24.8 miles cycling, 213′ of climbing (3633.6 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.
We got up at midnight and finished packing, stripped the bed, fetched the bikes from the garage, and carried our panniers to the bikes. Then it was a dark, but warm, ride to the Amtrak station. It was a good thing that we found it yesterday, because finding that station in the dark would’ve proved daunting. Not in a very accessible place. We checked in and got baggage tags for the bike, and settled in for the long wait until boarding. The train was about 1/2 hr late, so the wait would be a bit longer.
When the announcement came, we wheeled our bikes to the baggage car and hoisted them up to the baggage agent. Amtrak requires that any bags be removed, but thankfully we didn’t have to take the sleeping bags or tent off of the top racks It’s a crap shoot with Amtrak as this procedure varies from station to station, but three less items to carry back to the coach car.
Trains are long, and it’s a long way from the baggage car back to coach and we were the last two to board. We found seats together and lifted our panniers up to the overhead storage. Plenty of space, too, and the seats on Amtrak trains are wide and comfy. We settled in to try to get some sleep during the 3 1/2 hr. trip to Pittsburgh where we would change from the Floridian to the Pennsylvanian. I kinda knew from past experience that I wouldn’t be sleeping much. Dana tried, but a really loud snorer across the aisle interfered with that endeavor, as did the lights that are dimmed (somewhat) but never turned off. I decided to work on the blog and one plus of this trip was that there was WiFi on the train.
We got to Pittsburgh about 5:15 AM. I left Dana with the bags outside the coach car and retrieved the bikes from the baggage car. Amtrak doesn’t transfer the bikes for you, so you have to repeat the process described above every time you change trains. We took the elevator down to the station level and got them re-checked to Altoona. I tried the decaf from the coffee machine — pretty poor with lots of grounds. Dana wasn’t having any of that and we took a walk in early morning Pittsburg to a smoke-shop-convenience store and got her a real cup of coffee. Then it was back to the station for the next wait. We did get to take our bikes up early and board first — that itself was a first for me. We took seats across the aisle from each other and settled in for the 2 1/2 hr. trip to Altoona. We did manage to get a little rest this time – at least an whole hour for me (so, 3 hrs. for the night), before we got to the World Famous Horseshoe Curve and saw our engine out the right side window!
In Altoona, we deboarded the same way as in Pgh: Dana stayed with the bags and I retrieved the bikes. We reloaded them, and used the single bike elevator up to the overpass and back down to the station. A quick ride through downtown and out Broad Ave and we got to my brother Dave’s and got a short nap. That afternoon we visited Dana’s 98 year old uncle Sandy and his wife Kay. Her cousin Sandra was there, too, and out came the wine. That did me in and I was teetering on the couch and finally had to excuse myself and head back to Dave’s for a longer nap. Dana was going to meet her cousins for dinner and I was going to my sister Joann’s, and she was going to spend the night with her cousin Tony and I was going to stay at Dave’s. First night in 69 days we were going to be apart.
I can only report that Dana had a good time with her cousins and texted me at 12:54 a.m. to say she was just getting to bed. No early start tomorrow! I had a nice dinner at Joann’s with her husband Bob, my sister Carol, and Dave. Good to see everyone after such a long time away. Still, we made it a short night of it and I fell asleep in about 5 minutes while watching Monday Night Football. Dave conked out, too and we woke up about 2 and went to real beds. Tomorrow (well, today, technically), we’ll pack up and ride back to State College for the last leg of this journey.
What a trip!