Maglev
Conductor
As a lifelong island boy, I do not like driving on interstate highways. I wish trains were an option for travel to Seattle from my area, but alas even if the schedules did work out they're not running due to the Canadian border closure. So it was with some trepidation that we headed out for SeaTac in our Tacoma. There was rain along the way, and I had to do some of that 70-mph driving through truck spray that I find terrifying. But past Seattle, in heavy somewhat slow traffic, a man test driving a private individual's Miata lost control at an on-ramp and slid across three lanes to hit our truck. All the airbags deployed, but neither my wife nor I were hurt at all. The other driver was okay too, no other vehicles were involved, and with the help of a passerby, we were able to push his car off the road. My truck was barely drivable. The Washington State Patrol was on the scene within minutes, and we were in a tow truck headed for our hotel within a half hour (our flight was the next morning). Except for having to rent and return a car at the end of our trip, the accident did not impact our vacation. I have not heard from my insurance company with a decision yet, but it sounds as if the truck is a total loss. It was a 2016 with 24k mi.
I had estimated that it would cost $8,000 to travel Seattle to Kissimmee by train ($2,000 for EB, $1,000 for CL, and $1,000 for SM/SS for edrooms each way), and add about ten days to the trip. After buying the plane tickets, I checked on Amtrak to see what it would really cost to travel by train, and Bedrooms were not even available on the EB in either direction, yet it would still cost $6,600. I simply could not afford to spend that much time or money, so we bought first-class plane tickets right to Melbourne. We flew A321's between Seattle and Charlotte, and CRJ900's between Charlotte and Melbourne. Our outbound flight was diverted to Knoxville due to thunderstorms, and due to equipment and crew shortages, our connecting flight to Melbourne was delayed five hours .
We spent a week at the Doubletree Suites Melbourne Beach Oceanfront, and it was a fine hotel. Some of the room fixtures were a bit worn (notably the sliding glass balcony door was very hard to open and close), but the room had a nice layout and the hotel restaurant was decent. Our AARP rate was $170 a night, but we upgraded to a high floor room for an extra $36 per night (and our room was on the top, or ninth, floor). We also made an overnight trip to St. Augustine.
I did see some railroads on this trip. There was construction of Seattle's light rail system visible along I-5 north of Seattle, and I saw where Brightline is going to cross I-95 in Florida. There were no "High Speed Trains Coming Soon" signs at any of the grade crossings in Melbourne.
I had estimated that it would cost $8,000 to travel Seattle to Kissimmee by train ($2,000 for EB, $1,000 for CL, and $1,000 for SM/SS for edrooms each way), and add about ten days to the trip. After buying the plane tickets, I checked on Amtrak to see what it would really cost to travel by train, and Bedrooms were not even available on the EB in either direction, yet it would still cost $6,600. I simply could not afford to spend that much time or money, so we bought first-class plane tickets right to Melbourne. We flew A321's between Seattle and Charlotte, and CRJ900's between Charlotte and Melbourne. Our outbound flight was diverted to Knoxville due to thunderstorms, and due to equipment and crew shortages, our connecting flight to Melbourne was delayed five hours .
We spent a week at the Doubletree Suites Melbourne Beach Oceanfront, and it was a fine hotel. Some of the room fixtures were a bit worn (notably the sliding glass balcony door was very hard to open and close), but the room had a nice layout and the hotel restaurant was decent. Our AARP rate was $170 a night, but we upgraded to a high floor room for an extra $36 per night (and our room was on the top, or ninth, floor). We also made an overnight trip to St. Augustine.
I did see some railroads on this trip. There was construction of Seattle's light rail system visible along I-5 north of Seattle, and I saw where Brightline is going to cross I-95 in Florida. There were no "High Speed Trains Coming Soon" signs at any of the grade crossings in Melbourne.