May 12

Mother Nature greeted us with sunny skies and warm temperatures for our first day of our trip. The rainy and cold weather from the day before now just a distant memory. The bike all packed up, Michele and I departed for the Lorton Amtrak station at around 11am.

After a little over an hour, we arrived at the station and proceeded to the motorcycle loading dock.
Two station workers guided me onto the trailer and when the bike was parked in the wheel chock, they strapped it down taking care to protect the painted surfaces from the straps with towels.

We checked in at the terminal and cooled our heels until the 2:30pm boarding time. Michele’s Mom dropped by to send us off. She kept us company for an hour or so and then needed to head out.

We boarded the train and watched as they loaded the motorcycles.

Our room was on the second floor of the sleep train car. The room was quite cozy with small people in mind. Perfect for us. The room facilities are also quite efficient with the toilet and shower co-located.

For the sign of the day, Michele spotted this one on one of the train cars.

We opted for the 5pm dinner seating. Michele had chicken marsala while I had a bean stew with green things in it (Michele says they were kale…I’ll take her word for it). The meal was actually quite good and after the cheesecake desert (Michele had the strawberry topping while I went with the chocolate) we managed to roll ourselves back to our room for an hour or so before heading to watch the movie “The Blind Side.”

When we returned to the room after the movie, the car steward, Sallie, had converted our room into its sleeping configuration. Now for the next challenge….will I survive the night in the “double” bed with Michele without getting kicked or kneed? Stay tuned to find out!