Year 4, Day 158, “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 10/05/2024. Day 25 of 25-night Alaska to Las Vegas. We arrived early enough at Chicago Union Station yesterday that I regretted not booking a flight home last night. But I was concerned about missing it. Robbie, our train car attendant, mentioned that the train is often delayed for hours. This is because people on the tracks commit suicide. Apparently, they slam on the brakes really hard and everyone flys. It is horrible that people commit suicide by train not even considering the engineers or passengers on the train. The engineers have to undergo lots of therapy after that. Yesterday, we checked into the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport hotel at the front desk. We had already checked in on the app. We wanted to get physical keys in addition to the digital key. It has happened before where the digital key has not worked. The check in person was kind of grumpy. Our room was on the 7th floor overlooking the parking garage. We can see the constant flow of air traffic. One airplane comes in and immediately one takes off. It is quite the symphony. The hotel hallways are super wide, but the hotel is not bright. It is an older design. The room is large with a small bathroom. In fact, the door just barely makes it past the toilet to open and close.
After dropping our luggage off we decided to go find something to eat. The restaurant prices are extra expensive here. The hotel connects through an underground walkway to the terminals.
We figured that maybe there was something before security. Nope only one place which is by where you pick up baggage. At that spot there is a coffee counter. We bought two bagels, a bag of peanuts, and a water. We brought everything back to our room to eat. Then settled in for a good night’s sleep. No movements and I am not squashed into the train window. When we left our train roomette the windows were all smudged. I slept on my side and kept my leg up against the window a lot. I wonder what people thought that saw the train go by. Hey OMG did you see there was a leg in that window. What a hoot!! After a great night’s sleep in a huge bed, we headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was 31.99 each for the breakfast buffet. I forget how expensive restaurants are, since our cruises and train trips include our food. On the train trip if you were in coach class and there was availability in the dining car for meals. The charge was $20.00 for breakfast, $25.00 for lunch, and $45.00 for dinner. In the afternoon we flew 327 miles from Chicago to Lexington. It was a full flight. The actual flying time was 48 minutes and no Gremlins on the wings.
So, I guess vacation is over. Between yesterday leaving the train and today boarding the plane every fingernail broke except my middle finger and thumb. Is that weird or what? Why do only the middle fingers have long nails still? Hmmm.
The flight was noneventful. Very smooth. We landed Justin was there with our car. We left the airport and got gas from Marathon. About three miles down the road our car started sputtering and stalled. It would not start. So, AAA to the rescue. Tow truck driver said there was probably water in the gas. The gas station probably has a hole in the tank and with all the rain lately water got in the tank.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Clear Rain ponchos: https://amzn.to/3Z0chtf Never go on a cruise or actually never go anywhere without some clear ponchos. It is nice to stay dry. Two of these stay in my backpack, two in my car, and two in my suitcase. That is how passionate I am about having them.
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