Home at Last!

Having to depend upon anyone is always a risk. Think about that and I think you will agree. You risk a job getting done, something going wrong, disappointment, danger...and many other things. Traveling is the same way. When you depend upon an airline, bus company, or Amtrak, you are risking your life, your time, your luggage, your money. Well, yesterday, we depended upon Amtrak to get us home safe and sound and relatively on time. One thing I've learned is that there are always circumstances beyond our control. I really don't expect airlines or Amtrak to take off or arrive on time. Things happen...the weather, a late passenger whatever. Things happen and I'm pretty cool with that. What I don't expect is how transportation companies handle those delays beyond their control. I expect an explanation. I expect politeness, I expect to be treated like a person. Yesterday, we spent 25 hours on the train. Our journey began in Chicago and Union Station. IT IS a DUMP! It is like the worst bus terminal you can imagine. The pick up station at Staunton is better than Union Station. It was hot, smelly, dirty and crowded beyond belief. The lay out of the entire facility made no sense what so ever. Amtrak can actually take some lessons from the TSA and airports. The lines are worse than any line getting on a plane. Oh...and security??? What security? Our train system is ripe for a terrorist attack. Any one can hop on a train and really cause some damage. I digress.....back to the trip itself. Thank you Lord that my mother is 'old'! Because of her age, we were able to get on the train before the other 200 passengers. That helped tremendously. It is like a herd of stampeding cattle when you run to your train. I'm not kidding....you run to catch your train because they will not wait for you. We get on the train and all is well. One thing that Amtrak does better than any airline is the space and size of the seats. They are huge! There is so much room. It is actually very comfortable.

We leave Union Station on time and we are so happy. It looks like we'll be home by 1:00 Friday. Loved Chicago but it was time to go home.

Now we are settled for the evening. We take our own food to snack on because the train is sooooooo expensive and all the food they have is microwaved zapped food. Nighttime comes and mom and I take a sleeping pill. It is not easy to sleep on the train. People continuously walk down the aisle going to the restroom or the cafe car. There are also many stops along the way. I think that we manage to sleep a few hours and arrive in Indianapolis. In Indianapolis, Amtrak adds more cars to our train. Going up, it took about 45 minutes. No problem. Well, we waited and waited and waited and waited. 2 hours later, the train finally pulls out of the station. During this time, people have gotten up, gone to the restroom and begin talking, calling people on their phones and generally begin to become loud. Oh, did I mention this is like at 1:00 in the morning. I had ear plugs in and still it was disturbing. Mom woke up and told some old man to be quiet. Off again.....traveled in between Indianapolis and Cincinnati and again we stop at some hole in the wall train station. We wait, and wait and wait. For 3 hours, we waiting. After 3 hours, the train once again pulls out. By this time it is about 5:00 in the morning. We are supposed to arrive in Charleston, WVa in between 7:30 and 8:00. We are 6 hours from Charleston. You do the math. Not once did Amtrak ever explain why were late. In fact, I didn't know why until we stopped at the Greenbriar stop did I hear why. Apparently, an Amtrak bus got lost bringing transfer people to Indianapolis. They ended up meeting us in between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. We were a total of 5 hours late. Not only did we arrive 5 hours after the projected time but people along the way were late getting on the train. The people who got on at Greenbriar got an extension of their trip. They were supposed to get off at D.C but Amtrak let the stay on until Baltimore. Guess what we got! Imitation, cheese like substance with cheddar or swiss cheese flavoring. I kid you not! We got a snack pack because the cafe car ran out of food! and the cheese wasn't even real! :)

Moral of the story...when you depend upon others, there is always the risk of disappointment. So...will I travel via Amtrak again? I don't know. Maybe not for long trips. The restrooms smell, men cannot aim right when in motion. The service sucked, my butt hurt, my legs hurt...the list goes on and on. The positive...everyone needs to ride the train. It is a national treasure and reminiscent of a time gone by. Many improvements need to happen though and I now understand why Amtrak is a federal subsidized program. All aboard? Not anytime soon :)