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Published: August 31st 2007
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Family Photo
Trying out the tripod and timer on the train. It was the night before take-off and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a family who was leaving for an adventure of a lifetime. Believe it or not, the night prior to heading off we were in bed and sleeping by midnight AND we slept through the night. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep from the previous several nights or the exhaustion one experiences from being stressed out for several days or a combination of both. Whatever the reason it would turn out to be a good thing as sleep would soon become a precious commodity However, we were all up and ready to go first thing in the morning. Nana/Mom/Marie had a hardy breakfast ready for us and our lunch was packed. It was like the first day of school as we were all ready to leave a half an hour prior to our scheduled departure. Loading the van was the first test of how we would handle the six suitcases and eight carry-on bags. Of course there was never a doubt as the GMC Safari is a full size, eight passenger van with plenty of room for luggage. Our driver, Papa/Dad/Roger was ready
Time to Kill
The boys used technology to stave off boredom during the train ride. to go on schedule and after a few big hugs from Diane & Mom we were on our way.
The drive from Saskatoon to Williston was relatively uneventful. It was a chance to look at the unique beauty of our province from a different perspective. It will be a while before we see the golden fields and big skies. We arrived at the border in good time and were permitted entry without any hassles. The border patrol fellow was curious as to why we had so many suitcases if we were only going to be in the U.S.A. for a few days but he never asked where we were going after so Nataghia explained our circumstance to his satisfaction. We arrived in Williston early enough to check Dad into his hotel, it seemed pretty good for $54 per night, and went to the Amtrak station to check our bags and pick up our tickets. We were greeted at the station by a sign that told us the train was going to be late by an hour and twenty minutes. One of our bags was eight pounds over the 50 pound limit so we ditched the boy’s rubber boots and
Tired Travelers
Pre-flight smiles in Chicago...How do YOU feel after 36 hours of travel and 3 hours sleep? made the weight. With time to kill we went to a park and let the boys blow off some steam and then were off to McDonalds for some “gourmet” dining. We went over to Dad’s room to kill an hour and recharge the laptops. This turned out to be a great idea. Our train finally arrived about an hour and a half late and we were off to Chicago. Once on the train we were not able to get four seats together so we split up until Minot. The boys were very excited to be on the train but were sleeping peacefully once we were all together and settled in.
After a relatively restless sleep we all woke up near St. Cloud, Minnesota and went to the dining car for breakfast. Unfortunately the train had hit an animal and the ventilation system was not functioning so they served us a complimentary breakfast of croissants and fruit. Of course I needed something more substantial given where we had dined the previous evening. Another effect of the mishap with the animal was that the train was now two hours late and the conductor informed us that the track had been recently
Happy in Houston
Did we just fly three hours or was I dreaming or both? Refreshed and relieved to be on the final leg of our journey. washed out in Wisconsin and the train would be moving very slowly once the afternoon arrived. Thankfully we had recharged the batteries of the laptops and after looking at the scenery for a couple of hours the boys watched a movie and Mom and I read some and cat napped while they were entertained.
The day seemed to be going on forever so we went into the observation car to play some games. Upon our return to our seat we discovered that the ventilation system in our car must have been affected as well because it smelled of train bathroom. We suffered for a while and then scouted out some seats in another car where we could escape the stench…well at least the stench of the air. We were on our 30th hour wearing the same clothes and starting to get a little icky. The track issues in Wisconsin had caused us to be three hours behind and now we were faced with outgoing trains from Chicago which slowed us even more. Owen and I played Civilization and Ben listened to stories while Mom read. We finally arrived at Union Station in Chicago at 6:45. A far cry from the 3:55 scheduled time. If that wasn’t bad enough the little cart that collects the baggage went off the platform and caused another short delay.
Upon arrival I immediately purchased tickets to O’Hare transfer station while Nataghia and the boys waited for our bags. Anxious to get in our room I called the hotel immediately to arrange a pick-up from the Metra North Line- O’ Hare transfer station and was told to call the taxi directly. I did as instructed and was told by the taxi dispatcher that I should just call when I arrived at the transfer station. Of course it was hell trying to get our bags on and off the commuter train as it had four stairs to negotiate. There are still nice people in the world, even in the big city, the conductor and one of the passengers getting on the train helped us out when it was time to “detrain”. That was a real blessing because the stops were very short and there was potential of getting split up and/or losing some of our stuff. Once off the commuter train we found ourselves at O’Hare transfer station. No phone to be seen anywhere, just the free shuttle bus to the airport. We asked the driver if taxis ever frequent the area and he disappointed us by telling we had better load our stuff on the bus. We really didn’t want to do this because our hotel was only a mile from the transfer station and the airport is about five miles away. Again kindness touched our lives and the bus driver stopped just as we left the transfer station and pointed to some taxis parked down the road and told me to run over and see if I could hire one of them. We got a taxi and finally arrived at our hotel at about 9:45 PM. Very hungry and very weary we ordered some food, showered up and hit the sack about midnight.
We set the alarm for 3 AM but as usual I woke two minutes prior to it going off. We called a taxi, ate some leftover calzones, and headed off to the airport. From there everything went very smoothly. We all slept from Chicago to Houston and had no trouble making our connection flight. We arrived in San Jose at noon and were in our hotel by 12:40. The San Jose airport is awesome. We rolled through immigration and customs and found the taxi token window with ease. As occurs in most tourist driven airports there were a lot of people there waiting to “help” us. Fortunately we had been instructed by our hosts a the Vida Tropical Hotel to buy a taxi token and avoid trying to negotiate a ride. This system worked beautifully as I told the woman where I was going and she charged me the three dollars, gave me the token and we went out to the “helpers” showed them the token and we were whisked away to our hotel. It was refreshing to see some familiar sights on our way to the hotel…Curves!!, and of course McDonalds. When we got to our hotel we unloaded our many bags in the lobby and the air smelled sweet like ripening fruit and it was so nice to be “home”. Our host looked incredulously at our bags and said,
“Hoy, how long are jew staying!?”.
We smiled and said with our big grins, “Oh, ten months or so.”
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stacey
non-member comment
What an exciting adventure you guys are having...I just love your blog and hearing about your journey! I have a feeling this is just the beginning of some great and funny stories. Take care and enjoy every minute!