Year 5, Day 251 “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 1/06/2026, Day 1 of 22 day California Zephr cross country trip, followed by a California coastal drive, and then a 14 night Mexico Cruise. Today is the start of a new 22 day adventure. We will be traveling by car, plane, train, and cruise ship. This adventure will take us across the United States. We will travel in a bedroom on the California Zephyr. Our Amtrak journey starts from Chicago, Illinois and heads to Emeryville, California. Then we will travel by rental car from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Following our coastal drive we will do a 14 day cruise ship to Mexico from Los Angeles. The first leg of our journey is today. We are flying from Lexington, KY to Chicago, Illinois.
It has been very hectic with the holidays. Working around the house preparing to build Clifty Hill 3 did not provide time for preparing for this trip. I didn’t pack until this morning. We left the house at 2pm. Justin dropped us off at the Blue Grass airport around 3:45pm. We flew in an Erj170 which is a small plane. American Airlines upgraded us to first class for the 56 minute flight. The First class section has 3 seats across. Two on the right and one on the left. This is our first experience with first class. We were offered alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages and snacks. The rest of the plane was not due to the length of the flight. It was called a quick turn around flight. The plane arrived at 4:59PM from Chicago to pick us up. It quickly emptied and we boarded. The lights were dimmed for safety. We then sat at the gate and waited for 22 minutes. This was due to Chicago – O’Hara having a float time.
Wheels are up and we are in the air at 5:59pm. It is basically dark now. With the one hour time difference we will arrive in Chicago at 6:15pm. I feel like I am in a tin can blowing around in the wind on the plane. It is a LITTLE bit bumpy tonight and really dark outside. Peering out the airplane window, I see the flashing wing light to the rear of the plane. Many American Airline employees are seated around. I have never seen that before.
We actually landed at 5:58pm Chicago time in a bank of clouds. Picked up our luggage and headed to pick up the hotel shuttle.
We are staying at “Four Points by Sheraton Chicago O’Hare Airport. We had some Marriott points and this hotel was cheap for the night.
Tomorrow we are off on the California Zephyr.
Here’s a little something to ponder.
Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4qk0z6X Valentine’s Cards with Animal Astronauts Finger Lights: How cool are these for Valentines day.
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