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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
Traveling To Albuquerque In my mind, I had to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta this year. I'm not sure how many years I have left for traveling long trips; heck I don't even know how many tomorrows I have left, no one knows that. This is the year! Early on I contacted my niece about staying with her, she was very happy to have me visit, and here I am right now in her living room. To get here, I took Amtrak. My wife insisted on this, it's been something I've wanted to do for many years now. The route took me from Bloomington to Union Station in Chicago where I had a three hour layover Then it was a train heading to LA, stopping here in Albuquerque of course. The train to Chicago was nice, a 2 hour ride, it had Wi-Fi. My big mistake was assuming the train to LA would have Wi-Fi, And of course it didn't. This upset me a little, because I had planned on completing the 5 daily tasks on the train. My backup plan was to use my cell phone hot spot for internet access. Well, guess what is not included in my current plan thru Verizon? Ye[, Hot Spot access. Plus, cell reception was very spotty riding here. So no Wi-Fi on the ride from Chicago to here. No completing the 5 daily tasks, plus no nightly post in "Smile! (Groan?) You Know You Love These!"  , and that is more important to me than the daily tasks.My other half also insisted I have a Roomette for the trip. I have to confess that once I learned the ropes (so to speak), it was very nice. Also decently expensive. I probably could have purchased 4 Business class seats for the price of that roomette. Oh well. Meals were included with the Roomette. That was nice because dinner was $45, breakfast was $20. Still, the roomette was still a lot more. I equate it to flying Business Class overseas vs flying Coach. There was one major problem that arose on the train getting here. Working Restrooms! I spent about 30 minutes walking around trying to find a working restroom on Wednesday. I guess some tanks were full, at least one didn't flush. So I walked and walked. Very inconvenient at the time, but we got past that, huh. I can see why people fly and not take a train. Let's compare flying advantages to train advantages. Flying advantages: Faster, much faster. Smoother in the air. Flying disadvantages: You don't see much, other than clouds from 35,000 feet. Cramped in Coach, which is what most people book nationally, unless they are upgraded. Admittedly I had that roomette allowing me to relax. Train Advantages: Slower, you can relax more. You see the countryside, see Americana. Train Disadvantages: Bumpy, pretty bumpy at times. Rockin and rolling as a result. Much slower than flying. It took me 31 hours of travel time on the train. I could have flown here in 5-6, depending on layover length in DFW. My preference? The train! I wasn't in coach though, I would book a train roomette as long as I can afford it. I don't see that happening very often, if at all in the future. But I love the train simply because it's like driving, you see the countryside. So I prefer that to flying. Tomorrow is the opening ceremonies of the Balloon Fiesta. My niece (Diana) and I will catch a 4 am bus to the Fiesta Grounds. Joining us will be my younger brother Skip's (RIP) daughter Kristin. We'll be there for the Morning Glow, where the Balloonists will have their balloons partially inflated. After that is the Dawn Patrol, these people test the conditions to make sure it's safe for everyone to launch. After that is the Mass Ascension, everyone takes off! I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. That's why I'm here after all. Now, only time will tell how many photo's I snap, the weather (it looks fantastic right now), and what I choose to buy. |
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