contrary to how it may sound here, we love riding on trains

Last week I kidnapped Katie and brought her back to New York with me.

I'm not naming any names here, but one of us brought entirely too much luggage and it wasn't Katie. 

The farewell committee was there to see us off.

We first realized something might be a little wrong when the bus line we were in was a different line than all the other people going to the same city as us. We asked the bus driver, but he wasn't too sure about anything except that we needed to bring our bags around to the other side of the bus. To get on this bus or to not get on this bus was the big decision we faced. We didn't have much time to ponder it, so we choose to trust what the sign above the bus said and that is how we found ourselves driving away wondering where we might end up. I'm sure Katie was reassured when I told her I hoped we wouldn't end up in Ohio or Pennsylvania. I had told her numerous times that I was a VERY experienced bus/train traveler and we would not run into ANY problems on this trip. In the end, the bus stopped in the correct city but at the wrong station. We gathered our many belongings and rushed around in search of a taxi to take us to the correct train station. We arrived at the station 7 1/2 minutes later and were told by the conductor that if we ran, we could catch the 3:55 train instead of waiting three hours for the 7:05. I was very close to telling the conductor that when you're traveling with seven large bags running is very low on the list of things you're able to do, but I didn't because TIME WAS MARCHING ON AND WE'D BETTER START RUNNING. We reached the train in time only to have the door shut on me while I was walking through. And I got rather stuck. And Katie got rather nervous. And the girl watching looked rather horrified. And just like that I lost any remaining amount of dignity alloted to me for the day. By the time I got unstuck and found a seat, I don't think I'd ever been happier to sit down on a train in all my life.

You might think that things could only look up after getting stuck in a train door, but things rapidly went south when we arrived at our destination. We had been instructed to look for a taxi to take us back to the apartment, so we were delighted to find a clean taxi with a helpful driver right away. He took our bags, turned on Bob Marley for us, and turned the heat on high even though it was 70 degrees out and his passengers came dangerously close to fainting from the heat. Fainting from the heat would have been a picnic in the park compared to what we had to pay him for his services. $249.00.We calculated it, and it cost us $3.50 per mile. It was the very definition of highway robbery. We got out of that taxi much poorer people than when we got in.

After that little fiasco, we had a wonderful visit. We watched movies, ate, and went on many many walks. The last full day she was here it was raining, so we did our exercises indoors. She taught me some yoga, and I attempted to teach her some Zumba moves. Because the person who has taken all of two classes is totally qualified to teach other people. Zumba class quickly deteriorated into jumping over stools and taking pictures of ourselves in mid-air. You know what they say, 'growing old in mandatory, growing up is optional'. 

It's probably good for all involved that Christopher came home about this time and suggested we got out for a drive in search of Amish people. I think Katie and I were getting a little stir-crazy. If you look very closely in the picture below, you won't see the three Amish people out working on their bikes(maybe it was their wagon, I don't know).  

Then, sadly but truly, the day came when Katie had to leave. Christopher and I drove her down to the train station (we were absolutely NOT going to take the taxi again) and we said goodbye. I certainly hope she comes back soon, but she probably won't want to make the trip with me. I'm too much of a hassle to travel with, what with getting stuck in doors and all.