Home on Sunday

We left the hotel at 6:30 AM and thought we would grab a taxi. We got a limo instead (actually just a large black car) but the price was the same. We drove by Vermont Avenue and Martin Luther again.

Now that I was awake and was to spend so much time waiting in Union Station, I had an opportunity to appreciate how large and beautiful it is. This small photograph of the barrels and arches inside is linked to a page with more photos. (You have to look up the history of the station yourself.) I kept imagining Louisa May Alcott arriving here to nurse the Civil War soldiers so the whole experience for me had enormous romance. When you leave the station the Capitol dome is visible straight ahead.

Finally we boarded the train (Amy never left the waiting area!) and as soon as the train began moving, I fell asleep. I woke up at various times to see Wilmington, Delaware; the Delaware Memorial Bridge, New York City, and New Haven. We changed engines in New Haven and I wish I had called ahead to Anna to ask her to meet us, if only for a few minutes. It was much colder by then and I wished I had worn something warmer.

In Springfield, we went into the station and got a couple of Pepsis and stretched our legs.

We got into White River Junction at 6:30pm, just as advertised. It was very cold and wet. We tried to find a place to eat but everything seemed closed and we got lost, so we went home. The weather deteriorated as we went north: from rain to fog to snow. Lots of snow at Sheffield Heights, and during moose season, too. So I took it easy while Amy fretted and called Andy to pick her up at my house (so she wouldn’t have to spend anymore time with me as necessary!). He came soon after we arrived: with my cats!

And the next day I went back to work exhausted, disoriented and sad.