California, Here I Come!

I am really at loose ends today just waiting to set out for my appointment to meet an Amtrak train. I am basically packed although the luggage is still sitting open so I can throw things in. I'm taking a medium size bag that I will put in the storage area and a very small rolling bag that I will carry into the roomette with me, plus a backpack that will contain reading materials and things I need quick access to - camera, cellphone charger, my wallett, tickets. etc. I'm leaving enough room in the backpack to hold the bottle of scotch I will buy at Schneider's on Massachusetts Ave.

I dropped a few things off at the Goodwill van and decided to stop by the Jayco sales lot nearby. It was the very first place I went to after I made the decision to sell the house and go into an RV. I looked at a couple of 5th wheels but they seemed a bit cramped - nothing like the space in the Cardinal LE I really liked. I think I will look until I find one with either a computer desk already built in, or at least have the space where I could add one. The computer space is more important to me than the TV/entertainment center. With all the forums, blogs, rv email newsletters and such, I don't have time to watch tv all that much, and I wonder who the manufacturers are building the big entertainment centers for. I'm probably wrong about this - but it's just my own take on it.

I feel so sorry for my two dogs, having to take them to the kennel in a couple of hours and leave them for 2 weeks. They know something is going on and are just waiting for the axe to drop.

I will miss the chat room for the next two nights at least, sorry to say. I've gotten used to spending my evenings following the travels, triumphs & tribulations of others like myself who either are traveling in RV's or planning to do so. Once I board the train in Chicago I will be on it for two days until I reach Sacramento, and then possibly I will try to connect in the evenings. Tomorrow's journey from DC to Chicago will largely consist of getting settled in the roomette, maybe a visit to the observation car, dinner, and hopefully an early night. I will try to get some good pictures of the train - not sure how many readers have traveled on Amtrak, but it is really nice and spacious, especially relative to plane travel. My train travel goes back to the days when I traveled as a young child from Cincinnati to visit my mom's folks in southwestern Kentucky. My parents would take me to Union Station as the train arrived from Washington, DC. carrying my uncle, and he would be hanging out the window waving to let us know which car he was on. I would then join him for the trip south. I loved looking out the window of the B&O & L&N trains watching towns & farms as we went by, just as I love it today from the roomette window on the Amtrak.

I'll catch up with y'all later.