Did not have a chance to post the last couple of days so will wrap it up here.

We arrived into Chicago where we had to wait a few minutes before getting into the First Class lounge…

We boarded the Texas Eagle and departed right on time. Right before the first station stop, a truck hit a bridge we go over so we had to stop and wait for a bridge inspector to come. So the trip started 2 hours and 15 minutes behind. Oh well. We are on a train.

Our first meal time on the Texas Eagle…

I had enough points to get us all in the larger bedrooms. We were able to open the wall between two of them.

It was nice to have the extra room.

We stepped of the train somewhere to take a pic…

Right outside of Dallas, there was a fire where they had the fire hoses running over the tracks so we had to wait about an hour for that. We arrived into Dallas about two hours late. Stephen and I took an Uber to the parking lot at Love field to get the car and then came back and picked everyone and luggage up from the train station. Drive home was uneventful and arrived about 9:00pm.

So that is it. For me, this was a very tiring vacation. So much walking and so many stairs. It was freakin awesome, but now I need recovery time.

Will this be the last post ever to this blog? Who knows. I have no other plans but I love having the memories stored here. Only time will tell.

Today was not that eventful. We stayed at the hotel until 11:00 and then checked out and walked to the fairly new Moynihan Train Hall that is next to Penn Station.

We checked our bags with Amtrak then spent the next four hours waiting for our train in the very nice Metropolitan Lounge (for sleeper car passengers and other 1st class). They had complimentary food and beverages so we even ate lunch in there.

Our train boarded around 3:15 and pulled out right on time at 3:40. We have two smaller roomettes and I surprised Stephen and Shania with a larger bedroom on this train.

We went to dinner around 5:30…

After dinner we pulled in to Albany where they combined our train with another from Boston. We got to step off for a bit.

It is now dark outside and everyone is settling down for the night. Tomorrows report will come from a different train.

Our last full day in New York City began going to the USS Intrepid…

Had lunch at Gotham West Market, we took a long subway ride to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn…

Went back to the hotel for a bit of rest before getting a quick dinner and some New York desserts…

Then, of course, we did an escape room. We were successful with 6:32 time remaining…

After that, the kids went back to the hotel while Vicky and I ran to grab a quick picture…

FYI, that is the diner that was used for the exterior shots in Seinfeld.

Tomorrow we will be boarding our first train that will take us to Chicago. Hopefully I will be able to post before going to sleep on the train tomorrow night.

Here is a pic I forgot from Michael and I going to Harry Potter…

Very sore today. For the reason why, see yesterday. We slept in a bit and then headed to the Natural History Museum…

And of course, Stephen with flamingos…

Then we walked across Central Park to the zoo…

Stop by some tech store…

And then Chelsea Market for dinner.

One more full day in New York tomorrow. See you then.

Yesterday, I thought I was going to die.

We started by taking the subway to the south tip of Manhattan to catch the ferry…

Yep, to the Statue of liberty. That is where I felt like I was going to die. We climbed all 1 million steps to the crown of Lady Liberty!

For someone my age and body type (pleasantly plump??). IT WAS DIFFICULT! Here are the stairs when going down…

Some pictures while we all had jelly legs…

We ferried back and went by the hotel. Grabbed some lunch at an empanada place then headed to The Met.

Some dud pained this…

By the way, The Met is huge. Not great after your legs are toast.

We then went back to the hotel for a short rest. The we split up. Vicky stayed in at the hotel (her choice), Stephen and Shania went and had an anniversary dinner, Michael and I went to the Harry Potter play!!

It was a very impressive production. Unbelievable some of the things they were able to do LIVE. It is 3.5 hours so we dd not get back to the hotel until 11:00, hence the next morning post.

Now getting ready for day 4. Later.

Wow. I am tired. We started the day at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial. I found it very moving. No pictures from inside but here is one of the falls where one of the building stood…

Walked around the financial district a bit…

Saw an actual New York City rat in the subway…

Went by Grand Central Terminal (ate lunch there)…

Then we went next door to the Summit…

Walked down to St. Patrick’s Cathedral…

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Then back to the hotel to rest a few minutes. The we broke in to two groups. Vicky, Stephen and Shania went to the big Macy’s nearby and Michael and I went to the Harry Potter store.

Now I am hoping my legs get a good nights rest cause tomorrow will involve a lot of steps! Until then.

So yesterday, Saturday, we drove to Dallas and checked in to a hotel near Love field. We met some friends for dinner…

 

Then we did an escape room (we got out)…

 

Went to bed after so we could get up and fly to New York City…

For simplicity, we hired a car service to take us from the airport to our hotel in Chelsea. After a trip to the store for breakfast food and waters, we grabbed a quick dinner. Then walked up to Times Square…

These two are celebrating their one year anniversary today!

Now back at the hotel to rest up for our first full day tomorrow. Until then.

Well, hello there. It has been a while.

The Mashburn’s are taking off on another adventure. I debated if I would do the blog for this trip. Decided I would do one more since this may be our last full family trip. This trip was suppose to happen back in 2020, but we all know how that year went. Since then, Stephen has gotten married and Michael has graduated college and working full time. I was fearful that there was no way we could coordinate 5 peoples schedules to do another trip together, but it worked!

We are headed back to New York! We went back in 2009 so it has been a while. The big difference now is there will be five of us! Our awesome daughter-in-law, Shania, will be going with us. They say you never really know someone until you travel with them, so hopefully she will still like us when this is over.

Here is our plan…

• Saturday, April 15 – Drive to Dallas and spend the night
• Sunday, April 16 – Fly to New York City
• Monday-Thursday – Explore New York City
• Friday, April 21 – Depart Penn Station on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited
• Saturday, April 22 – Arrive Chicago Union Station, change trains to the Texas Limited
• Sunday, April 23 – Arrive back in Dallas and drive back to Amarillo

We are only doing the train one way to save time. In the one week that we had, would not have left enough time in New York.

No idea if the email notifications will work now. It has been years. Hopefully!