Spring Break

We spent four wonderful days in College Park with the kids and grandkids...and Emily was there! Except for Wednesday afternoon, the weather was cool and cloudy but that was fine with us. We just soaked up family time! Stayed up late, got up late -- for us, took some walks to the park, read to the kids, read our own books, Em sporadically worked on a term paper for her grad course, enjoyed church and adult Sunday School with the W's, and had a great meal at a Greek restaurant that Katie & Alec have come to enjoy. The baklava for dessert was almost too much. Many of the ornamental trees were in bloom, as was the forsythia and cherry trees around the Tidal Basin, but not the dogwoods. Luke is talking more and more and Erin is a busy little girl -- standing up around furniture and crawling all over the place.

We took Amtrak up to DC and back...did the coach-sleep-in-the-chair on the way up and rented a roomette (really a glorified closet) but it had 2 chairs that reclined, a sink, and a toilet, and the chairs came together to make a single bed and another single bed slid down on tracks from the ceiling. Meals were included as was steward service, which was nice. It was good to be away from the general noise of the coaches, and the personal rest room was really nice...even if it was right next to one of the chairs! We would travel this way again, understanding that you have to be flexible. Amtrak's motto should be The Journey is a Trip! We were delayed for a number of reasons on both legs of the trip; 4 hours northbound and 3 hours coming back to Orlando. We figured that it's just part of the package. We've certainly done our share of waiting through delays with airlines and even driving. We just brought our own music, books, magazines, games, and snacks to see us through!