I needed to get to my family in New York.
I had almost booked a trip by plane, back in January. Then I saw the advanced weather for Los Angeles…70 to 80 mph winds were forecast for the time I was going to be away from my home. I immediately canceled my plans and stayed home, to defend our property from potential fire. It was so bad; we actually packed a “go bag”. A first for me. By the time the whole thing played out, it was deep into Winter, and there was no way I was going to make a journey to the East Coast. So, I sat and waited for Spring, and it did, eventually arrive, as Spring does.
On April 2nd, while our President announced tariffs, I booked a trip to the East, on Amtrak. I figured, if I had to go, there would be no better time, since who knows what will disappear due to the fallout from all the tariff wars. First off, it was not cheap. I spent a large amount of money, purchasing Roomettes on 4 trains, and coach on the Wolverine, between Chicago, and Ann Arbor. We both had points in our AGR (Amtrak Guest Rewards) accounts, and I used all of them, figuring that who knows how Amtrak will survive the next few years. It brought the price of two of our trips down a couple of hundred dollars, which I appreciated. All told, I spent in the neighborhood of $4 thousand dollars, for the railroad part of the journey. 2 hotels and a rental car, brought it up to about $4.5 thousand. It was not a cheap trip, by any means. Almost all the food was paid for, minus a few days visiting with members of my family. It took 12 days, in total, which is an almost 2-week journey. It was also the hardest trip for us. 3 days on the train, to get to the East coast, was brutal. We ended up taking a shower at Chicago Union Station, between train journeys. We had about 6 hours, from when our Southwest Chief train arrived, and when our Lakeshore Limited train departed. It worked out very well for us, a very clean, and well-designed shower area. Talk to the person who checks you into the Metropolitan Lounge, for more details on how to schedule one.
If I was ever going to go across the entire United States again, I would never take back-to-back trips. It is worth it for your body and health, to break the journey up a bit. The only other time we went from New York to Los Angeles, we spent a day in New Orleans (we had no choice in the matter, since the Sunset Limited only runs 3 times a week). That did help with acclimating back to land. The times I am constantly riding on a train, I find that for a few days, my body acts like it is still on the train. It is a very strange experience, and I wonder how people who work on the trains for a living, handle it.
All in all, I am glad I went, but I am very happy to be home again.
