QUICK STOP IN OUR NATIONS CAPITOL

I arrived in Washington about 12:20 and had a few hours before boardon my Next Train, The Capitol Limited. So I took the Opportunity to walk down Massachusetts Avenue toward the United States Capitol.

I remember the first time i came to Washington in the mid 1970's I walked right up the west steps and into the Rotunda and Statuary Hall. Congressmen and Senators would walk right by you without a second thought. Today You can't get any where close to going onside without first signing up for a tour at the relatively new Capitol Visitors Center or a special clearance arranged way advance  through your congressman or senator.

Just across the street from the Capitol are The Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Things today have returned to normal in front of the Supreme Court. Unlike last week when unrest and protesters were causing all kinds of problems. Today the few people milling around were tourist like myself, taking selfies and enjoying at beautiful fall day in our nation's Capital.I spent a couple of hours walking around the Capital and the east end of the National Mall. Then it was time to hear back to Union Station.

U. S. Supreme Court

The short walk back took me by the Dirksen and Russell Senate Office Buildings, which are named for Senator Everett Dirksen of Indiana and Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. One back at Union Station I grabbed a quick lunch in the food court and then Chilled in the Acela Lounge until it was time to board The Capitol Limitedfor my overnight trip to Chicago

The Great Hall at Washington's Union Station.

Washington's Union Station.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Well, My big Amtrak adventure has begun. I was up early this morning and met My buddy Robert at my former and he transported me to the Amtrak Platform in Roanoke. 

The train backed in about 20 minutes before my scheduled departure of 6:19 a.m.

My business Class car is the very last car on the train and the conductor told us to take any available seat.

We pulled out right on schedule at 6:19 a.m. and make our way through east Roanoke. Our next stop in about an hour or so will be Lynchburg.

At 7:00 a.m. as we make our way through Bedford, the sky in the east is beginning to turn a bright orange. By the time we get to Lynchburg the sun will be shedding light on another day. At 7:30 we stop just out side of the Lynchburg Station to allow the Northbound Crescent to pass and stop at the station first. The Crescent is running about an hour an a half late.

After a short stop we pull into Lynchburg's Kemper Street Station.  About 20 more people get on and about half of them are in the Business Class car. Still business class is only about a quarter full as we make our way toward our next station stop in Charlottesville. 

At 8:20 we are stopped just north of Amherst to allow some freight traffic to pass. Since Amtrak doesn't own the rails they use they are often at the mercy of freight traffic that usually get the priority.

We arr still stopped about 35 miles south of Charlottesville.The Freight Train has passed and now this appears that this may be a rather lengthy delay as track maintenance on a single track ahead has to repair a broken rail.

After a 40-Minute delay we are back moving. The southbound freight that passed while we're were stopped had the Lackawanna Heritage unit leading. We arrived in Charlottesville at 9:55 a.m. which is about 50 minutes late. There is a James River Bus waiting here to ferry passengers to Richmond waiting here. The business class car has just about filled up but I still have a vacant seat next to me, but i wonder how much longer that is going to last. My next station stop will be Culpeper.

We made up a little time with our 10:45 arrival into Culpeper. Departing Charlottesville our estimated arrival into Washington was 12:13. Now we are projected to arrive ar 12:03, and our conductor indicated that we hope to make up even more time on the next leg out trip. Next Station Stop is Manassas.

Crossing the Potomac River

Our arrival into Manassas was delay just a couple of minutes as we caight the Crescent who had not finish up with her station Stop. I think my train, Northeast Regional #176 goes all the way to Boston and a number of new passengers bound for New York and Boston got on in Manassas. There are only a couple of empty seats left in my Business Class car.

This train has about a 40 minute stop at Washington's Union Station to refreah the Cafe Car and to change locomotives. At Washington the diesel locomotives are replaced with electric for the rest of the trip. At 12:05 p.m. we arrive at my last station stop before crossing the Potomac and entering the District of Columbia. Off on my left (I'm sitting on on the wrong side of the train for a picture) is the George Washington Masonic Memorial.

We arrived at Washington' Union Station at 12:30 p.m. which was about 45 minutes late. 

Immmediately after detraining I made my way into the Station and found the Metropolitan Lounge, whiich is called the Acela Lounge Here. It is a little smaller than I pictured but it offers comfortable Chairs and free beverages and snacks. Having About 2 and a half hours until my next train Departs I decided to store my bags in the lounge storage area and go explore a little.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

Where did summer go. As I sit here typing this it is 52 degrees outside, while just a few days ago the temps were in the 80's. The weather this past week has been devastating to so many people thanks to Hurricane Michael.

Hurricane Michael crossed the Yucatan and quickly formed in the Gulf of Mexico. I think because of the short time he was projected to over water in the Gulf the projections of a minimal hurricane sort of fooled everyone.

In just a couple of days he went from a minimal Category 1 Hurricane to a devastating Category 4 Hurricane when it made landfall near Pensacola, Florida. The death toll in the Florida is still climbing.

