Heading to Vermont

April 26, 2017

Heading to Vermont to our new Summer Home

Welcome to our new Blog. We are now traveling from Florida to Vermont and back each summer. We sold our motor home and purchased a Big Horn fifth wheel and became "seasonal campers" in Vermont. The start of our new summer travels didn't go so well.

Our first experience on AMTRAK - Our travels on the AMTRAK auto train from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia wasn't a happy one. Our train was late and didn't start loading cars until we were supposed to leave the station at 4 PM. luckily, we made sandwiches for lunch. We finally boarded the train at 5:30 PM but found out the compressor in the dining car broke (no A/C) and had to wait until it was fixed, another 3 hours then had to wait because we lost our "track time" and put at the bottom of the list. Our 5 PM dinner reservations ended up being 8:30 PM and by now the food was dried out. We finally left the station at 8:45 PM.

We didn't see any of the countryside because it was dark and didn't sleep well because the ride was bumpy. What an experience climbing to the upper sleeping bunk and using the bathroom. The room had bunk beds and a private bath which is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned. We also had to stop several times because of other trains and stopping to have the track checked because of flooding in the Carolina's. The upper bunk had plenty of room but had wide straps hooked from top to bottom, so you don't roll out which felt really weird. We did sleep but I kept waking up when we stopped or when the train hit a bumpy track. Some of the bumps were really bad.

Breakfast - We woke up at 7 AM on Tuesday morning for breakfast. It was an experience walking from our sleeping car to the breakfast car. I felt like I was drunk without the fun of drinking anything to get there. Everyone on the train were very nice and we met several other snowbirds. The staff couldn't do enough for us, and we spent the day walking around the train, reading, playing on the computer, and napping.

Lunch - Due to our delays, AMTRAK had to feed us lunch because now we won't expected to be in Lorton, VA until 4:30 PM. Well, we didn't get into the station until 5:30 PM. AMTRAK has a "first 30 priority" for disembarking your car. For $50 extra you can have your car be the first 30 cars off the train instead of waiting. We didn't think it was worth it, but now, after getting in so late, we don't know.

< This is our "suite" - bottom folds out for one bunk, top folds down for another

< our sink > our toilet/shower

I heard that AMTRAK was offering a $150 refund if you go to the counter and ask; so that's what we did. We received a voucher for up to $75 off a hotel stay for that night and a number to call about the refund. We had a good 8-hour drive to Vermont, so we grabbed our maps and headed out driving 3 hours to Quakertown, Pennsylvania. It was 11:30 PM and we had to get a hotel before midnight to get the $75 discount, so we stopped at a Quality Inn. They only had one smoking room available, but the woman gave us a can of air freshener and reduced the price $20. Smoke or no smoke didn't make any difference once our heads hit the pillow.

< cars being unloaded at station

Stayed in our new fifth-wheel - We drove another 8 hours on Thursday into South Burlington, Vermont and stayed in our new fifth-wheel home that night in the RV dealership. We spent all day and night checking out and turning on everything, talking to several people and getting all those little things that always have to be done. They took good care of us and even invited us to a free lunch. Friday, we drove into St. Johnsbury, Vermont to the campground and stayed there for the night.

Some good News?  Two days later we received a phone call from AMTRAK offering us a $400 voucher on our next travel.