The last 50 posts on AU also count :giggle: so you're good.
Oh thank goodness! I was worried that I'd have to start taking "selfies" and keeping the world updated with what I was doing
this exact second - because you know, the world really does revolve around me....
We are really looking forward to this vacation. I hope that it is everything that I planned for. If so, then we are off on the TE to CHI (overnight) and then on to the EB for a visit to Glacier national Park, or out to Portland to visit my sister who just relocated to battle Ground WA this week.
I will be sure to take lots of pictures during our trip and forward them to my elderly in-laws. They are wanting to come visit us again here in Texas, but are thinking about avoiding flying. My MIL just went through having urostomy surgery two months ago, and the horror stories about incompetent TSA agents are giving her nightmares. I recommended Amtrak, and her husband looked into it. They would depart NPN to WUS on one of the Amfleet equipped NE Regionals and then connect to (I guess) the CL to CHI. From there they would take the TE to CBR or FTW. Well, her husband kinda balked at the round-trip fare of $2,000. I told him that was a bargain considering they were looking at booking a bedroom the whole way (where offered) and it included meals. He was also fretting about checked baggage (no problem) and other trivial matters. He has convinced himself that they can drive and "see the country" better than if they took the train. I hope he couldn't hear me rolling my eyes through the phone (but my wife could see it and was paralyzed with silent laughter). They are in their mid 70's. I can see them getting out here and not being able to drive back, so I'll have to take a week off of work to do it for them. I promise to drive really fast so that I can take the train back (coach, if I must) and take pictures to show what they missed! I couldn't convince him otherwise. I explained that they can sit in their private bedroom and enjoy their privacy (and carried-on booze!), or freely wander about as they need - including a trip to the observation lounge. Oh well, you can't convince everyone when they see a good deal. I think it all falls back on my MIL listening to her sister recount the horrors she endured when she was riding coach on a LD train back in the 80's, and it either broke down or was snowed-in on the tracks on the way to the PNW somewhere.
Trust me, I'm not sweating one bit of this trip - we're seasoned travelers here. I know that no matter how bad it gets, it won't be worse than the old way I used to travel and see the world (courtesy of the U.S. Navy and SSN-702)!
What type of equipment does the CL run? Viewliner or Superliner? After a long day I'm nearly too inebriated to Google that up right now....