Train Travel

Vermont's countryside blurs past me in my Business Class seat on Amtrak.

So I'm sitting on The Vermonter on my way down to DC, and I already have fallen back in love with train travel.  Not only was my ticket way cheaper than airfare, it's half the carbon sin and damn if it's not more relaxed than dealing with the airport.  Only had to get to the station 30 minutes before departure (recommended, but I see completely unnecessary), no long lines, no TSA acting out a role in their Security Theater, a nice conductor, lots more room...sure it'll take 13 hours to get down there, but that's only 3 hours more than if I drove, and much more comfortable.  Oh, and while air travel might get me to DC significantly faster, I can't plug in my laptop and use my wireless phone to surf the net like I'm doing now (coverage and Doppler issues could prove interesting, but thus far while moving I have enjoyed the same speeds as I do while stationary at home)!

I haven't been on Amtrak for more than 30 years.  We took it to Chicago when my folks were attending some library conference thing during the Montreal Olympics (I remember I fell in love with Nadia watching her on the hotel TV).  I did take a lot of trains in Western Europe and the USSR back in the 80s and 90s, but for my job it was never really practical.  I'm definitely going to make the time whenever possible now.

A couple downsides: the hot water pump in the snack car is broken so no coffee; Amtrak still needs to learn about how to do an online reservation system since my ticket never arrived in the mail, so I had to buy a new one-way from the conductor and I'll have to deal with customer service in DC to resolve the additional charge.  However, the excellent travel experience makes up for that deficiency, and the conductor told me not to worry about getting a ticket in the future when departing Vermont--just get a reservation and pay for the ticket on board as I did today.

This week will likely be relatively easy going compared to my last stint in December, when there were lots of hearings to attend and a major Iraq funding bill we were lobbying against.  Congress is actually not in session for Memorial Day week, but this is the only time I could schedule a visit before August, when I'm either staying at the Pink House again or maybe pinking in Denver.  Still, there is Congressional staff on the Hill and plenty of opportunities for banner drops, guerrilla theater and the like.  Maybe I'll get back to The Mall given the holiday.

Once again thanks to everybody for helping with this trip!

ntodd