2007
notify ground crews
maura @ 8:57 pm
It’s been so quiet around here that you may be wondering if we were hit by a tornado. We were not! Luckily the twister touched down south of us.
However, the storm’s wrath didn’t completely spare us. That morning we had train reservations to visit my dad in the great green north. After the storm practically all the subways flooded, and of course there were no taxis to speak of. We ended up having to speedwalk with all of our stuff for a mile to get to a subway that was running. Poor Gus was a trooper, though I did have to piggyback him the last few blocks. Did I mention that it was stiflingly hot and humid, too?
We got to Penn Station with a minute to spare, and Gus and I ran to the gate while Jonathan printed the tickets from the machines. I semi-hysterically pleaded with the conductor to hold the train for us, which they did (phew — there is only one train/day to the great green north!).
I have to admit that I am kind of over the train. We got in to my dad’s 1.5 hrs late, and were THREE hours late getting home last night. And the scheduled train time is 9 hrs to begin with! You know I hate driving and I’ve historically been a huge Amtrak booster but this trip was kind of ridiculous. It’s a shame, too, because the route is really pretty and it’s so nice to be able to get up and walk around. But I think next time we will have to take the car.
Gus had a fantastic rural time with his grandparents: speeding down the alpine slide, romping with the menagerie (2 kittens, 3 cats and 2 dogs), riding on the tractor, swimming + frog hunting in the pond, and even going on a few short hikes.
Hiking! It’s an exciting development. Jonathan and I enjoy a (wimpy + easy) hike, and I’ve been wondering how to get Gus interested in something that’s essentially just a long walk, often uphill. Many days our two-block trip home from the bus stop after school has a seemingly endless loop of “I’m SO tired! CARRY me!” as a soundtrack.
And the answer is: hiking poles! When you give a kid two pointy metal sticks, he won’t (well, okay, barely) complain at all on a hike. Of course, he’ll also swing them around dangerously and whack them into all manner of foliage. While walking sloooooowly. Yes, hiking with kids is not the same as hiking with grownups. But it’s a start.
7 comments on “notify ground crews”
I know, I really really want to give Amtrak the benefit of the doubt, but until they send a conductor or someone to help me lug my sleeping kid home from the subway, I cannot!
J+I once took the train from here to Chicago, which took **18** hours! It wasn’t too bad, though I think it would be a pain with Gus. Neil Young was on our train! He doesn’t fly, I think. Wait, have I told you this before?
No! Neil? On the Vermont train or the 18 hour one (like the 18-hour bra)…? Max would have been psyched. He LOVES “Heart of Gold.” (Isn’t molding young minds fun?)
Ben took the train from VA to Wisconsin for GenCon. I think it took a week but he had a nice ride through the mountains.
On the 18 hr Chicago train. This was literally like 10 yrs ago, if not longer. And on the way home the train broke down and I think we maybe even had to switch trains?
Gus is still so so so anti-music, for some reason. Too much Dan Zanes and They Might Be Giants as an infant? But whenever we are in the car he yells at us to turn the music off. :(
Now that we’re back in the Northeast, I have the drive vs. fly vs. Amtrak puzzle to contend with again when making plans to visit the DC crowd. The three times my train got stuck on the bridge heading into Manhattan when I was coming back from CT–that almost always tips the scales. That and the fact that taking Acela costs more than flying JetBlue.
I hope Nathan never gets tired of music! So many things to worry about…
On the way here we were forced (by a 2-year-old) to listen to “Itsy Bitsy Spider” at least 10 times. Max & I counted. He has since branched out to “Farmer in the Dell,” “People on the Bus,” and “10 Bears in the Bed” (but he HATES the ending!).
Acela was shut down and/or delayed for awhile, which made it hard! But the good thing about trains over planes is that if a train crashes, you’re already on the ground. None of that “floatation device” nonsense (how can they say that with a straight face to people who are flying over Indiana?!)
Plus if you’ve ever seen the crash in “Green Eggs and Ham,” everyone is smiling.
Yeah, we used to fly JetBlue to Burlington, but there’s some weird Vermont subsidy that makes Amtrak waaaaaay cheaper. It’s so weird that Amtrak between Boston and D.C. is so expensive! But I guess that’s the only line they make any money on.
I do still want to splurge on the Acela someday, it seems so posh!
Also Jonathan does not like to fly, so the whole already on the ground thing is good for him!
Amtrak could be so much better! It is frustrating. They should put us in charge, or at least invite us to a focus group.
We enjoyed taking the train from W’burg or Richmond to DC, but there was no good east-west train. The stop in the little college town (whose name escapes me right now) was precious.
I took the train from Cincy to Chicago alot–stayed up til 3 a.m. (back in the day!), slept on the train, woke up downtown. I always tried to see the 57th St. apt. out the window but was never quite sure where I was once we hit the city. It’s a nice way to go through Indiana–you can see the backyards of all the “little pink houses,” very Mellancampesque (or Cougarish).