I'm done!

I KNOW. We were so close to meeting! I guess that's what happens quite often though. It's so difficult to meet up with someone in WDW because of how quickly plans can change!

I love reading about your time on the train! It seems so exciting! This is going to sound really weird but I went to bed last night and dreamed that I was going somewhere (Disney I guess) on a train and you and I met each other. I told my mom about it this morning and she advised I do not post that on here lest you think I am a weirdo, but I just had to tell you!

Haha, that was an awesome dream! I've had a dream before of meeting a bunch of DISers on a boat from World Showcase to DTD (haha, I don't even know if there is a boat for that). I don't think you're a weirdo. Plus, I got a kick out of the fact that you used the word "lest"!

Subbing to the TR now! I like how you started writing on your way down...it's a good way to kill time, plus everything will be so fresh in your head...it's kinda like...real time! LOL

You seats on Amtrak look really comfy. I used to ride Acela all the time for work to Baltimore and they are quite comfortable. It's not a bad way to travel at all. I'm curious to see how your overnight stay went.

I love hi chew! The grape ones are really good. I also like the green apple ones.

Did you go to the snack cars at all? I am curious to see what you guys ate on the way down...aside from your egg mcmuffin and the huge sandwich.

I definitely think riding the train is much better than riding a bus. I could definitely get motion sick on a bus, but the train was just a constant movement that I could handle. Even typing and watching DVDs was fine! There was one leg of the trip where things were just shaking a lot for a good 10-15 mins. I felt like my insides were shaking too!

My cousin said she tried looking for the grape one! The one I had was really good! Much softer than a Starburst!

Yup, we did get to the snack car, but only Howard got something.

 

[RachelNinja]

Sunday, February 20: That’s Where They Grow The ...

It’s Sunday morning, and Howard and I have been awake since 6:30am. I guess we’re very used to getting up at this time for work. Our other 3 buddies are still sleeping, so it’s kind of entertaining to look over and watch them creepily at times. For example, look at Ray all bundled up!

Haha, we just stopped in Palatka, Florida, and when we started moving again, I waved to a man in a truck, and he waved back! Wow, I’m easily entertained. Howard and I were also extremely entertained by all the sights! We kept saying, "That's where they grow the trucks" and "That's where they grow the mountains." Anything we saw was being "grown" in a farm or something, haha. We were just cracking up about everything!!!

Anyway, I’m just going to quickly recap the rest of the night. Hmm, where did I leave off? Well, everyone else took naps and slept, but I was wide awake. As it got later, I didn’t want to nap at all because I was afraid it would interfere with sleeping at night. We then had “Shark” come to our car to announce what was happening with dinner. His real name was Jacques, but we didn’t hear it clearly the first time, so Howard thought it was “Shark.” This had already happened at lunch, but he told us again that because we had the full train, we wouldn’t be able to eat in the dining car because all the reservation slots were filled up. There was more than enough food for everyone to eat, so we had the option of getting dinner and bringing it back to our seats (or eating in the lounge car, but even that was going to be crowded according to Jacques).

That didn’t really bother Howard and me. We figured it was actually easier this way since there are 5 of us and the tables seat 4. Plus, we would also have to bring our bags of valuable stuff, like our electronics, and that would’ve been a tight squeeze. Instead, the 3 of them headed to the back to get food first. The lounge car/café car was a long walk! It’s about 5 cars back. That’s why there’s no chance for us to get seated because they go through each coach car to ask.

They came back with some food like sandwiches and snacks, and then Howard and I made our way back there. I wasn’t hungry in the slightest since I had eaten the second half of the second hero fairly recently. It was such an adventure going through all of those coach cars while the train was moving at that speed. It was also very clear to us that we had the best car. Haha. The other cars were loud and dirty and packed with people with strange odors. Our car just seemed a lot calmer than the others. Plus, we caught a glimpse at both bathrooms in one car, and there were bits of toilet paper or paper towel all over the floor! Yuck. Have some respect, people!

Anyway, we got to the back and had to wait in a line. That was fine since Howard had to decide what he wanted. I was really not in a mood for anything. I took a picture of a lounge car table while we waited.

It's nice to have the option to sit in a different position and across from people to play a game or something in the lounge car. Of course, you never know if it'll be completely filled! I think there was another lounge car on the other side of the cafe car too.

Here are the condiments and such that they have available.

He chose a BBQ chicken sandwich with provolone cheese, and I got a cup because I brought a can of ginger ale with me. I took this while we waited for his food to be "cooked" in the microwave (pretty quickly, I must say!). The area isn't the absolute cleanest, but it's kind of expected considering all the movement. To walk back to your seat, your food or drinks are put in one of those boxes you can see on top of the counter.

