snljamie0518
Service Attendant
Pre-Trip Thoughts
We have been talking about going on a NYC trip for a few months but we weren't for sure on it until the middle of April. We weren't sure how we were going to go but thanks to the help from our family & friends through GoFundMe & offline help, we finally made it.
We booked a hotel in Queens at LaQuinta, then we booked our AMTRAK train tickets. We booked our trip in NYC from May 12-22. We decided to take the train from Denver to NYC because we were planning to pick up our items that a friend was holding that has my new hearing aid in it & other valuable stuff. It was also around my 40th birthday & I wanted to celebrate in a big way. We accomplished both things.
We decided not to tell everyone we were coming. We wanted to surprise our friends. It was very hard not to tell a best friend that we were coming but we somehow managed to keep the surprise. We had to let some friends know because they wanted to be informed because of their schedules.
This story will be long, so I will be sending you a story each day by chapter. You may be mentioned in the story. At the end of the story will be an epilogue where I will thank everyone & do shout outs to the ones I didn't get to see.
Now onto the story. I do appreciate comments & questions so please dont hesitate to comment or ask any questions.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
We left our apartment in Aurora at 1:30 p.m. & walked to our lightrail station to take the train to Union Station which is in Downtown Denver, where we were to catch our 7:15 train. I know what you may be thinking. Yes, we left super early but we were expecting rain so we wanted to get to the station before it started to rain which we accomplished.
We got to Union Station & checked in our luggage. After we checked in our luggage, we went to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, which is Sams #3. We wanted to have a hearty meal because the train wouldn't be serving dinner when we got on it. I had pork chops & tater tots. After we ate, we walked a few blocks down to Walgreens to get cold drinks. I got a rootbeer & Louis got a Pepsi.
Once we got what we needed, we took the free shuttle back to Union Station. Once we got back to the station, we let the ticket counter know we were there so they know Louis is in a power chair. We sat in the waiting area until 6:15. While waiting we met the conductor which we would see off & on during our train ride.
At 6:15 p.m. we decided to wait outside on the platform for the #6 California Zephyr. It arrived at 7:30 p.m. When it arrived, we got on the train first because of Louis being in a chair.
When we got on the train, we sat in the lower level since Louis cant take his chair to the upper level. I like being on the lower level anyway. Since there were others on the train, I couldn't sit next to Louis. No worries, I sat across from him. I sat next to a guy who had a window seat.
After awhile, the guy got up & went to the upper level. I moved over to the window seat. If he came back, I would move back to my seat. Turned out that he stayed in the upper level the rest of the night. I needed the window seat to use my cpap machine for my sleep apnea & I didnt want anyone to trip over the the hose. I charged my phone while he was gone too.
Louis got stuck in the handicapped restroom. The door was jammed. I tried to open the door. Three other passengers tried to open the door as well until help arrived. The train conductor we had met at the station, Bradley, saved the day. Just hoped Louis or anyone else didn't get stuck.
I slept pretty good. My cpap machine was very quiet & I got 5 hours of sleep. Louis only got 3 hours of sleep because of the lights from the hallway shining on him every time someone opened the door.
It is now May 11, 2016 the next morning. It seemed like on this train, the workers don't want to help anyone with meals even when its mentioned on the tickets. We had to ask three workers for a menu & what we wanted. One of the workers finally came & asked what we wanted. We both had a Sara Lee cinnamon roll with milk.
Seat buddy returned. He told me not to worry about moving back. He talked to everyone in the car we were in until we got to Chicago.
We arrived in Chicago a few minutes early. Since we had a 7 hour layover, we decided to walk around the area for a bit. We were hungry for lunch, so we found a place called Al's Roast Beef. The people on the message board, Amtrak Unlimited, told me about it. It was really good. I had the chicken sandwich & Louis had a burger.
We got back to Chicago Union Station. We had a two hour wait until our train time. While waiting, Louis charged his power chair. We got on the Lakeshore Limited. We are on our way to NYC!
