Once again we got up early for breakfast at 6:30. After an okay breakfast, back to the rooms where everyone crashed again (except me, cause I don’t want to miss anything).

At Indianapolis, we were only an hour late so not too bad. We will see if we can make up some time into Chicago.

Around 11:00, sure enough we pulled into Chicago Union Station. We went directly to the sleeper passenger lounge and staked out a corner. At 12:00, Stephen and I walked down the street to Giardano’s Pizza where I had ordered a deep dish pizza while we were still on the train! It was hot, ready and HEAVY when we got there and we quickly walked back to the station to devour it.

Then we just killed time until around 2:00 when we got to board The Southwest Chief back to Lamy.

So far, this has been our best train of the trip. Great train equipment and a GREAT crew. No better way to end a vacation.

 

If you look in the windows, you can just make out Vicky and Michael.

Couple of hours after departure, we all had steak for dinner. Again, it was the best this trip.

After dinner, hang out time.

After dark, we all turned in for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow, our trip will end.

 

Again today we did not have to start out too early. Our train was not scheduled to depart until 11:05. We left our hotel around 9:00 and took a DC Circulator bus straight to Washington Union Station. Wouldn’t you know, the day we leave is a VERY comfortable day weather-wise. It was 73 and breezy after 4 days of sweltering high humidity heat. Oh well.

Once there, we checked our two big bags and went to the sleeper lounge to wait for our train.

Nice place to wait. Free soft drinks and they even had some packaged snacks.

Our train was coming from New York and ran into delays before it reached Baltimore so it was late arriving. We were ble to board around 11:30. This train is named the Cardinal. Here is the route…

This is a single level train, unlike most of the trains we have ridden. The sleepers are quite different. The real cool feature is the upper bunks have their own windows so the boys really like hanging up there.

There is also a nook over the hallway that Michael somehow crawled into.

At noon, we went to the “dining car” for lunch. I put that in quotes because this train does not carry a regualr dining car. The car is both the dining car and the lounge car, and does not do either very well. There is no kitchen so all the meals are reheated stuff and there is only one person to serve and “cook”.

After lunch, back to our rooms to hang and watch America go by our windows.

At 5, we went and ate dinner. We were running about and hour and a half late.

After dinner, we sat together and enjoyed the beautiful view of the New River Gorge. And now we are going to turn in. Until tomorrow.

 

We slept in a little this morning because the museums do not open until 10. Our first stop was the Natural History Museum.

We posed with some “augmented reality” dinosaurs…

Then we headed over to the American History Museum.

Dorothy’s Ruby slippers…

Abe’s top hat…

We looked and looked and we were happy to find the friend Michael made back in 2006…

 

For some reason, she has not seem to have grown much.

Part of the Berlin Wall…

We grabbed a quick lunch at the cafeteria at the museum (which was majorly expensive!). After that, we went to the the National Archives. They do not allow pictures anymore so allow me to show the ones we took in 2006…

For those of you going to DC, be sure to get timed entrance tickets. You DO NOT want to wait in the line with the people without them. It is long and in the sun. Fortunately, I got our tickets online before.

it was off to the Air & Space Museum.

 

I then wanted to run back over to the American History to see a couple of things we did not have time for (had to be at the Archives by 1:00). While walking there, some rain was heading in.

After, we went back to the mall for dinner and then back to the hotel.

All of us are tired and sore. So much walking. We are going to need our train ride for recuperation.

Tomorrow we leave DC. Our train leaves Union Station at 11:05am. We will be on a train we have never ridden before so it should be interesting.

Hopefully, I will be able to make a post tomorrow night from the train.

We slept in a little this morning because the museums do not open until 10. Our first stop was the Natural History Museum.

We posed with some “augmented reality” dinosaurs…

Then we headed over to the American History Museum.

Dorothy’s Ruby slippers…

Abe’s top hat…

We looked and looked and we were happy to find the friend Michael made back in 2006…

 

For some reason, she has not seem to have grown much.

Part of the Berlin Wall…

We grabbed a quick lunch at the cafeteria at the museum (which was majorly expensive!). After that, we went to the the National Archives. They do not allow pictures anymore so allow me to show the ones we took in 2006…

For those of you going to DC, be sure to get timed entrance tickets. You DO NOT want to wait in the line with the people without them. It is long and in the sun. Fortunately, I got our tickets online before.

it was off to the Air & Space Museum.

 

I then wanted to run back over to the American History to see a couple of things we did not have time for (had to be at the Archives by 1:00). While walking there, some rain was heading in.

