Following their trip to the Irish Catskills and big brother TJ’s house for the christening of Little Miss C, sister Kate and clan hopped back on the Amtrak auto-train for the long schlep from lovely Lorton, Virginia to outside Orlando, Florida.

Kate and hubbie Brian gave the auto-train mostly high marks on their trip north–fairly comfy seats, decent food, and a sincere effort by the Amtrak staff to make the ride pleasant for all.

The return trip, hauling 140 cars, 50 vans, a motorcycle, and their respective owners, proved to be more of the same. In fact it was an overall better ride, thanks to some pointers the Kates picked up on their first trip, such as hoarding as many free snacks as possible before the train even departs.

Brian also proved to be a pioneer in the field of train interior design, creating a privacy screen with an Amtrak blanket, a strategically placed hotel key card wedged into the ceiling, and a spent piece of MacGyver’s bubble gum. Apparently other riders were asking Brian to erect a similar screen around their seats too.

Kate said after the first leg that your fellow riders will make or break your trip. This time around, the girls had three young Disney-bound playmates to frolic with right up until sleepytime, which needless to say made for a much more pleasant ride for mom and dad.

Brian gave the veggie lasagna the thumbs-down on the northbound, and went with the Choo Choo Chewies chicken fingers that his daughters were so raving about. Alas, the dyspepsia was every bit as intense. Surely an overnight stank wafting through the car that Kate called “tuna mixed with sauerkraut” did not help matters.

On the bright side, the Amtrak pulled into Sanford, FL a full hour earlier than expected. Even after waiting 40 minutes to be reunited with their minivan, the Kates were still on the road before they were even supposed to pull into the station.

The final verdict? “It’s really not that bad,” says Kate. “We’ll probably do it every summer.”

[image: trainnet.org]

Our little sister was in Westchester over the weekend, en route to taking the girls i on a little vacation in the Irish Catskills. Kat and Brian were fresh off the Amtrak car train from Florida (near Orlando) to Virginia (near DC).

They’d booked the auto train several months ago, some prescient thinking with the price of gas through the roof. The cost ran about $900 for the four of them and, of course, the fully-packed minivan.

Kat and Bri said mostly favorable things about the trip, which took off at 4 p.m. and pulled into its destination in Virginia around 9:30 the next morning. They’d scored four seats in the back row, which meant the girls could sleep on the smallish floor space between the row and the wall (they’re 6 and 3). The downside of that spot was hearing the car doors open every few minutes more or less until 2 in the morning.

It’s worth noting that bro-in-law Brian is like 6′ 8″, with a bit of the Restless Legs Syndrome to boot. He said, if you can sleep in a Lazy Boy, you can sleep in one of the car train seats–they recline a bit, and there’s a footrest for everyone under 6′ 8″.

Also on the plus side of the ledger, every row had an outlet, and Kat and Brian gave the service very high marks–Amtrak staffers who were constantly looking to make your trip better (particularly after you’d greased the bartender’s palm to score some free snacks for the girls).

Kat and Brian said your car train trip would be basically a joy or a debacle based on the people seated around you–remember, you’re on a train with strangers for over 17 hours. It’s mostly old folk, who tend to behave themselves, while some kiddies pushed fellow riders’ buttons, so to speak, with noisy video games.

There were several dinner seatings in a dining car (Shannon spoke highly of the Choo Choo Chewies chicken fingers, Brian not so much on the veggie lasagna), a movie in the lounge (”Mad Money”, if you’re scoring at home), and bathrooms that rated higher than their airplane counterparts.

Keys to keep in mind on the car train–bring earplugs (or Bose headphones, for that matter), pillows, blankets and socks (apparently people from Florida don’t always wear them), and sign up for AAA for a major discount–like kids are free or something like that.

Happy trails.