Yes, I am still alive and kicking. We returned from our trip Friday afternoon. Saturday was spent simply resting, and yesterday was church and family dinner.
Our trip to Chicago was literally fantastic. We were able to take a very special trip there. We belong to an organization here through which we were able to take private rail cars to Chicago, The man who owns these cars has a motto that is so true. It’s not the destination, it’s the trip.
The cars were a sleeper car and a living room/dining room/observation car. There were compartments in the sleeped that had a suite bath between every two. The shower was full sized with a glass enclosure and full tile. The toilet was also full sized - unlike the "new" sleepers that are on Amtrak The living room/dining room/observation car was so plush. Most of our time was spent in the observation car.
There were ten of us aboard these two cars, and there were three crew members. Two "car attendants" and one chef. The crew treated us like royalty!
We left Houston from the Amtrak station about 11 pm. We were scheduled to leave about 9, but the train from New Orleans was late. Imagine that. We were headed to San Antonio where we would be hooked onto the Texas Eagle. That meant that we would have wait time in San Antonio regardless of when we arrived because the Eagle isn’t scheduled to leave San Antonio until 7 am.
Sleeping wasn’t really an option once we were underway. The track between Houston and San Antonio is so rough. If you aren’t used to the rocking and rolling, forget a sound sleep. Once we got into town it was easier, but I missed my fan!
The trip to Chicago was wonderful. Breakfasts pretty much cooked to order and served in the booths in the observation car. We had lots of scenery to look at and enjoyed lots of conversation - when people were not on the back platform sounding the whistle!
The second night on board sleeping was much easier. Exhaustion took over. More scenery the next day and our arrival in Chicago was only an hour late.
The weather in Chicago was beautiful. When we arrived on Sunday, everyone was out and walking or sunbathing. The traffic on the Magnificent Mile was horrible because of that!
When we were to turn on the street with our hotel, we found it to be blocked by three fire trucks and an ambulance. Fortunately it was not our hotel. A guy in a condo in the next block fell asleep and set his mattress on fire. It added to our excitement however!
What a great break from chemo! Four more to go. I’m over the hump. And I still love Chicago.
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