All Aboard!

It was a long day of travel, but here we are, ensconced in our tiny sleeping room, our things stowed as well as can be managed, now enjoying our complementary American "Champagne" and the great view from our window.

We left Bellingham on the 8:45 a.m. train to Seattle, and Phil's daughter E picked us up at the station and took us to her home, where we relaxed, had a lovely lunch, and had the special pleasure of surprising grandchildren Z and B as they left school. As soon as they saw us, they broke into a run and greeted us with hugs and kisses - lovely!

They took us back to Seattle in plenty of time for our train, which we were happy to board after sitting the chaotic environment of the train station. King Street Station will be beautiful after its major renovation is completed, but it's not very appealing currently.

The smoothness of the ride varies tremendously, from incredible smoothness to serious rockin' and rollin', making me glad that I wore sensible shoes! Dinner was OK, but I don't think I'll be posting any photos of the meals.

We slept fitfully, as the train stopped in several places through the night and the tracks varied considerably in quality. Our daytime seating folds out into a very small bed, bigger than a twin bed but smaller than a double bed. There's just enough floor space left to take two steps into the miniscule toilet/shower space, about the size of a phone booth, complete with blue nightlight.

I was very disappointed to learn that there was no wifi on the train, so I'll be backblipping until we're in Virginia late on Thursday evening, and catching up on comments when we're home again!

(Backblipped September 20, 2012, in Union Station, Washington, DC)