Michael's Devastation was not limited to just Florida. As he moved inland he spread devastating flooding through Central North Carolina and Virginia.  More than six inches of rain fell in the Roanoke-Salem Area in just a matter cause big time flooding throughout the Roanoke and New River Valley's.  Several people in the area have died and sadly the death toll in this area also continues to rise.

After Michael moved out, a cold front that brought snow to the Upper Midwest has moved through and out temperatures have drop considerably. Today I don't think we got out of the 50's and if is supposed to remain chilly most of the week.

The cool weather here makes me kind of glad that I will be heading out to hopefully warmer weather later this week. I have checked the weather for both Washington and Chicago and found that both places are project to be chilly. 

I have about 3 hours to kill when I arrive in Washington on Thursday and the temperatures are supposed to be about 55 so I am going to have to dress warm if I want to kill some time walking around D. C.

When I arrived in Chicago Friday Morning it is supposed to be cloudy with a low of 43 and a high of 56. So again I will have to dress warm as I have about 5 hours between trains in Chicago.

I am in the final stages of preparing to depart on my big Amtrak Adventure later this week. I have charged all of the batteries on my media devices and I still have to get a couple of new Media Cards for my video and still cameras. This is all pretty much new to me as I am used to packing and throwing everything I need into the car and Hitting the road.

This trip I am having to pack light and depend on other forms of transportation. So far I am down to one large backpack and a small backpack for my camera's and media devices. I am going to have to rely on Uber or Lyte and when in Chicago and Washington I am going to be walking and don't want to be saddled with dragging a bunch of luggage around those cities.

One good thing is that I will have access to the Metropolitan Lounge in both Chicago and D.C.  This is an semi-exclusive lounge reserved for Business Class and Sleeping Car Passengers. There is a secure area where you can leave you luggage if you want to walk around the city.  Another benefit to being able to used the Metropolitan Lounge that you can help yourself to free soft drinks and snacks while you wait, and you are allow to board the train first and get settled in before the coach passengers. 

Finally I have been working hard on getting videos ready to upload. I did get my Video of my visit to Austin Texas posted this morning. I have one more ready to go and it should post a day or two before I leave.

Once I am on the road media posting will be limited as internet and cell service will be hit and miss especially once I get to west Texas and along the Rio Grande Valley.  This is the same area that I visited in March of this year and cell service was very, very limited.

I hope to have another video or two ready to go before I leave but for now , take a look at my most recent video from Austin Texas.

ARIZONA: LAND OF TAXES AND FEES

I know it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything. But quiet frankly there hasn't been much going on to write about.  I have been tending to routine chores and scheduling a bunch of appointments before I take off on my next big adventure.

I have just about taken care of all my medical appointments with only a dentist and eye appointment left. I still have a quarterly financial and tax review early next week. After than I will be able to concentrate on final preparations for my Amtrak Departure on October 18.

I purchased my tickets for the trip out several months ago and have begun to finalize my plans for my return trip. I have purchased my Amtrak Ticket from Tucson to Chicago and was able to get what I consider a good price for the two night, three day trip back to the windy city.  I was able to book a roomette for just a little over $300 which includes all meals in the dining car.

I have been watching the on time performance for the Texas Eagle into Chicago and it has been averaging 2-3 hours late each trip. Taking the Capitol Limited out of Chicago back to Washington, I only have a little over 3 hours to make the connection. So I have decided to stay over an extra night in Chicago and start fresh on the Capitol Limited the Next day. That will leave only one leg left from Washington back to Roanoke and I can probable take care of that as time get closer.

I have also reserved me a rental car for the 9-days that I will stay in Arizona once my friends head back to Virginia. The rental with unlimited mileage for the entire 9-day is costing me a little over $450 which is not bad. But because I am renting it in one city and dropping it off in another there is an additional $55 drop fee added on. Then there is the Arizona Stadium Tax of $27.50 added on. I guess I am helping to pay for the football and baseball stadiums. Local and state taxes and a Trip Tax adds another $70.62 to my total. So my total for the rental is going to be a little over $560.

I am dropping the car off in Tucson which is where I will be boarding Amtrak for my return trip. The train is scheduled to depart Tucson at 9:15 a.m. so I can drop the car off at 8 a.m.  and have enough time to make it to the station without being to hurried.  The rental car drop off is only about 7/10 of a mile from the Amtrak Station. My plan is to Uber or Lyft from the rental agency to the station but if I have to I can walk.

Finally, as I have said many times before everyone who I have talked to has told me to pack and travel light. I have my luggage down to one large backpack for my computer, clothes, toiletries, shoes and other necessities. I have a smaller backpack for my audio, video and camera equipment. I have pared that down to one DSLR camera with an extra lens, and a video camera. I have extra batteries and SD Cards.  I still have room in my camera pack for enough snacks to get me started on my four day train ride.

I have still got to get a few odds and ends, like ear plugs for sleeping. I am also going to down load a couple of books and a couple of movies to occupy my time when I find myself without cell and internet service.