After, we went back to the mall for dinner and then back to the hotel.

All of us are tired and sore. So much walking. We are going to need our train ride for recuperation.

Tomorrow we leave DC. Our train leaves Union Station at 11:05am. We will be on a train we have never ridden before so it should be interesting.

Hopefully, I will be able to make a post tomorrow night from the train.

Another early morning this morning. Michael decided to have breakfast in bed.

Then we rode Metro way out to Huntington where while we were waiting for a connecting bus, another retake…

 

Then we took the bus to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.

 

George Washington’s tomb…

We then returned to the DC area and went to the mall again for lunch. Then we headed to Ford’s Theater…

 

We then took a vote and decided to head back to the hotel for a few hours of R & R. After another dinner from Five Guys, we walked two blocks to the Washington Nationals ballpark.

We have been to baseball games all over the country. This was the absolute hottest, humid and miserable weather we have encountered. Vicky and Michael only made it for about 4 innings before they went back to the hotel. Stephen and I walked around the rest of the game.

After the game, we went back to our seats and enjoyed the Marine Silent Drill Platoon again!

And then fireworks!

Only one more day here. Bad news is we have a lot to fit in. The good news is they are all INDOORS.

Until tomorrow.

Another early morning this morning. Michael decided to have breakfast in bed.

Then we rode Metro way out to Huntington where while we were waiting for a connecting bus, another retake…

 

Then we took the bus to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.

 

George Washington’s tomb…

We then returned to the DC area and went to the mall again for lunch. Then we headed to Ford’s Theater…

 

We then took a vote and decided to head back to the hotel for a few hours of R & R. After another dinner from Five Guys, we walked two blocks to the Washington Nationals ballpark.

We have been to baseball games all over the country. This was the absolute hottest, humid and miserable weather we have encountered. Vicky and Michael only made it for about 4 innings before they went back to the hotel. Stephen and I walked around the rest of the game.

After the game, we went back to our seats and enjoyed the Marine Silent Drill Platoon again!

And then fireworks!

Only one more day here. Bad news is we have a lot to fit in. The good news is they are all INDOORS.

Until tomorrow.

This is one of the days I warned my family about. It was a long, long day and both tough and rewarding.

We started out early. We had to be to the White House by 8:15am.

After getting through security, we walked around the East Wing and the lower level of the Mansion. No pictures allowed. We could take them outside, though.

It was quite an experience being where so many Presidents have been.

After that, we were off to the Zoo.

Another Stephen picture with Flamingos…

 

Here is a very short review of the National Zoo, it is very big and requires a TON of walking both uphill and down. While it is a cool place, you might want to skip it if you ever come in the summer. Just too hot and too much walking. Especially if you are going to it using public transportation.

Anyway, after a quick stop off at the hotel, we were off to Arlington Cemetery.

 

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns…

 

Here is another retake from 2006 at JFK’s eternal flame…

 

FYI, I am not shorter (at least not significantly).

And another from the grounds… 

 

We then went to a mall near the Pentagon to grab some dinner and then we went to the Marine Corps Memorial for a Sunset Parade. "The Commandant’s Own," The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps marched an played.

To my surprise, the Marine Silent Drill Platoon performed. It was incredible.

That ended at 8:00pm and we headed back to the hotel on the Metro.

It is now 10:00 and we have another early start tomorrow so off to bed.

We did not have to start out too early this morning which was nice. We had breakfast in the hotel room.

Then, we took a circulator bus to the U.S. Capitol. We passed by the Supreme Court where there was quite a ruckus going on.

With the help of the Thompsons, we got a staff led tour of the Capitol from Congressman Thornberry’s office. It was great.

 

In the crypt, this star is the center of D.C….

 

The Speaker’s balcony…

 

The old Senate chamber…

We then got to go into the House chamber gallery. No electronic devices so no pictures.

 

Here is the Supreme Court across the street…

 

On the way back to the hotel, we passed the Marine Barracks…

After a quick stop back at the hotel and Subway for lunch, we went to the Holocaust Museum. Not a place you want to or allowed to take pictures. It is a very moving place.

After, we did a lot of walking and went where we had planned to go Sunday night.

We stopped by the Vietnam Memorial and left flags that Donna H gave us to place next to some names. Here is one, Ronald S. Athanasiou…

 

Then we stopped by the Lincoln Memorial…

Then after a looooong hike to the Metro, we headed back to the hotel. We had Five Guys (again) for dinner cause it is right across the street AND good.

