It was a holiday so I didn't have to work in the morning. Instead, I took my time finishing my packing for a trip to visit my daughters in the DMV. I also organized some things in my condo and cleaned. At around 1030, I drove to White River Junction to wait for "The Vermonter" to pick me up for my journey south. Unfortunately, the train station was not open and it was raining so I stayed in my car until around 1115. The train was also delayed but the sun came out and I waited on the platform with a huge crowd (it included a few AT hikers who may have been taking a break from their hikes but I didn't talk to them). At around 1150, the train arrived and we got onboard. Most of the seats were taken but I managed to stow all of my luggage (including Mollie's guitar) in the available space. We started heading south and the wet weather continued. It was also so warm that I started to sweat. I spent most of the ride watching movies on my Surface Pro (the first time I've brought it). I was able to buy food for lunch and dinner on the train (1315) but otherwise didn't have many chances to get out of my seat. The train car I was in was completely full by the time we reached the first stop in Massachusetts (I've never seen that) and the number of passengers who wanted to find a seat started to get even crazier. We continued to lose time as we went and were pretty late by the time we parked (planned stop) in Springfield. The train added extra time by choosing the wrong track and then had to reposition so we could head south again. We made pretty good time to New Haven but then got stuck there for over an hour. This is the place where the Vermonter loses its diesel engine and gets a new electric one (and some extra train cars) but Amtrak seemed to be quite disorganized on the holiday schedule. There were various reasons given for this (and plenty of passenger speculation) but, I think, the delay was related to nearby lightning strikes. By the time we got going again, we were almost 75 minutes behind schedule... It appeared that we made some of the time up on the way to New York but then we were delayed there for a while. Almost everyone got off the train! Eventually, we got started south again and, when we passed into New Jersey, it started to get really dark. This allowed us to see some good fireworks, though! I was texting with Erin all the way so she knew when to meet me at Baltimore's Union Station (2220). This resulted in a quick pickup. Erin had to find her way home through a maze of closed roads but we eventually arrived in her parking garage and made it to her room by 2300. Austin was away but I got to meet their puppy, Kiki, for the first time! Erin and I talked for almost an hour and then got ready for bed (2359). It was a long day but it ended right where I'd planned to be - visiting with my daughter!
