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Night at Home
Aug. 12th, 2010 07:02 amI'm in between visits and vacations. When I got to Whistler, I realized that the day we were supposed to check out is the day I promised to be in Portland. So yesterday I loaded myself onto a bus and headed for the border. I prepared for the worst, but crossing with an expired passport wasn't a problem. One guy asked me what happened to my passport, and said nothing else after I told him I didn't have the time to get a new one. The next guy didn't say anything at all.
The kids on the train...that's another story. There were five little boys in my car, from I think three different families. Four of them merged into a mega-clump playing with a DS. I was happy they'd made new friends, and they weren't too rowdy, but they were still moving and talking and being noticible to my poor stressed-out self. The fifth child, however, is clearly where people got the idea that exorcisms are a good idea. He was maybe two years old, and did not stop stop screaming and/or whining for literally an hour straight. I finally fled to the dining car (where I was briefly followed, as the mom finally decided it might be a good idea to do something to placate her child, and was walking up and down the train with him.)
This morning, I ride to Portland in Business Class, because everything else was sold out. This doesn't bug me too much, since I'm cashing in Guest Rewards Points. I've taken Business Class before, and it's not particularly special. THe seats are like an inch bigger, you get a free drink ticket*, and the staff is more obsequious. Crossing the border, I can see it might be nice, though, since you go through Customs first.
*Oh yeah, the kids in front of me were taking their first train ride. When the conductor found out, he gave them free drink tickets. Amtrak has some pretty awesome conductors.
The kids on the train...that's another story. There were five little boys in my car, from I think three different families. Four of them merged into a mega-clump playing with a DS. I was happy they'd made new friends, and they weren't too rowdy, but they were still moving and talking and being noticible to my poor stressed-out self. The fifth child, however, is clearly where people got the idea that exorcisms are a good idea. He was maybe two years old, and did not stop stop screaming and/or whining for literally an hour straight. I finally fled to the dining car (where I was briefly followed, as the mom finally decided it might be a good idea to do something to placate her child, and was walking up and down the train with him.)
This morning, I ride to Portland in Business Class, because everything else was sold out. This doesn't bug me too much, since I'm cashing in Guest Rewards Points. I've taken Business Class before, and it's not particularly special. THe seats are like an inch bigger, you get a free drink ticket*, and the staff is more obsequious. Crossing the border, I can see it might be nice, though, since you go through Customs first.
*Oh yeah, the kids in front of me were taking their first train ride. When the conductor found out, he gave them free drink tickets. Amtrak has some pretty awesome conductors.
