The night before we left, I didn't sleep because I was so nervous. Would we be able to get seats together? Will my kids be able to use the train bathroom? Did I bring enough books and DVDs? Will they behave? Aaaagh!!!
Fortunately, my fears never materialized. My kids were angels. They actually liked the train bathroom too much. "Mommy, I can pee pee in the little toilet. Let's go again." Boy, did that novelty wear off quickly for me. And just so you know, it is not easy for a little boy to hit his target when it continuously shakes back and forth. So, when train-traveling with your kids, make sure your bathroom comes equipped with lots of toilet paper and paper towels.
Henry and Drew also liked the cafe car because it had muffins and pretzels. I would have liked it more if it served mimosas. And, they enjoyed walking down the shaky aisles. Of course they did. They didn't have to balance three drinks, two muffins and a bag of pretzels in one hand while keeping the other hand free to prevent one of them from falling into another passenger's lap.
Two hours after leaving DC, we got to Philly in three full pieces. It rained the entire trip so there wasn't much landscape to see along the way. It was fine, though--between the bathroom trips, consuming the biggest Otis Spunkmeyer muffins ever baked and a Thomas the Train Engine DVD, the boys were occupied. My mom and my 5-year old nephew, Bryan, met us at 30th Street station and, together, we took the Septa to my sister's place.
Our stay in Philly (Souderton, to be specific) was fun. My kids love their cousins. And they really love their Nana. My mom spoiled them. I was sort of hoping for a vacation, but Nana was there to watch the other three kids after all, so I didn't get a break. It's okay. In all honesty, it was nice to have a weekend in which the boys looked for me instead of their dad. "It's a Mommy and Nana weekend. Yay!"
The weekend was great and we left full of anticipation for our train ride home. Henry was especially excited to ride on Clarabelle again and the boys were both super eager to see their daddy. However, unlike our train ride up, the one going home was awful.
When we first got onto the crowded train, a self-important hag with an overloaded rolling briefcase cursed at us for being in her way. After her bag knocked Henry over, I hurled some choice, but G-rated, words in her direction. I wish I could have used stronger language--of the four-letter variety--but I didn't. Instead, I kept it clean but direct, then took my kids to the only open seats available. Given how the train ride started, I was not surprised to see the seats were not together. It's amazing how no one offered to give up their seats for us, but whatever. We live in DC, the land of rudeness, so we deal. Drew, the independent one, gladly took his seat next to a very nice woman. It turned out she lives in our old neighborhood and has an infant son of her own. Henry, the clingy one, sat in my lap. Things were going fine and even started looking up when adjacent seats opened up as we arrived in Wilmington. But after that, the trip went downhill fast.
Our train first broke down in Baltimore. "Our engine has lost power. We have to recycle it and will let you know when we will be moving again." Fifteen minutes later, we heard, "A technician is on his way. We are sorry for the inconvenience." It was hot and dark on our train with no A/C or lights, but our portable DVD had 5 hours of battery life left. After half an hour, we were moving again. In the back of my mind, I thought maybe the train shouldn't stop at BWI in case it broke down again, that it should chug on through, straight to DC. I'm not saying I have ESP, but when we got to BWI the engine died. "Sorry, folks, looks like we lost power again." Twenty minutes later, "Passengers, if you want to exit the train and find another form of transportation, please do. Or you can stay on until the problem is fixed." Ten minutes later, "We will have to offload passengers. You will be able to take the train behind us, but keep in mind there are only 60-65 available seats." I looked around to a sea of about 200 people, all of whom were racing to the opposite platform to ensure a seat on the next train. I knew I couldn't compete. Hell, these are the same people who didn't offer up a seat for me and my toddlers when the train was running smoothly.
About to lose my patience and my mind, I grabbed the kids and lugged our enormous duffle to the taxi stand. We hopped into our smoky cab and off we went. I prayed that the cigarette particulates in the air wouldn't set off Henry's asthma. I also prayed that this cab ride wouldn't break the bank. At least Henry's asthma didn't flare up. But what should have been a $65 cab ride, cost more than $100.
Anyway, we're home and what's most important is that my kids got to see their Nana and ride the train, both of which they love. I probably should have taken the time I spent typing up this entry, writing to Amtrak asking for a reimbursement. Oh well.
Happy, on their first real train ride
Exhausted on the Septa ride to Lansdale
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