A long train ride in a blizzard is a fun thing, but only if you have a sleeping car. Sitting in a coach seat for 27 hours would suck, and that's exactly how long it took us to get to Chicago - 9 hours longer than scheduled.
Enter Slideshow
Use right arrow to speed the pics
Use right arrow to speed the pics
We left last Tuesday night at 4pm and arrived last Wednesday at 7pm. In the meantime, we got to spend A LOT of time with Ursula and experience the faded glory that is Amtrak. Above is a little slide show we put together that shows details of the train with highlights of the snow white countryside and the transition from East to Midwest. The end? A limo from the station and a super nice hotel room bigger than our apartment!
Unless the slide show consists of the four posted photos only, the link is broken.
I actually did that in January, but from Toledo to New York. I met a couple who were taking the train all the way from LA to NYC. We took the train on a fairly nice day, and were still delayed at least 2 or 3 hours. Ah well, what can you do? It's fun, as long as you've got the time to spare!
Wonderful photolog. Thanks for sharing. It seems that this will be a nice memory for you. Some of the photos are so very frameable. Nice, nice.
That Ursula is so alert and interested! What a sweet face! Maybe it's good you live in a small space so she can't get into too much trouble when she gets mobile.
Kudos on your Oprah appearance. You guys looked great and came off wonderfully.
Would you look at Ursula's big blue eyes! What a cutie pie!
Great slide show--thanks for sharing. Ursula is a cutie.
Interesting look at train travel. I guess it's not as classy as it was in the old days! Still it seems fun.
That really looks like a very fun adventure.
I love traveling by train. I've done this route many times, the first -- well, let's just say it was before Maxwell was born, let alone Ursula. On the other hand, my first trip was not quite as star-studded as Ursula's. I went to Boston to visit the grandparents.
The trains are not as "classy" as they used to be. For that you have to travel by train in Europe. A first-class ticket and a window seat on the Eurostar will fulfill anyone's romantic fantasies about travel.
Gosh you guys make such a handsome family! And Ursula is getting so big shes just lovely! Thanks for sharing all of the photos. Was fun to see you guys in animated form on Oprah. You looked great. And Oprah was really digging your whole 90% thing, which means a lot coming from the wise woman that she is. Now I just want to know when are you guys going to get your own t.v. show? AT would easily translate to the small screen. Any plans?
I took the train once from NY to LA...it actually was lovely but I don't remember Sandusky being so pretty! Ursula is so cute!
oh! you went through elkhart, indiana - my hometown!! =)
ursula is too, too cute!
I am finally sitting down to my dvr and watching Oprah right now...thanks for sharing the slide show, gave us a glimpse of the monotony of the train ride. What an adventure!
I love the slideshow! The best pics are the tiny salad that is really just lettuce and Ursula buried in her snowsuit!
Ooooh... you have the Marc Newson roller board. I have the backpack which I think is an awesome piece. The rollerboard isn't as practical. Not very well designed unfortunately. Lack of top and side handles and the retractables don't seem very sturdy. But good choice!
Do you have trouble keeping the orange, bright orange? How do you keep it from getting dirty?
What a nice selection of images! I love AT. It's like a free magazine spread any time I need a visual fix.
I've done this trip in both directions a couple of times. It's been a long time, but looking at the photos I can hear the sounds (I'm also hearing a nearby freight train right now this second). What's missing is the wackiness that ensues when the doors get frozen open and the area between the cars fills with snow.
Even cooler is when you take Amtrak west of Chicago you can ride in the scenic outlook cars which have windows up to the middle of the roof. They show movies in there too.
What has this got to do with apartments please??????
Wonderful slide show! Thanks for sharing.
What I think it has to do with apartments, is how efficiently designed the small spaces on the train are, and yet how sort of pretty they are, and the looking out the window at how pretty the scenery is while basking in the anticipation what it will be like to do this big wonderful television. That's probably the therapy part. It sounds like it was amazingly therapeutic. And then some.
Looks like a trip that will be filled with great memories. And lots of photos to share with Ursula when she's old enough to understand.
when i was 13 my family of 5 took the amtrak from chicago to seattle and stayed in a one sleeping car compartment. i remember that trip so vividly--the sunflower fields and little towns and this wonderful conductor/attendant who did magic tricks and brought my sister a b-day cake. We got off at glacier natl. park for 4 days and then got back on the train. thanks for reminding me. and for making me miss my home state OH with those pics.
Ursula is absolutely adorable. Thanks for sharing the photos with us!