Began a gloomy morning with two American Girl books about vacations. Felicity Merriman loves visiting her grandfather's plantation for the summer. She can spend all her time outside and riding horses with her beloved grandparent. On one of those rides, she discovers a message from her father's apprentice, who ran away to join the Continental Army. Felicity Saves the Day when she warns him about rough men who were hired to find him...and convinces him to return to her father.
Josefina Montoya is also visiting her grandparents in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She's excited when a handsome young American comes to trade with her father and grandfather...but then he seemingly doesn't keep his promise and give the the things they traded for. Josefina Saves the Day, with the help of her older sister Francesca, in order to show that Senior Patrick kept his promise.
Two short stories also involved adventurous vacations. "The Grand Canyon" from the vintage Disney anthology Storybookland takes Donald and Mickey deep into the canyon on the back of burros. When Donald is thrown from his burro, Mickey and two rafters have to brave the river rapids to rescue him.
Paddington Takes to the Road when he and the Brown family is visiting a small French town where the Tour de France runs. He repairs a rusty old tricycle in order to join the race and win a prize. Trouble is, he didn't replace all the pieces on the tricycle...including the brakes...
Finished the packing after I got dressed (including the laptop), then had breakfast while watching Strawberry Shortcake In Big Apple City. Strawberry is off to a TV bake-off in the title metropolis...but so is the Peculiar Purple Pieman, who will do anything to win. Good thing Strawberry meets a lot of new friends in Spinach Village who help her out, including eventual series regulars Lemon Meringue and Orange Blossom.
After I ate, I made the bed, then walked around the house to make sure I didn't forget anything. Did three classic shorts on train travel and vacations while I worked. "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip" with his beloved dog Pluto, but dogs aren't allowed on trains. Conductor Pete keeps trying to throw them off.
It's "All Abirrddd!" for Tweety and Sylvester when they're both on the same baggage car together. Sylvester thinks it's the cafe car and keeps trying to have Tweety for lunch. Spike the dog and the conductor wishes he'd just wait and have his lunch later.
"Boobs In the Woods" has Porky on a relaxing vacation in the mountains. A really daffy Daffy keeps getting on his nerves, until the normally sweet-natured pig reaches the end of his sausage rope and reveals his collection of licenses.
Jodie picked me up around 9:25. There was no trouble getting there. No traffic at that hour of the day, even in Cherry Hill. She dropped me off easily at the Cherry Hill Train Platform.
The trouble started when I bought my ticket and checked the schedule. To my shock, it said the train to Philadelphia came at 9:28! Amtrak must have been using an older schedule. Now what was I supposed to do? Jodie was long gone, and there was no way I was going to call her back and have her take me to Philly.
I finally signed in to Uber, like Rose and Jodie have been pestering me to do for months. After I figured out how to work it, I called the cheapest car they had listed. Fortunately, he was also the fastest car they had listed. He was there within three minutes of my calling him. It cost me 28 dollars, but he was a really sweet guy. He told me some great stories about doing ballroom dancing with his wife and driving people to Eagles games and concerts in Camden. He dropped me off a block from 30th Street Station in less than 20 minutes, shortly after the train was originally due to arrive.
Had trouble when I got inside, too. The new Quik-Chek machines absolutely refused to swipe my phone. I tried every machine, and none of them would do it. I finally went to one of the ticket sellers, who printed them out herself.
After all that, I needed some serious grease. Went straight to Wendy's and bought a BBQ Cheeseburger, fries, and Minute Maid Cherry Limeade. The burger was tasty, with crunchy onion rings and tons of barbecue sauce, but very messy. The fries were nice and crispy. I made a quick bathroom break after lunch before returning to the main room.
The train to Philadelphia was 20 minutes late. Good thing I had a long layover in New York anyway. Once I finally made it on the train, I had no difficulties for the rest of the trip. The train to New York was full until all the commuters got off in Trenton, after which there was plenty of room. Penn Station was busy, but no more or less than it normally is on a Friday. I spent my time there walking around, getting money for the trip from the PNC Bank ATMs, eating snacks, and reading until the train to Albany arrived (on time).
I love the train ride to Albany. The view is stunning. I got in line early enough to snag a window seat. The Lake Shore Limited lives up to its name, passing glittering rivers, bobbing sail boats, towering mountains carpeted in green pines, quaint little lighthouses, sprawling mansions and ancient factories. The train was full. I sat next to a young man who spent most of the time sleeping or reading his phone. By the time we'd pulled into Albany, the clouds had vanished, and it had become a beautiful sunny, chilly day.
The Millers met me at the Albany-Renneslauer Station. After a bathroom break, we drove past small upstate New York towns and quaint old villages. No traffic here, either. By the time I got in, the dinner hour was just starting, and most people were probably eating.
We had our dinner at Mario's Restaurant, a fancy Italian place about 15 minutes over the New York border from the Millers' home. They were busy when we arrived, but it started to clear out even as we enjoyed our crusty Italian bread, steamy popovers, and navy bean salad. By the time the Millers were eating Veal Oliver (huge slabs of breaded veal with lobster sauce and sauteed vegetables) and I was having an amazing lasagna, they'd gotten, if not empty, a little quieter. Despite the huge meals, we had enough room for dessert. Mr. Miller had creme brulee. Mrs. Miller tried the Chocolate-Raspberry Cake. Lauren loved her chocolate-coated Cherry Gelato swimming in raspberries and raspberry sauce.
My banana ice cream parfait was amazing. It was house-made banana ice cream layered with brownie cookies, chocolate fudge sauce, and hazelnuts. The fudge sauce was so chocolatey (I wouldn't be surprised if that was made in-house, too), and the cookies were soft and sweet. The Millers all enjoyed their desserts, too. Lauren raved about hers, especially that raspberry sauce.
We finally got home around 9:30. I'm downstairs in Lauren's room, chatting with her and watching the late 70's-early 80's Card Sharks on Buzzr. Considering I was too excited to sleep much last night, it's probably just as well that we're just going to be shopping and playing mini-golf in the Pittsfield area tomorrow.
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