It's Officially Spring, Right? - Part 5

Need to catch up?  Here's Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

When last I blogged, Toni and I spent a second day hiking on the AT and cider tasting before heading back home to Alexandria.

Monday, March 13th

When I woke up on Monday morning, I immediately checked my phone.  Toni had set an alarm for earlier that day to get online and see if any tickets were available for entrance to the African-American Smithsonian, and she was going to text me to let me know her results (that way, if needed, I could get up, but otherwise, I could roll back over and keep sleeping).  While we didn't get tickets (someday!), I was pretty much awake and decided to start checking out how the expected blizzard would impact my ability to make it back home the next day.

In checking my email, I had a note from Southwest stating that my flight scheduled for Tuesday, 3/14, from Reagan was flat out cancelled.  Okay, I thought, time to get up and on the real computer and start figuring out what to do.  In looking at Southwest's website, the next flight out that still had seats was on Thursday; certainly, if you have to be stuck somewhere for two more days, your best friend's house is one of the best places to be, but I really wanted to get home on time and avoid taking extra time off from work, if possible (it's funny how you only start to really, really miss home when you find out you can't get there as scheduled...).  I called Southwest to get into the eternal hold queue (after working in customer service/retail for several years at the start of my career adventures, my heart goes out to the folks answering those phones...yeesh) and asked for a call back when my number came up.

My next step was to check the Southwest website for the list of airports they felt would be impacted by the storm; that reached as far down as Greenville, South Carolina.  I pondered, okay, how can I get to maybe Charleston and fly home from there?  Next, it was onto the Amtrak site; Amtrak had a few trains leaving at various times of the day from the nearby Alexandria train station (we took the Amtrak from this station a few years back from Toni's house to Sarah's in NYC), and one could get me into Charleston before daybreak on Tuesday.  After searching flights, I eventually crafted a plan to hop the 3pm train from Alexandria which ran down the eastern seaboard overnight, arriving in Jacksonville, Florida around 6:30am and then take a Southwest flight from Jax to Orange County, CA leaving around 9:30am, getting me home around 2pm on Tuesday.  There was one slot in a sleeper car left, so I kept the page pulled up while I waited for the Southwest agent to phone me back.

Once someone returned my call from Southwest, I ran the plan past them and asked them to switch me from the original (cancelled) Tuesday flight to the new Jacksonville flight, with me paying a slight difference in price for the trouble.  Once this was accomplished, I booked the Amtrak ticket as well, noting that sadly, the sleeper car ticket was gone; while this was a bummer, I figured if I took my pillow on the train with me, I could at least grab a few winks leaning up against a window or something (I can sleep pretty well in transport vehicles, when needed).

Eventually, with my arrangements sorted out, I ran all of the changes by Toni, and we decided to head out in a few hours, once again to downtown Alexandria, for some lunch and window shopping with the girls (Juliet was with us, but Robert headed back to work today) before they dropped me off at the train station.  We all headed upstairs to get cleaned up and for me to pack up, before wishing the townhouse goodbye.

Once in downtown, we shopped for awhile and ended up having a light lunch at Bread and Chocolate, a local chain, that unfortunately wasn't that great.  While nothing was actively bad, all of our food was a bit strange; my salad didn't come with chicken as advertised, Toni's soup was remarkably spicy, and their baked goods were all rather hard and cold.  Overall, I wouldn't recommend it, but it was at least clean, fresh, and nourishing.  After visiting CVS for some magazines and chocolate for the voyage, Toni and Juliet dropped me at the station and I bid them adieu, thanking them for the great time (and asking them to send my goodbyes to Robert, as I wouldn't be able to tell him so myself).

Inside the station, I checked my bag and took a picture of the tag, as requested by the agent:

He asked me if I had a smartphone to take a pic,

which I thought was odd until

I looked around at my fellow passengers.

I can only imagine him asking other folks this,

and getting something like,

"but my Jitterbug doesn't have a camera!"

in response.

While I waited in the station, I killed some time by talking with Mom (who was driving home from Orlando after disembarking a cruise) about our recent travel adventures and taking pictures of the nearby Masonic temple.

Pretty, right?

All my crap for the train.

I also wandered over to inquire with the ticket agent as to whether a sleeper car spot had opened up further down the line, and to my delight, she informed me that one had!  I gladly paid the small upgrade fee and planned to transition from the standard seats to the sleeper car in Richmond, about 90 minutes down the line.

Eventually, we got the call that the train (the Silver Star) was arriving, so we hustled outside to wait in the freezing cold.  

It's pretty sunny out here,

despite being like 35 degrees.

All aboard!

Once on the train, I joined an older lady in a pair of seats, and brought out my book for some quality reading time.  The trip to Richmond was uneventful, and as we got closer, my seatmate and I exchanged pleasantries; apparently, she lived in Philly and was visiting her daughter in Richmond.  She makes this trip fairly often, and she remarked that she's never seen the train so full; I surmised I wasn't the only one escaping the storm before it came roaring into town.

As we pulled into Richmond, I hopped off the train with the rest of the local passengers and made my way back to the sleeper car to meet my attendant, Kumar.  He told me how to access my cabin and mentioned that he'd join me soon to show me around (when I introduced myself, he also went, "you're Amanda?  Oh, okay."  I don't know what he expected, but apparently, I was not it).  I easily found my cubbie for the evening and settled down, unpacking my gear and saying hello to my neighbor across the aisle, who bore a remarkable resemblance to Mark Twain.

