DC Trip - Day 1

I'd decided recently that I should make a trip to the DC area in order that I might spend some time with my daughters.  Since the trip on the Amtrak had gone well in late 2021, I bought another round trip ticket for today.  Early in the morning, I teleworked and finished packing.  At around 1030, I drove over to the train station at White River Junction and waited there until "The Vermonter" (#55) came through.  A lady (Joan) asked me a lot of questions because it was her first time traveling on an Amtrak in 25 years - I tried to help her.  The train was a bit late (1145) but the crew made an attempt to catch up throughout the trip.  I set up my computer in a seat as far to the front of the five-car train as I could get (several cars were not open for passenger use) and teleworked for several hours.  The weather was nice and I enjoyed the views of the Connecticut River from the left side of the train.  Checking our progress, I noticed a town in northern Massachusetts called "Satan Kingdom" - strange name!  I was able to work without disturbance for almost two hours but then a huge (school?) group got onboard and got very loud.  By then, I'd noticed that at least one car towards the front had opened up - I moved all my stuff there as soon as I could.  Eileen called (with good news) just before we arrived in Springfield and I talked to her until we stopped.  Since we were still behind schedule, we were only at the station for a short time and I was not able to do any walking on the platform.  Back on the main track and headed south, I moved again, this time as far to the front of the train as I could get.  Along the way, I'd asked the crew a few times about where the "quiet car" was and I'd been assured that it would be added in New Haven.  So, I continued teleworking until about 1600.  After that, I listened to audiobooks and did some other reading.  At New Haven, I got out of the train to watch the engine change but that only took about 15 minutes (hard to get many extra steps).  Soon, we were headed towards New York City at a quicker pace. It was soon dark and there wasn't as much scenery to look at, unfortunately... The crew didn't open the "quiet car" until just before we reached Penn Station - as soon as I could move, I did.  For a while, I was by myself in the front car but, in NYC, all the seats filled.  The crew never hung up the sign so it was noisy for the rest of the trip.  And I lost WiFi...  I tried to keep reading to pass the time and things went alright.  We arrived at Union Station by 2200 (a bit early) and I was able to reach the Metro station very quickly.  Just as I got to the platform, a westbound Red Line train arrived and I was able to get onboard.  It was strange to be riding on a WMATA train after so long!  I got off at Gallery Place and was lucky again - just as I arrived at the Yellow/Green platform, a train rumbled into the station and I was barely (after dodging some clueless tourists) able to board before it left.  At L'Enfant, I found the exit I normally use (near the FAA) blocked for construction.  As a result, I had to take the long way to get to the street (I learned later that I could have used the elevator).  Once on D Street (SW), I walked east to the Holiday Inn on Sixth Street (SW) and checked into the hotel.  There were broken elevators so I had to do a lot more walking to get to my room but was still happy to find myself there by 2245.  I let my daughters know I was in town and then did some reading until I felt ready to go to sleep (2355).  What a day - but I'm here!