Saturday (with some Friday night mixed in)
I climbed into my top bunk -- and I mean climbed. I don't know how anyone less mobile than me would do it. Wasn't sure if I wanted to sleep in my clothes, or set up a whole bedtime thing. Decided on sleeping in my clothes, as they had already been sweated through a couple times, and I was going to need to change them in the morning anyway. There were too many pillows, and two Amtrak blankets that were so nice I considered stealing one of them. The bed itself was fairly comfortable, and there was a seatbelt/web on the lower half so you might not roll out of bed. Except there wasn't a barrier on the "top" half and I spent a lot of the night worrying I was about to go headfirst out of the bunk. It ended up being really almost too warm and by the end of the night I was in full pajama mode. I didn't pull out the CPAP because there really wasn't anywhere to put it, and I didn't want it to fall off. Also, I was alone in the roomette and couldn't hear anything from the other roomettes all day, so I figured if I snored it would be okay. Just couldn't sleep. My legs wanted to run a marathon, my brain wanted to go to sleep, and my instinct to survive was trying to be as close to the window as possible so I didn't fall off. Ok, maybe it was all the caffeine after 4pm. I am old, after all.
[Correction: Turns out I was backwards. You climb up to the rack and then head into the bed, so the webbing to keep you in is focused on the upper body, and the slightly narrow portion of the bed is where your feet are. Also makes more sense that you would climb "up and in" rather than "up and try and get your legs turned around and in." Thanks to a discussion with the wife about the arrangements. I think I'll bring her with me next time so I don't sleep in a bed wrong again!]
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| Me, in bed. Loved the Amtrak Blanket! Oh and to the right on the wall is a little purse-like thing you can put your glasses/phone/whatever in while you sleep. Conveniently placed for those people smart enough to sleep the right direction in the bed. |
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| Above: Spot for luggage, but mine got to sit in a seat. Below: Curtains over the door and window to passageway Left: One of the webbing straps to keep you in bed |
The train was pretty quiet beyond the train noises - no loud neighbors or people in the hallway. The rocking of the train was actually quiet nice and I didn't feel too nauseated. I woke up way too early many times. Finally checked the clock, as I was sure my 7am alarm was about to go off. It was 3:15.
In the end I feel like I got about three hours sleep, but don't think it's the roomette's fault. Got out of bed groggy and not wanting to interface with humans, so breakfast was out. I really wanted some coffee, but wasn't willing to put in the actual work to get any. So I had free bottled water and three mini tootsie rolls. Breakfast of champions.
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| The view from my upper window when I woke up. Bad angle, motion blurry, partially out of focus |
Here's a quick tangent to describe where I sat most of the ride..
On the left, the long curtain is over the sliding door. You can lock the door from the inside but not the outside. The next curtain covers the window to the passageway. All curtains were heavy, had velcro to make them stick to the opposite velcro on the frame, so you could really feel the privacy.
Top to bottom in the middle: Mirror with hand towels and lotion soap. Below that, on the left are attendant call buttons and flush button for the toilet, and most importantly two full AC power outlets. On the right side of those is a fold down sink.
You can see my mask and one of the free water bottles on the extremely useful shelf, which doubles as the second "step" up to the top bunk. Below all of that is the toilet. The illustration on the wall explains how to use the space-toilet. It's pretty straightforward, much like an airline toilet, but one layer above the toilet lid is that reddish countertop. It folds up for toilet use, but when down it's a handy place to put things that you respect so little you would put them on a toilet. It did not smell like a toilet or smell at all, and the fact that it was by the curtains meant you could hold the curtains more tightly against the wall to avoid anyone seeing you - but you didn't have to, as the curtains were rock solid. To be honest, if I hadn't seen it on the layout map of the room in my research, I could have completely missed that there was a toilet there. So handy to have your own though!
Opposite the toilet was a wall with speakers, light switches, and other sundry items. On the far right you can see a curtain, which when pulled back revealed the upper window. Above the seat you can see a line running down the wall. That's the track for the bed. When it was time to set up bedtime, a handle on the "ceiling" of the roomette pulled the top bunk bed down from the actual ceiling. When it was down, you could still use the chairs, etc. but couldn't fully stand up. In addition to the top bunk, the main seats could be slid together and folded back, then a second mattress went on those. When that was set up you would still have a foot or so between the bottom bed and the door. Tight fit, but workable. For one person it was just gadget heaven and I loved it. If I were sharing the roomette it would have to be someone I am intimate with, as it's a small space. But not get intimate, because those beds were tiny!
Finally in Chicago, now it's the normal drill. Get large suitcase through impossibly narrow hallway and break into the fresh air of the terminal. Hot, humid, diesel-ey fresh air. I notice there is a large group of Amish-like folks getting off the train. I don't know what exact flavor they are, so I'm going to call them Amish. I'm sorry if that's wrong and I offend anyone, but to be honest they're not going to be reading this if they're any good at spurning the technologies of the "English."
Made my way to the Grand Hall, because I really enjoy seeing beautiful station architecture, and it seemed like a good place to start. I don't remember being there before but it was indeed impressive. And they even had benches for the unwashed masses to sit on! Looking around it occurred to me that the stairs from the movie Untouchables was probably nearby, and it turns out they were right behind me. Ok, so I don't know if it was the north stairs or south stairs, but they're identical except for the orientation. So if I did get it wrong, please hold your computer up to a mirror when you look at the image. Way too lazy to check for myself.
Found a Dunkin' Donuts and got a Latte and a breakfast sandwich, rightfully thinking the three tootsie rolls weren't probably enough. I also found the special people lounge right off the grand hall, as well. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as the one in New York, and there were a lot more people who had access. But it was a clean, well lighted place and they had lots of couches. Honestly it was worth it just to have a place to leave my big suitcase while I waited. It was a 4-ish hour layover and I had some time to kill. I noticed that even sitting still on a comfy couch I could still feel the train rocking back and forth. That continued on through my layover and now I'm back on a train typing this, so I don't know how long it will last when I get home!
Even though I was tired, I thought I might take a walk outside. Just a short one, maybe see some architecture. What could go wrong?
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