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.…