Train Ride to Chicago

Rest At Aunt Becky'sMy aunts, Becky and Joy, sent us off from the Newbern train station. They were so nice to ride us to the train station. They stood on the train car’s platform waved as the trained pulled out of the station. It was so “black and white movie”. The picture is Katherine sleeping on Aunt Becky’s floor prior to us heading to the Newbern train station.

The train left the station almost as soon as it arrived. We had not gotten into our room before the train had pulled out of the station.

As we put our bags away, we could see that the pullman porter had already turned down our bed.

Katherine Elizabeth slept through most of the night in her car seat on the floor of the room.Katherine On The Train

The pullmen porter brought our breakfast to the room so we could get ready to disembark in Chicago.

As we neared Chicago, we could see the Sears Tower disappearing into the clouds. Wow! It sure is a tall building.

We arrived at Union Station, which is a famous land mark in Chicago.

Train Trip to Colorado

Karen, Katherine, and I headed to Colorado Springs, because of my job.  We decided to take the train with Katherine being so young.  Also, train rides are a lot of fun.

We started out by driving to Dyersburg, Tennessee, which is where my aunts live and it happens to be an Amtrak depot.

We caught the train around midnight with Katherine sleeping through most of it.  It was delightful waving to my aunts on the platform as the train pulled out of the station.

Brian and Katherine on TrainWith Katherine sleeping, the first leg of the trip went quickly.  We have never had her sleep for a long period of time in her car seat, but it didn’t cause any problems.  Karen’s back didn’t have more problem than at home while sleeping.

We had breakfast in our room as we arrived in Chicago.  It was enjoyable seating in our room during breakfast.  We got to see the Sears Tower on the skyline as the city came into sight.

When we arrived in Chicago we finalized our tickets with Amtrak, we dropped our luggage in the Sleeper Car Lounge, and we headed out to see the sights.

We brought our GPS and turned it on to see what attractions were nearby Union Station.  We decided to go see the Sears Tower, which was just couple blocks away.  It ended up being closed due to the lack of visibility, but we later had lunch in the Corner Bakery on the first floor.  We walk over to the Federal Reserve Building and on the way we passed the Chicago Board of Trade.  At the Federal Reserve, we got to see a millions in three different piles including ones, twenties, and hundreds.  The ones made up a 4 by 4 cube; while, the hundreds filled just a brief case.

After lunch, we returned to the station and waited for our train.  The train ride to Denver was nice, too.  We had dinner in the dining car with Katherine.  She gets all of the attention.  In the observation car, Katherine enjoyed the world going by at 80 miles an hour.

The ride from Denver to Colorado Springs was good, because it reminded us of the outlet stores for our return trip to Denver.

While in Colorado Springs, we had fun in the hotel pool, shopped for used mystery books, and Katherine saw snow for the first time.  We enjoyed some good food and even the Colorado Springs Christmas parade.

But, the trip did have some problems.  We all got colds.  Bummer!

We enjoyed our return trip home, which included more snow in Chicago.  My aunts were so nice for helping us with getting to and from the Newbern train station.

We hope to make the trip again, but Karen’s back is our top priority now.

Heading to Dyersburg to Catch the Train

The whole family is hopping on the train to Colorado.

I have to work in Colorado Springs for the week.

We are heading to Dyersburg, because my Aunt Becky and Aunt Joy (my dad's sisters) live in Dyersburg. Otherwise, we would get on the train in Memphis. The distance is about the same, but the arrival and departure times would be better in Memphis. But, we enjoy our time with my aunts.

Our Amtrak train ride will take us from Dyersburg to Chicago and then onto Denver.