Walking back was also interesting, but at least we didn’t have to look at many people since we were walking in the direction they were facing. I’m also glad we had our coach car because we didn’t have as many people walking by. I can’t imagine being in the coach car right next to the lounge car and café car! EVERYONE would have to pass by! And each time someone passes by, there’s a little breeze or gust of wind.

We settled back into our seats. I had my ginger ale and Pop Chips. Yes, that was technically my dinner, haha. But I just wasn’t feeling the greatest, and that was what I knew I could and would eat. Thankfully, I did bring the ginger ale because after about half a cup, I immediately felt so much better! I probably didn’t have enough sugar in my system, which can be problematic since I’m hypoglycemic.

Our onboard entertainment, haha, was season 4 of 24! We ended up watching the first 3 episodes of the season. So much fun! Although it was a little nerve-wracking to watch the first scene of the first episode because the people are on a train that is derailed because someone purposely put a truck on the track filled with C-4!

As it got closer to 10pm, we decided to take a pause and go to the bathroom one last time. Howard also went to get Gatorade because all we had was water and ginger ale. They told us many times that they dim the lights at 10, so I just wanted to do all that before it got a little bit too difficult to move around. When the lights were dimmed, it wasn’t that dark. The lights in the middle above the aisle were still on, but everything else along the sides and above the baggage racks were turned off.

We were going to watch that 3rd episode of 24 with our neck pillows and blanket so that we could just go to sleep afterwards. I was actually falling asleep during that episode! When it ended, I was almost completely out of it, so Howard put everything away so we could put the trays back up and have room to sleep.

I don’t remember much of what happened, but I did sleep for 4 hours. I woke up a few times during the night since I was trying to move around and find a comfortable position. I’m so glad we each had our neck pillows though (Christmas gift from my mom) because it would’ve been very uncomfortable on our necks if they kept bending to the side.

I ended up getting up around 2am, and I just wasn’t tired at all. I sat up and looked out the window, but there was nothing to see since we were stopped at a bigger stop for a while. Howard did eventually get up and noticed that I was up. I also noticed that Danielle was up. In actuality, I was confused because I didn’t recognize it as her. I thought a new girl had come on board to sit next to Nikki and was awake doing work. Little did I know what had really happened …

After a bit more time, I was able to fall back asleep. I curled up more in a ball instead of stretching out on the seat. I guess I just couldn’t get fully comfortable. Plus, every time there was a noise, I felt like I had to wake up. The doors opening and closing or an announcement coming on the speaker usually stirred me awake.

Are we there yet? I'd like to go in a clean bathroom that doesn't move!

We both woke up again around 6am. We looked out the window since it was bright enough to enjoy it. Plus, we were in Florida, so everything just LOOKED so much warmer! After a while, we had our breakfast of peanut butter granola bars. Looking back, I realize that may not have been the best choice because I got those stomach aches from too much fiber. I think I should’ve skipped it since I actually started getting a lot pain once again! I forced myself to go back to sleep, and that helped a bit.

When we finally got closer to our destination, we met a really fun car attendant! He was getting our car ready to get off the train and reminding us to clean up our areas since people would be getting on board as we were getting off. He actually came to Howard and me and asked us if we were Chinese. The reason for that was because he knew Mandarin! Howard and I know Cantonese, but still, he was very friendly, and we were able to understand some of the things that he was saying. We then talked about being from New York and how the Chinatown in San Francisco is so much cleaner than the one in NY. Haha, we totally agree!

I wish that that car attendant, Alan, could have been with us the entire trip. It would’ve been a very relaxing and fun ride! We had other good people too, so I’m not complaining at all.

When we finally arrived at the Orlando Amtrak station, it took a while to get off since the entire car and others were getting off. It was funny listening to the conversations of people way in front of us because people were chatting and saying stuff like, “It was nice to meet you” and “Make sure you try those pineapple Frostys!”

Before we got off the train though, I had to say goodbye to Leo. Leo kept Howard and me company during our ride down. Haha, he's a Cheeto! Leo the Cheeto! His full name is Leonardo. He was there when we got on at Penn Station. Haha. I wonder if he's still there! Maybe he was heading all the way down to Miami!

Okie dokie, I do believe this MIGHT be the last Amtrak update! Moving on to using our own two feet as transportation! Next update will be getting the rental car and finding out why Danielle moved next to Nikki in the middle of the night!