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.
With 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.
My sister is in town with her family. She stopped by with her daughter Hannah and my parents to visit with Katherine Elizabeth.
To keep up to date on Katherine Elizabeth, you can read her blog. You can get to it from the “Baby” menu at the top of the page or click the link below:
Karen did super in her effort to deliver Katherine Elizabeth. Mother and baby are doing wonderful.
We have finished remodeling our dining room. The colors look great with our furniture. We are glad to be done with this room.
I suggest that you collect your friends and head to your favorite Irish Pub for Saint Patrick’s Day. Raise your glass of Guinness and make a toast your friends who couldn’t make to the pub.
I got lucky and was in town for the 3rd Annual Firkin Rendezvous, which was held at 