In my sleeper car!

I'd never done a train ride in a sleeper car before, and it was pretty fun, overall.  My little cubbie had two large seats directly across from one another which folded down into a bed for sleeping.  Next to one seat was a sink and toilet that folded up into the wall when they weren't in use and a mirror for whatever you might need.  That's right, you get your very own toilet!  How cool is that?  Each car had another bunk that slid down along a track on the wall, so two people could sleep in each cubbie.  

A picture tour:

The other seat across from me,

and to the left, the sink, currently pulled up.

My stuff is sitting on the toilet.

The door to my cubbie,

with Mark Twain's cubbie across the way.

The two sets of windows - 

the top bunk pulls down to the

bottom of the upper set.

We headed out of Richmond, and Kumar came to give me a tour, letting me know that if I needed anything, I should let him know.  

Bye, Richmond!

I settled into the seat to read my book and eat the snacks I'd brought with me.  While there was a dining car on the train, Chris and I have eaten in them before, and the food is mainly processed stuff, so I dined on the turkey sandwich I'd made that morning at Toni's.  While we were still in the more populated ares with data service (the WiFi on the train was almost nonexistent), I started planning out how I'd get from the Amtrak station to the airport, and I was pleased to see I could schedule an Uber ahead of time for my arrival the next morning.  I figured if the Uber didn't show, I could always grab a taxi, and since the total drive should be only 20 minutes or so, I had enough of a time cushion to relax.

Eventually, the scenery darkened, and I started to fade, so I determined it was time for bed.  After unsuccessfully attempting to make the seats into the bottom bunk, I decided to just use the top one, and keep the seats in place, should I wake up in the middle of the night and need some space for reading.

All ready for bed,

held in place by the net.

Since I didn't know I'd end up in a sleeper car,

I didn't bring my jammies aboard.

Thus, sleeping in my clothes.

Oh well.

It's a rainy night in Raleigh!

Sleeping on the train was okay; the motion of the rails would lull me for awhile, but when we'd come screeching into a station, the resulting stop and go would wake me up.  Also, while I attempted to go to sleep around 9pm, the announcements on the train don't go silent until 10:30 or 11; thus, I heard every station notification for another hour or two, even with earplugs in and the spare pillow over my head.  Also, you know how when you live within hearing distance of a train track, it's super cute to hear the whistle as the train comes through?  Well, imagine being on the train and hearing that whistle every time the train goes through a town or across a street or near another train or to alert a cow or something; I must have heard that thing at least 50 times that night.  

Eventually, I nodded off and got probably 4-5 hours of sleep, which is pretty good all things considered (also, if you're tall, don't try sleeping in the top bunk - I'm 5'5" and could easily touch both ends of the bunk without stretching).  I woke up around 4:30, somewhere before Savannah, and after reading a bit more, washed my face (they had a full shower down the hall, but not having replacement clothes, I voted against the trouble), brushed my teeth, and headed to the dining car for some hot water for tea.  When Kumar wandered by around 6am, he looked surprised to see I was already up and ready to go, which further reinforces the fact that Kumar doesn't really know me (anybody who has ever Ragnar'd or traveled with me knows I'm the first one up always).

We came into Jacksonville about 30 minutes behind schedule, and I'd been adjusting my Uber estimate to accommodate for this.  I picked up my checked luggage, had a quick bathroom break, then tracked the Uber on my app, stepping outside into the cold at the last possible moment.

Hi, Jacksonville!

The Uber was right on time and the ride was completely pleasant (although it did start out with my Uber driver discussing how all this cold weather is because the government owns a weather controlling machine...it wouldn't be an Uber ride without that, right?).  Unfortunately for reminiscing, both the Amtrak and the airport are on the northwest side of the city, which is pretty undeveloped, and we stayed on the freeway the entire time.  Thus, although this was my first time in Jax in about 10 years, I couldn't really see much of the city I called home during college; I'll have to visit for longer next time, so I can see how much it's changed and call on old friends as well (we're all old friends now, aren't we?).

We made it to the airport without issue, and I headed to the bathroom to take a baby wipe shower in one of the stalls and change into fresh clothes, which were packed inside my large suitcase.  After doing a makeup refresh as well and stowing my now read books (Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me) in the suitcase (as well as my pillow and other random crap I'd taken out for the train), I checked my suitcase with the lovely Southwest lady and headed through security.

Once through, I headed to the bookstore for more reading material (Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling's The Silkworm and Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me?  What?  I read everything) and some snacks for later.  I grabbed a quick breakfast burrito at the Budweiser diner (sure, why not) as well as some caffeine and food for lunch, since although my plane would be stopping in Denver, I would be staying aboard.  Boarding time came and I ended up in the bulkhead again, which was delightful, and I stayed there for the rest of the flight.  I made it to Orange County right on time, and happily joined Chris for the drive home back to see our one remaining dog (sad face).  The epic travel adventure was complete, and honestly, it was pretty fun.

Overall, I had such a wonderful time on this trip, and the hugest of thank you's to Toni, Robert, and Juliet for letting me come disrupt their lives for a few days.  Until next time!

Later!

Amy