Day 3 - Home

The weather here is so nice, very cool in the mornings and evenings, hot but not too humid in the afternoons. We had a day to just enjoy being back. Ellie got a sink bath to wash off the train goo.

Then we walked downtown and visited a few of the things that haven't changed and a few of the things that have. Seems like the area is starting to settle into a nice balance between bars and shops finally.

We stopped by Van Allen Hall and saw the tree planted to remember the victims of the 1991 shootings. It shows how deeply this event marked our little town, flowers still being left almost 17 years later.

Not much evidence of the floods up in this area, but down by the river there's still sandbags, a lot of silt and litter, and giant machines running non-stop to dry out the buildings.

Stopped by George's gyro stand, yum, then to Iowa Book and Supply to pick up some Hawkeye gear for the future fan.

Then to the Java House for a cup of coffee. The Java House wasn't here during either of our "glory days" but I wish it was. It's a great place to hang out, one of the best of the "new."

Then it was time for the first of two Open Houses my mom arranged so we didn't have to travel all over God's green state of Iowa to see everyone, a pure stroke of genius. People just stopped by when they had a chance, grabbed the baby, gabbed, ate, drank. A great mix of my old high school friends and my parents' friends. The best part was, because my 15 year (gasp) class reunion was a couple weeks before, a connection with an old friend was made and she was able to stop by for a little bit to catch up. It was so great to see her.

Ellie did great being past around, but eventually even the best of us need a little break.

Day 2 - The California Zephyr

Woke up in the midwest.

I forget how green the crops are, and how blue the sky is. After a nice breakfast we went back to the viewing car and watched downtown Chicago approach.

Had a few hours to kill in Union Station in Chicago before getting on the California Zephyr for the next leg of our trip. Mostly just camped out in the beautiful main lobby. Ellie napped, yay.

We just rode coach this time, and it was very comfortable (once we got all our junk situated, babies require a lot of stuff). Nearing the Iowa border we got a good view of some of the flooding. The water was literally right up to the tracks in some areas. If it wasn't for the submerged barns, houses, silos, and irrigation equipment in the middle you might have thought it was a very pretty lake.

Crossed the Mississippi into Iowa and arrived in Mount Pleasant only about 40 minutes late.

Pete downloaded the track from the GPS so we could see how far we've come so far. Cool.

Day 1 - The Capital Limited

And we're off! We started out at Union Station in DC. Departure time on the ticket was 4:05. Train left at 4:05 on the dot. We got settled in our tiny sleeper where Pete got the GPS going so we could track our trip.

Then it was off to the viewing car where we got a nice view of downtown Silver Spring on our way out of town.

The rail along the window was the perfect height for Ellie to hold on to, so she had a good time standing up by the window. She did pretty good, but it will be interesting to see if she's any better at this on the way home in two weeks.

Then it was time for a very pleasant (and tasty) dinner in the dining car, where Ellie quickly passed out.

Back to our sleeper car for the night. We played a few games of Yahtzee, watched an X-files episode, and headed to bed, Ellie in her carseat on the bottom bunk with Daddy and me in the top. She slept the entire night.

Google Tag

Another fun idea from Emily. How to play:

* Do a Google image search on the answer to each question
* Choose your favorite from the first page of the results
* Leave a comment here so I can come see what you came up with

{my age}


{where I'd like to travel}


{my favorite place}


{my favorite object}


{my favorite food}


{my favorite animal}


{my favorite color}


{where i was born}


{where i live}


{a past pet}


{a past love}


{my best friend's nickname}


{my screen name}


{my first name}


{my middle name}


{my last name}


{a bad habit}


{my first job}


{my grandma's name}


{my college degree}


{what i'm doing now}


You're it!