Thursday April 28 (Okemos to Washington via Chicago, Part 2)

I managed about three or four hours sleep and was woken by some people laughing their heads off, it was just after 7 am so I was not amused, lol!! I was awake about 2.3 am and we were running 45 minutes late at Cleveland. The weather is not very good, gloomy and raining with mist over the hills, I hope it is a bit better in Washington as I would like to go out for a walk.

I had a wash and made my way to breakfast and spent a very pleasant hour and a half having my meal with a guy called Brian. We had a wide ranging conversation and it turns out his three sisters all love cats. This came about when he asked me how I met my US friends! He took my email address and I might hear from his sister Alice! We talked about the museums in Washington, he has been to the Holocaust Museum and thought about it very much as I did. He lives in Chicago and is visiting his brother in Washington.

On returning to my room, Brian came along and it turns out the two ladies in the room opposite to me are from Perth, WA. One of them actually lived in Cannington and knows Thomas Street where my friends live, such a very small world.

Because we were travelling through very hilly country there was no Internet access for quite a while. The trees are beginning to sprout their spring leaves so the woodland does not look quite so bare and desolate.

We were forty minutes late at Cumberland and the weather had not improved! Then we were about two miles out of Martinsburg when we came to a complete stop and sat for nearly half an hour. We will be an hour late at least into Washington. Just less time for me to kill.

The weather?? It was disgusting, lol, raining, gloomy and misty, temperatures very cool! When we finally arrived in DC, over an hour late, the weather was no better. I just reached the lounge and realised I had left my mobile Internet router, my charger and adaptor on the train. I left my bags and headed back, no worries as the staff were still sorting stuff out, phew!!

I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks and headed out of the station. It was not really raining so I decided to walk to the Capitol. There was some pretty blossom evident and lots of squirrels. 

I followed Delaware Avenue past Senate House where some demonstration boards had been left behind one of the signs, lol! I walked right round the Capitol and there was a heavy police presence, when I saw one armed with a semi automatic rifle I thought I better behave, lol! They are still working on the roof and I am not sure if it will be ready for a fairly important event in November.


By this time a steady drizzle was falling but I did not get too wet. If you look from the rear of the Capitol usually the Washington Monument can be seen, today it was a faint outline in the mist. General Ulysses memorial is also covered, apparently it is in a state of disrepair and people have stolen parts of it, such a shame!

I returned to the station and grabbed a sandwich flat from a Potbelly. I later found a place (Pret) that has a huge selection of sandwiches so I grabbed one for dinner on the train. I returned to the lounge and fell asleep for about an hour.

The train departed a few minutes late but arrived over an hour late, lol!! Terri and Steve were waiting for me and finally we arrived at my base for the next ten days. I had a cup of tea, relaxed for a bit while re-acquainting myself with some of the cats and then, after a shower, off to bed.