Home but not done yet!

It is taking a few days to get back into the home front. SOOOO glad to see all the fuzzies! We are finishing up some of the trip info and pics - just to have some closure (LOL).












We boarded the train - The Empire Builder - in Seattle and left quite on time about 3:45pm. It is a beautiful ride. And the train was very new. The crew however could have been replaced! Never the less, we enjoyed our ride and rested and discussed our days of leisure and adventure and newly found places.
We had relied on timing and our good luck throughout the trip except for Amtrak and Seattle. The Saturday we were arriving in Chicago we reached out with the online Verizon to Hotels.com and found a room in Chicago for under $415.00. As it turned out it was out by Ohare Airport but that was ok.
Last day in Chicago. We were up at 10am and had a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel and decided to take a taxi back down to the Amtrak station rather than venture on the L today. We arrived at Union Station about 12:30 and tried to rent a locker - finally accomplished with lotion on Ric's finder for a print. We then went only a few feet to realize we could place them in holding for free since we had a room - back to the lockers - another fun time getting it back open and after moving the bags we were off. We walked around taking tourist pics til 2:30 then grabbed a huge Jamba Juice for the train. This train was older but had a great crew! We had dinner with 2 sisters returning from Chi town and a bachelorette party. Ric enjoyed the cornish game hen and I the salmon and of course since it was our last night we had chocolate peanut butter cake! Tomorrow we diet!
Back in the room we read and piddled on the computer. Anxious to get packing to move!
The SW Chief stops at Mendota where there is a railroad museum (Menodta means crossing of trains in American Indian). Princeton which was a large part of the underground railroad, Galesburg where Carl Sandburg called home and had the Lincoln - Douglas debate in 1858. Ft. Madison home of Schaefer Pen company and across the Mississippi river and LaPlata (Spanish for silver) because of the color of the prairie grass.
We have really enjoyed sharing our tip with all of you and have had a fantastic time. We saw new places, visited old friends, and have gone 18 days without television, news and stress. Except a little in Seattle and Chicago traffic.
We loved the wide open spaces, the quiet, the easy going pace and are very ready to start this new chapter in our lives. We always have fun on vacation and enjoy each other's company - we took a lot of pictures and a large box of papers and brochures so I can scrapbook out the wazoo.