And we're off!

...but not in a motorhome!

Carl's RV has been in an RV service center in Lewisville, TX since the day after we got married (it went into the shop on 2/3). He has been calling them every week to get a status update... the primary reason it went into the shop was to get repairs done on the paint and awning that were damaged when he was driving from Illinois to Arizona in October - high winds literally ripped the awning hardware off causing damage to the side and roof of his rig. The insurance folks took two weeks to get there to assess and provide a check for the service, and it seems that they have been waiting on parts for most of the rest of the time. We heard that it was delivered to the service area that does body work on Monday, so we're hopeful that it is close to completion.

We had decided that we wanted to get both rigs to the farm in Virginia to consolidate down to one RV - so getting Miss Doozie there was the first step. But, we need to get them both there. We had talked about flying to Dallas, but decided that it would be fun to try train travel... so, we booked tickets a week or so ago to take the train from Richmond to Dallas via DC and Chicago. We have been debating whether it was wise to continue with our plans, but we decided that we might as well - it doesn't look like it is going to get "better" with regard to this virus anytime soon, and if we need to get both RVs to Virginia to do the consolidation, we'd better work on getting Carl's RV there.

So, Tuesday, March 17, we left Richmond, on our first leg to Washington, DC.

Patti in the Richmond Staples Mill waiting area - Carl asked the lady who was working at the snack stand if the amount of people was "normal" and she said that it was never "crowded" at this station, but usually more than this.

Carl and our luggage in the Richmond waiting area... I used to be good at packing light, no longer! And, the Amtrak train that we were taking from Richmond to DC did not have checked luggage, so we had to carry everything on.

The train was a little delayed - I think it had to wait in the Richmond Main Street station for a freight train to come through. We boarded about 30 minutes late.

There were very few people on the train...

The seats were large and comfortable and the ride was smooth.

We enjoyed a lot of the scenery as we were traveling. I remembered the man in Ashland who used to wave at all the trains as they went by (many many years ago - maybe when I was in High School!).

Coming in to D.C., we tried to get some pictures of the cherry blossoms and monuments...

Jefferson Monument with construction/renovation going on its roof

Washington Monuement

The Capitol Building between buildings

We couldn't check bags on the train out of Richmond, but we could for the remainder of our trip, so we checked two bags to Dallas via Chicago.

We decided to have lunch during our layover at Union Station in Washington. The food court had had all of the seating removed, but Johnny Rockets still had tables and chairs, so we decided to eat there. The server apologized for the small plates - they can only use paper plates now.

After lunch, we decided to go outside and enjoy some walking... the statue in front of Union Station.

 When I had checked weather a few days ago, the prediction was for rain in each of the cities we would be in (Richmond and DC on 3/17, Chicago on 3/18, and Dallas on 3/19) - but the weather in DC was *gorgeous*!

The Capitol is just down there... a little less than a mile away...

 We still had over an hour before our next train, so we decided to walk over there...

Along the way, there were parks with beautiful trees in bloom...

Beautiful!

... on each side of the street...

We arrived at the Capitol and decided to walk around it...

We saw the Supreme Court Building...

And the Capitol from the east side...

Carl asked a young lady to take a picture of us in front of the Capitol...

More gardens...

looking back toward the Supreme Court building

Library of Congress

House side

Senate side

on the south side of the Capitol

Trees on the west lawn of the Capitol Building

West side of the Capitol

Washington Monument - about 1.5 miles away

Carl at the Freedom Bell - back in front of Union Station

We made it back in plenty of time to stop in the lounge, get a snack, and then be dismissed to our train.

I have written this as we have traveled through Maryland and West Virginia. We'll be crossing into Pennsylvania soon. We decided to try doing one overnight in coach seats - the Chicago to Dallas part we have a "Roomette"... so we can decide what we would do if we did another train trip in the future.

We weren't sure whether we would look back on deciding to take this trip as a great adventure or a disaster - so far it has been a great adventure!