We have been talking about going on a NYC trip for a few months but we weren't for sure on it until the middle of April. We weren't sure how we were going to go but thanks to the help from our family & friends through GoFundMe & offline help, we finally made it.
We booked a hotel in Queens at LaQuinta, then we booked our AMTRAK train tickets. We booked our trip in NYC from May 12-22. We decided to take the train from Denver to NYC because we were planning to pick up our items that a friend was holding that has my new hearing aid in it & other valuable stuff. It was also around my 40th birthday & I wanted to celebrate in a big way. We accomplished both things.
We decided not to tell everyone we were coming. We wanted to surprise our friends. It was very hard not to tell a best friend that we were coming but we somehow managed to keep the surprise. We had to let some friends know because they wanted to be informed because of their schedules.
This story will be long, so I will be sending you a story each day by chapter. You may be mentioned in the story. At the end of the story will be an epilogue where I will thank everyone & do shout outs to the ones I didn't get to see.
Now onto the story. I do appreciate comments & questions so please dont hesitate to comment or ask any questions.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
We left our apartment in Aurora at 1:30 p.m. & walked to our lightrail station to take the train to Union Station which is in Downtown Denver, where we were to catch our 7:15 train. I know what you may be thinking. Yes, we left super early but we were expecting rain so we wanted to get to the station before it started to rain which we accomplished.
We got to Union Station & checked in our luggage. After we checked in our luggage, we went to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, which is Sams #3. We wanted to have a hearty meal because the train wouldn't be serving dinner when we got on it. I had pork chops & tater tots. After we ate, we walked a few blocks down to Walgreens to get cold drinks. I got a rootbeer & Louis got a Pepsi.
Once we got what we needed, we took the free shuttle back to Union Station. Once we got back to the station, we let the ticket counter know we were there so they know Louis is in a power chair. We sat in the waiting area until 6:15. While waiting we met the conductor which we would see off & on during our train ride.
At 6:15 p.m. we decided to wait outside on the platform for the #6 California Zephyr. It arrived at 7:30 p.m. When it arrived, we got on the train first because of Louis being in a chair.
When we got on the train, we sat in the lower level since Louis cant take his chair to the upper level. I like being on the lower level anyway. Since there were others on the train, I couldn't sit next to Louis. No worries, I sat across from him. I sat next to a guy who had a window seat.
After awhile, the guy got up & went to the upper level. I moved over to the window seat. If he came back, I would move back to my seat. Turned out that he stayed in the upper level the rest of the night. I needed the window seat to use my cpap machine for my sleep apnea & I didnt want anyone to trip over the the hose. I charged my phone while he was gone too.
Louis got stuck in the handicapped restroom. The door was jammed. I tried to open the door. Three other passengers tried to open the door as well until help arrived. The train conductor we had met at the station, Bradley, saved the day. Just hoped Louis or anyone else didn't get stuck.
I slept pretty good. My cpap machine was very quiet & I got 5 hours of sleep. Louis only got 3 hours of sleep because of the lights from the hallway shining on him every time someone opened the door.
It is now May 11, 2016 the next morning. It seemed like on this train, the workers don't want to help anyone with meals even when its mentioned on the tickets. We had to ask three workers for a menu & what we wanted. One of the workers finally came & asked what we wanted. We both had a Sara Lee cinnamon roll with milk.
Seat buddy returned. He told me not to worry about moving back. He talked to everyone in the car we were in until we got to Chicago.
We arrived in Chicago a few minutes early. Since we had a 7 hour layover, we decided to walk around the area for a bit. We were hungry for lunch, so we found a place called Al's Roast Beef. The people on the message board, Amtrak Unlimited, told me about it. It was really good. I had the chicken sandwich & Louis had a burger.
We got back to Chicago Union Station. We had a two hour wait until our train time. While waiting, Louis charged his power chair. We got on the Lakeshore Limited. We are on our way to NYC!
