Amtrak 449.

I am currently sitting in the roomette I mentioned in an earlier blog entry today. I just walked to the café car (which is two cars away) and had the specialty sandwich of the day, which is a pulled pork sandwich served a la Radarange. The café attendant was a fine man from the U.K. and had a delicious accent. The sandwich was quite tasty and surprisingly low in calories. I saved my appetite this evening for such a feast.

I am now enjoying Bud Light in a can in the privacy of my roomette. I hope I can do a little craft beer exploring on this long weekend that I have just embarked on.

I am surprised at how quiet this room is. I think we are two cars behind the last engine; there’s a baggage car in between. I’m not overly familiar with how things work yet, so I did what I’ve done in coach and just walked around, looking for the café car. There might be a different diner car in the other direction. I haven’t explored that way yet.

There are lighting options all over the place. Ceiling lights, reading lights, seatback lights. There’s also a toilet and a sink. Both double as the ladder to the upper bunk. I have to say that I have a hell of a lot more legroom than I would on an airplane headed for the same destination.

From the seat facing the front of the train:

And looking down on the seat I’m sitting in, facing the rear of the train. The bunk will be lowered down when it’s time for me to go to bed.

Sitting in comfort as I type on my iPad.

I’m excited about this train ride for several reasons, including that I’ve never been west of Syracuse on a train before. I’ve always headed east to Boston or southeast to New York. In both instances I rode to Albany where they split the train in half and you had better be in the right part that is going where you want to go.

I’m enjoying sitting here in the dark watching the scenery go by. I’m going to be on here for the next 13 hours or so and I think the time is going to fly by amazingly fast.

We are just getting to Syracuse; I recognize several landmarks from a city that I still thoroughly love, including the tiny James Street Wegmans.

I have to admit that I was nervous about the thought of using the toilet that is built into the room, but now I don’t feel bad. During the composition of this blog entry I have heard several flushes from adjacent rooms. I guess there’s no reason to be nervous after all. And it’s a lot more comfortable than doing it on an airliner.

I just noticed that the bed has seat belts. Heh.

Another reason I am excited about this trip is because I will see my husband after being apart for four days. We’ve been together for over 17 years, but I still miss him very much when we are apart. It’ll be good to be in the same time zone again.