Yes I take Amtrak. No, I’m not insane.

It’s way more time consuming than flying and even takes longer than it does to drive, but there’s something very appealing to me.  Train travel offers many interesting experiences, from the breathtaking views (seriously) to the dining car meals with communal seating.  In my last train trip I hard a particularly entertaining conversation with the family I was seated with.  I detail the interaction in “Yes, Really.  Amtrak.”

Tonight I’m seated with a family of three, featuring an adorable little girl who used what I approximate to be several gallons of ranch dressing and about a pound and a half of pepper on her salad and a mother who—after two before dinner drinks and a glass of wine– would rather candidly say to her husband “It’s too bad we don’t have our own room tonight.”

Perhaps luckily, her daughter, who is adorably unaware of the implications of the previous comment, interrupts her.  She’s been told she needs to eat three vegetables and the mashed potatoes that come with her dinner if she wants dessert, but she doesn’t like those terms.

“Is the tomato worth two because it’s big?”

For the step-dad, this opportunity to be the Cool Dad is a slam  dunk.

“Sure honey, we’re on vacation.”