Tonight the boys went swimming and hopefully we will get to bed early cause we have a early start on Tuesday.

The day started early again with breakfast in the dining car at 6:30. Railroad French Toast!

Our train was running about two hours behind schedule when we woke up. We made a stop in Cumberland where we (very quickly) attempted to recreate a picture from 2006…

 

Right after we departed Cumberland, we noticed the electricity was out in our sleeper car. The train soon stopped and thus started a several hour stoppage.

It turns out the power cable on the first passenger car failed, and thus blocked power to the rest of the train. It was decided to take the first car and the baggage car off the front and place them on the rear of the train where they would not cause problems. So we were without power and air conditioning for about an hour. Overall, we lost about 5 hours total.

The two cars on the rear…

We got to DC around 6:00. After getting our checked bags,

We took off on the Metro and went to our hotel.

It is a very nice room.

We then ran around the corner to 5 Guys for a quick bite and then back to the hotel to get some rest for tomorrow. We had planned to do a few things today in DC, but we will have to fit them in on another day.

Tomorrow, DC begins.

Oh yeah, today was my birthday. Nothing like waking up on a train and going to bed in DC for my birthday. And even better, being with my family.

We started out early today going to breakfast at 6:30. For the first time on any of our Amtrak trips, they did not have French Toast! So we had to settle for pancakes. They were okay, but we like the French Toast better.

So far, the train is running about 1.5 hours behind schedule. We have a 3 hour layover in Chicago so we should be good for making our connection.

Stephen was not quite ready to get up this morning.

Stephen and I hung in the louge car for a bit before lunch.

We had our last meal on this train until our return trip.

We got to step off the train one last time at Fort Madison.

We then just chilled until our train arrived into Chicago.

We arrived into Chicago only about 30 minutes late. That is pretty good since at times we were running as much as two hours behind.

Hanging in the lounge at Chicago Union Station…

Outside Union Station…

Around 5:45 we were told our train would be leaving later than scheduled. We boarded the Capitol Limited around 7:00pm.

We went to dinner around 8:00 where we all had steak. While eating, we lost an hour because we left Illinois and entered Indiana.

Soon after dinner, we all settled in for a good nights sleep. Until tomorrow.

We started the day by running to Chick-fil-a for breakfast (been a LONG time since I had me a chichen bisquit!). Then we stopped by the Pattersons to leave Baxter. Heath confirmed that he had already fed his dogs so Baxter would probably be okay for a while.

We then headed out for Lamy, New Mexico.

We arrived a couple of hours before the train.

Fortunately, the train was only about 15 minutes late so we did not have to wait too long.

Once we boarded our train, we were sent straight to the dining car for a late lunch. After we all had a hamburger, we returned to our room to sit back, relax and enjoy the journey. Below is our route from Lamy to Chicago and some pics on the train.

We stopped at Raton and got to step off the train for a few minutes.

Soon after Raton, off to dinner where we all had steak except Michael. He had a hot dog.

Now, we have all turned our beds down and are ready to get some sleep. So for tonight, I leave you with this…

Goodnight!

 

Last week I was reading the very first posts I ever made to this blog. It was our first trip and it was also to Washington DC. In the very last post I said…

Now that I have seen pretty much everything I want in DC, I really don’t know if I will ever go back.

Well, as it turns out, our kids do not remember much from that trip. We had hoped they were old enough but I guess they were not. So now we head back to make some new memories.

Here is our itinerary…

• Friday, June 27th – Drive to Lamy and board Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

• Saturday, June 28th – Arrive into Chicago and change trains to Amtrak’s Capitol Limited

• Sunday, June 29th – Arrive in Washington D.C.

• Monday, June 30th through Thursday, July 3rd – Explore D.C.

• Friday, July 4th – Board Amtrak’s Cardinal

• Saturday, July 5th – Arrive into Chicago and change trains to Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

• Sunday, July 6th – Arrive back to Lamy and drive back to Amarillo

This time, we have one less day in Washington so this will be no take-it-easy vacation. If we are going to see everything that everyone wants to see, there will be no time for going slow. We can rest on the train!

I try to make at least daily posts which consist mostly of pictures. If you would like to receive an email when I make a new post, use the subscribe form in the right hand column of this page.

As always, I want to publically thank our friend James for house sitting for us. Also the Patterson’s for dog sitting and taking care of the rug rat. And everyone at church who will help to cover for me for the week I will be gone (Carl, Kyle, Doyle & Jeremy). Thank you all!

Hope you enjoy sharing our trip with us. We are ready to go!

From our 2006 trip to D.C.…