So in less than two weeks my next big adventure will begin. For now I am still working on editing photos and Videos from my trips to Texas and Kentucky earlier this year. The video from my visit to Waco Texas is up on my YouTube Channel. If you have time slip over there and take a look. If you like it be sure to give it a thumbs up and if you want to get notified when I post future videos, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Click the Video below to view it here.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

I know it has been awhile since I lasted posted anything and to tell you the truth, there has not been a lot going on. In my last post I was really fed up with Facebook as they had suspended me.  I was actually suspended twice. The second time I evidently upset some liberals who took offense to my post about Boycotting the NFL and calling the Players Anti-American.  Some of the Liberal posted some comments trying to justify the reason for the players kneeling, which was to protest police brutality. Basically the NFL Kneeler's are condemning all police officers and disrespecting our flag and our country.  Anyway to make a long story a couple of the liberal trolls reported my post as inappropriate and I was suspended for a total of 7-days. 

After being re-instated I have re-structured my privacy settings on Facebook so that only friends can see and comment on my posts. Friends of friends can no longer see or comment on my posts. I have also delete more than half of my previous friends. Before the suspension I had 1,086 friends, after the purge I have 489 and may end up purging even more. I am also not as active on Facebook and have been a little more active on Twitter. One thing I have learned is that when it comes to social media, free speech only applies if the liberals agree with you.  

Now that I got that little rant over, let me catch up on what has been going on. 

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a couple of events over two nights at The Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, Virginia. The first night I got to see Earls of Leicester, who are a bluegrass band that is keeping the music of Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys alive.  This is the third time I have seen them and they Never disappoint. 

The next night I returned to Rocky Mount to see Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel. They play a variety of music including western swing made famous by the late great Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.  They also put on a great show and I was not disappointed. 

Before I move on, let me tell you a little about the Harvester. It is a very small venue, seating only about 400 people at the most but don't let the small size fool you, they attract big name stars. The seating area is divided into two price ranges, "Gold Seating" and "General Seating" the Gold seats are slightly higher in price and allow you to enter first and sit closest to the stage. General Seats are behind the Gold section usually behind the people running the lights and sound boards. Don't let that worry your as they do not impair your view of the performers. My personal opinion is there is no need to spend the extra money on the Gold Seats. Seating in both sections are General Admission, meaning, seats are first come, first serve. So get in line early. As I said this is a small venue and there is no a bad seat in the house. You can actually see and enjoy the performance no need for video monitors or TV Screens like some of the large venues. I visited the Harvester on two consecutive nights seeing first the Earls of Leicester and on the Second Night, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel. Both shows were totally awesome. Both night the performers seemed to enjoy performing in such an intimate setting. A number of businesses around the Harvester Center allows you to park in their lots for free after there business close for the day. You can also park across the street at the farmers market when the market area is not being used. Street Parking is also free and available. The staff and volunteers are are exceptional and got way above and beyond to ensure you have a great time. I totally enjoyed my visits and plan on returning often.

Yesterday, my friend Bob Snider and I made a short day Trip down to Mount Airy, North Carolina and visited the Andy Griffith Museum. I had been to the museum several years ago, but I recently read that they had receive a grant or some ear marked fund and had made extensive renovations. 

Anyway we made the trip down the mountain and stopped at the museum. To tell you the truth, I really couldn't tell a lot of difference, other than the addition of TV screens that have been mounted that play popular episodes of the show. It costs $8.00 and as a fan of the show, I still enjoyed my visit. 

After leaving the Museum we rode down to Wally's service station just south of downtown. Here they have a couple of Ford Squad Cars that they use to give tours of the town along with vintage Acme Gas Pumps and an old truck made to look like the one Brisco Darlin drove to town. 

They have fixed up one of the buildings to look like the inside of the Mayberry Courthouse, with jail cells, Andy's Desk and Barney's Chair. Visitors can have their photos taken in the cell or behind the desk. All in all it was a fun day

I am just a little over 5 weeks way from my Amtrak Trip to Arizona. I am really getting excited about it and looking forward to beginning this adventure.  I have been reading a lot about traveling by train and have taken heed of several suggestions including traveling light. Right now I have my luggage confined to One larger backpack that will have all of my clothes, computer, and personal stuff. I will also take a smaller backpack that will have my carmea's and electronic chargers, batteries and a few other odds and ends. 

Another suggestion is to tip the train staff. Even though my meals in the dining car are included in the price of my sleeper, I am expected to tip both the dining car and the sleeping car attendants. So I have save up some "Tip Cash" for not only the Amtrak Staff but for the Uber drivers that I will be using once I arrive in Arizona. 

To save space I have downloaded some books onto my computers to read during the times that I don't have Internet and cell service.  I can use my phone as a hot spot but from what I am told cell service is not an options several places during the trip.  I do know for a fact that once I leave San Antonio, Cell and Internet is scarce in west Texas and along the Rio Grand. 

Tomorrow is the start of the Wake Forest Home Football season. This is the first of 5-straight weeks that Wake will play at home. So for the next 5-weeks I will be heading down the mountain before heading out to Arizona.

I am behind on Videos and hope to have a couple ready to upload in the next day or two. Until then, I'll catch you later.