It’s not that today wasn’t a full day. It was. It’s just that a major portion of it was spent with family and they didn’t sign up to be a volunteer in the storytelling exercise I do  here. I do feel obligated to post two pictures of the kid, though, because they are among the cutest ever. I’d say “the cutest ever” but then I’d have to hear about it from the parent of every other cute kid I know.  And I seem to know an inordinate number of cute kids.  How cool is that?

This is Rosie. She’s named after Rosie the Riveter. She’s awesome. Her grandmother Peggy — Carla’s cousin — is holding her.

This is Rosie’s younger brother RJ. He’s either contemplating the ethical dilemmas presented by competing belief systems in a multicultural society or figuring out how far he can shove those sunglasses up his nose before his mom objects. Because they’re her sunglasses.

So anyway we had lunch at a pretentious burger place with Carla’s cousin Peggy and her husband Mike, Peggy’s daughter Katie and her husband Rob and Rosie and RJ. It was a lot of fun. Amazing onion rings. I don’t see how GMOs in the buns or letting the cows eat corn would have hurt anything. But that’s me.

The second half of the day was spent over at a place near Lakeland, FL called Brew Hub. It’s kind of a big deal in craft brewing circles nowadays because they’re helping brewers who are ready to jump to the next level a way to do it without investing heavily in new capital equipment. This is going to be an article on Hoperatives at some point, so I don’t want to say too much now. Sufficed to say the tap room was awesome.

The taproom at Brew Hub. Panoramas are always risky when people move around. All employees are three-dimensional and corporeal.

Good day. Short post.  The Astros were on the road and we didn’t want to drive that far when we have a long drive coming this weekend. We’re supposed to see them against the Braves over at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, but the weather is looking iffy.  I’d love to see them again, so I hope it works out.

Baseball has been very, very good to me. I worked for the Astros from 1979 to 1983. That experience made me who I am in ways I still don’t fully understand. I had experiences no teenager should ever be lucky enough to experience. I had experiences I never should have had that early. They are the only team I’ve ever followed regularly. I’ve always wanted to see Spring Training. I got to do that today.  And it was wonderful.

We didn’t get much sleep last night. I’m too big and not flexible enough for an Amtrak Roomette. As my Twitter tag line says, “too much being and not enough nothingness.” It’s not their fault. We’d read that the Auto Train is considered one of the plum Amtrak assignments, so the staff is supposed to be good. That was certainly our experience. Everyone I encountered was accommodating and cheerful. I don’t think a Roomette will ever work for us.  I can’t see it working for anyone over 6-feet tall.  Carla and I are both taller. A regular Superliner Bedroom would probably work. While I had a pretty miserable night last night, I’ve got nothing bad to say about Amtrak.  I’d recommend doing it. I’d do it again with a larger sleeping area. Lesson learned. There was far more good than bad.

We rolled into Sanford about a half-hour early and was in the car seeking out caffeine within the hour. We’re staying at a Residence Inn that’s pretty new. We chose it because it allows us to get to Osceola County Stadium without getting on the evil Route 192. we were able to get checked in super early and had time to take a shower and a nap before heading over to the Stadium.

It was great to get out and watch a ballgame. Carla is as big a fan as I am. She grew up rooting for the Cubs, so needless to say we’re both looking forward to this season in ways we haven’t for the past five or six.

[I had this really great post written.  Then WordPress ate it. An hour and half gone. Revision Control?  We’ll let you see what you wrote.  But we won’t let you have it back!

I can’t write it again.  I’m exhausted.

Fuck you WordPress. I hate you. I really, really hate you.]

Today has been about Amtrak. We left Williamsburg around 10AM. The weather cleared, of course, so we got to see how nice it is when the sun’s out only when we arrived and when we left. So it goes.

The AutoTrain is cool  the station is right off I-95 on Lorton VA.  It takes just over two hours to make the trip.  We lucked out on traffic.  I could see it being awful.

You pull up and they give your car a number. You grab your stuff and head inside

They inspect it on video so there are no questions or disputes later. Smart.

Then while you’re heading in your car gets sorted for loading  I’m pretty sure our car wound up in Hufflepuff.

Then you hang out in the station. It’s pretty new. It filled up, but never felt crazy or frantic. It got loud, but there were a lot of people. I get the feeling the train is pretty full.  They added the third meal seating they don’t always do.

They started letting us board at 2:30 PM. We have a Roomette  this is me when it’s in daytime setup. It will be … cozy. Not anticipating any problems

Our car is 3 from the tail end of train  which means I appreciate just how long this damned thing is.  We left roughly a half-hour before our scheduled  4PM departure.

Dinner was fabulous.  Carla had lasagna and I had a Spanish-style chicken and andouille sausage stew over  polenta. As we were finishing up we crossed the James River.  It’s a little before 7 PM as I write this and the scenery outside the Club Car is great.

We’re west of I-95 about even with Norfolk, VA. During the night we’ll have one stop at Florence, SC for a crew change. Then it’s on through the night to Sanford, FL.

I’m going to stop now because I have some relaxing to do.

This is awesome. Do it if you ever have the chance.