The Only Sane Thing Left

Thankfully my husband agreed with me on every point. He too was disgusted and horrified with what flying had become as a form of travel. We were tired of trying to de-stress from flying while dealing with critical business matters. We started looking at alternatives- a fast, inexpensive way to get from point A to point B in as comfortable a manner as possible.

The Train was the only solution we found that seemed to meet our requirements. So when our next business trip needed scheduled we bought tickets for a 2 person sleeper room from the Nevada Tahoe area to Michigan.

We had the leeway of dealing with a departure window of a few days so we played around with Train schedules on the website until we got what were probably the best rates. The rates were extremely variable depending on time and day of the week of travel, so if you book- check different days/times on the online scheduler. Our tickets ultimately cost what it would have to fly round-trip. They included 3 meals a day, our 2 person sleeper room and discounted snacks and drinks.


 I was really nervous when we got to our departure station. We had thrown ourselves at the mercy of a completely foreign method of travel for 2 1/2 days. Wow- what a relief when we got there. There were no uniformed jackboots with nasty attitudes, no massive, complex maze of a departure building to have to try to find our way through. We went through the front doors into the main room where a boarding pass kiosk was right in front- printed our ticket and then zipped right through the back door to our train.

Smiling and polite porters waited everywhere to answer questions or assist us with our bags. They actually treated us like they appreciated our business. Wow (again) I felt like I had been transported back in time to a kinder, gentler place. We found our sleeper car and room very easily as our car porter explained to everyone that he would be assisting us later in transforming our comfy seats into beds and where the dining, lounge and snack cars were, as well as the showers and toilets.

 

Sleeper car hallway.

 

This is a sleeper room after the beds have been let out. 

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And here is the dining car- tables set for dinner.