I have LEARNED from the last time!
I will take:
EXTRA STUPID PHONE BATTERIES WITH THE CORRECT CHARGER!
A netbook and a laptop (for my daughter, since her significant other will be leaving hopefully for Wilmington, DE in January, so they can talk, and the laptop with XP and MS Office.)
A freakin' BOOK.
Earplugs (so I don't hear mySELF snoring).
A longer extension cord.
Other than that, less clothing, less paperwork, less of everything.
Oh yeah, I'm taking her Christmas music and a CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE!!!
Plus a Christmas present or two.
We're going shopping for strollers and car seats. I did some covert 'recon' on Monday night to Babies 'r' Us and Walmart, and found some stuff, but I also told her that we were taking a stuffed animal with us to pretend it was a baby and SEE how easy or hard it is to use a stroller or car seat!
Anyway, found out from her that Amtrak is serving a turkey dinner on the train tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day. OH, did I MENTION that I'm leaving at 6:50 PM on Thanksgiving DAY? My bad. Yeah, I decided that one more trip would be in order before she gives birth in December. Her due date is STILL Dec. 23rd, but I personally think it'll be between the 16th and the 20th.
About the turkey dinner, as soon as I get on the train, I'm going to ask my TAC to do a reservation OR I'll just be-bop down there and put my name in. What the hell, THANKSGIVING on the train. Sounds almost as good as the breakfast in the dining car at dawn like the last trip last month, huh?!
SOOO, moving right along on the rails:
Going, I'm sitting in the lower seating of coach: coming back, unfortunately they were sold out of lower so I'll have to endure the cattle call and be upstairs in an ASSIGNED SEAT. Never did that before, NOT looking too forward to it, let me tell you.
This time I'm ALSO going to kinda be a bad girl and sneak some liquid contraband onboard, i.e ethanoyl C2H5OH in the form of a 3/4 pound aluminum container from Colorado. I think you get it, yes?!
There won't be much room in my little lunch container/cooler because I'm also taking her 2 Hebrew Nat'l salamis from Sam's (they were sold out at the Sam's in ABQ) and some Panera Broccoli/cheese soup. It was in the refridgeration area, so I figure that with ice, everything will be FINE.
Maybe I'll take extra sodas in my big purse/bag and as I need them, add them to the lunch container to get cold.
POSTSCRIPT FROM THE TRIP:
I actually ended up NOT taking the Panera soup, which worked out ok because Barry ate it while I was gone.
Barry and I were talking to a lady who was going to ABQ and she said she was sitting downstairs in the lower coach area also. I took a look at her ticket and it DIDN'T SAY lower coach! I told her gently that I didn't think she was sitting 'lower' because her ticket didn't SAY 'lower', then she got kinda militant and said that when she booked the trip she "told the ticket person lower and we'll SEE if I sit lower or not!" Turned out she wasn't supposed to sit lower because the ticket person didn't put 'lower' on her ticket, and she loudly berate everyone and the company, saying that she guessed it didn't matter if you were a member or not! (It really doesn't matter unless you're platinum/select/ultimate blah blah blah-it's just a way to rack up points for freebies). The TAC (Train Attendant-Coach) accomodated her, though (or asked someone to give up his seat-don't know, didn't inquire) he DID say that when you get your ticket, READ IT to make sure it says what you wanted!!!! As everyone should do.
I sat in the first row of the lower car, set up my stuff, THEN had a HUGE guy come in further down the line and of COURSE I'm not going to make a big person feel like no one wants him, so I insist he sits by me. Turns out he had a cpap machine. I know I'm not going to get any sleep so I pretty much absent myself from the whole car and sit (and try to sleep) overnight upstairs in the lounge car. I tried to stretch out on the bench at one of the tables, couldn't do it because I'm too big for my butt to fit comfortably at the table, and too long. I tried on one of the benches facing outward, I was too long, and just right now while typing this (02-18-13) that while I laid down on the bench, people could see me when we'd stop at towns! I probably need to take a blanket and pillow and go upstairs and lay on the FLOOR or something.
In the morning, had b'fast and the hash and eggs. DON'T GET IT-tastes not that great, in fact,didn't taste good at all. Denny's is even better. I shoulda stuck with the continental b'fast.
On the way back, I sat upstairs, and ended up, as usual, having an extremely BIG person sitting next to me in the regular coach area. I therefore hung out in the lounge car on the computer AGAIN.
Ate dinner on the train coming back, was pretty good, chicken marsala.
