Back From Vacation

Four train rides, one bus ride, and one car ride later, and Rachel and I are back home. It was a long trip. Maybe next time we go back to the West Coast we will either fly or take a longer vacation.

The train ride from Chicago, IL to Elyria, OH was uneventful. We did have some problems when we were playing Crazy Eights. Rachel dropped one of the cards and we were unable to find it. We ended up having to almost dismantle her chair before we retrieved the missing card.

We attempted to get some sleep before our 3:00 AM stop. I do not know about Rachel, but I did not get a lot of sleep. The train was only a half hour late coming into Elyria. My mother-in-law was waiting to pick us up and take us home. Both Rachel and I crashed when our heads hit the pillows.

After we woke up, I headed upstairs for work. Rachel went and picked up our dogs. They were extremely happy to see us again. I must admit I had missed them too.

So, overall we had a rather enjoyable time. As usual, we ended up coming back with more stuff than when we had left. Rachel won a ten-dollar gaming token encased in plastic. From my blackjack playing, I had a couple of one-dollar gaming tokens that I forgot to redeem and several half dollars for each blackjack that I won. We also ended up with three bags filled with stuffed animals.

In addition to our winnings, we bought two $5,000 gaming chip key chains, an Amtrak blanket, and a Silver Legacy tee shirt. I ended up with four new hats: a tan “California Zephyr” hat, a black “Freedom Rocks” hat that lights up, a maroon “Silver Legacy” hat (that I am currently wearing, and a black “Amtrak” hat. In addition, I added several decks of cards to my card collection: A “Discover America” deck, a “Discover California” deck, an “Amtrak” deck, a “Silver Legacy” deck that had been previously used; a “Rat Pack” deck, an “America” deck, a clear blue deck, a clear pink deck, a “Reno” deck, two different “Colorado” decks, and two $100 decks.

Tagline for today: “I woke up this morning and couldn’t find my socks, so I called information. She said they were behind the couch. She was right.” - Steven Wright