The morning was a little windy with threatening skies, but
it looked like Beryl had pushed in on shore and was more nuisance than
disruption. No cancellations from Amtrak, so we were going to be heading home.
We headed up to Olivia’s to get a good breakfast in us
before hitting the road. We got everything loaded into the car and then thought
about whether there was anything we wanted to do or not. Really there wasn’t…
we were completely vacationed out at this point. We drove to Downtown Disney
(thankfully not as crowded as the night before) and did some looking around at
a few other stores to kill time. Once it was close to lunchtime, we picked up
some sandwiches from Earl of Sandwich and headed on up to Sanford and the AutoTrain.
The weather getting there was miserable. While we had been
at sea, a lightning strike next to the Gaylord had started a fire that burned a
pretty decent amount of land, so driving past the scorched earth and then
heading into a monsterous storm certainly had the feel of the apocalypse to it.
We got to Sanford, and were held by the trains switching tracks at the station
for a few minutes. Even as fully loaded as our car was, the wind was strong
enough to shake us pretty bad. The rain cleared a little bit when it was time
for us to go inside and check in, and this time I remembered everything that
was needed from the car.
We ate lunch and were informed that the train would be
loading a half hour late. No problem. We hung out and waited until it was time
and then got on board. We still managed to leave on time, however.
Within the first hour, we realized something was amiss. We
slowed down to go over a bridge (not unusual), but then we didn’t speed back
up. We kept at a really slow pace. At first I thought it was weather conditions
as we were heading into the area where the Tropical Storm had blown through.
Behold, déjà vu strikes again! At dinner, it was announced
that one of the engines had died and that we were creeping along to
Jacksonville where we could pick up a new engine, but we’d be off power when we
got there for a half hour or so. (I joked that this was the other engine from
the one that blew out on the way down.)
We got it changed out before dark, and everything else
seemed to go fine, although we knew that we would be delayed.
The next morning Erwin got up, had breakfast, and got
started on work in the lounge car, as we were now scheduled to arrive in the
station at 11 AM. Lily slept in until after 8 AM, and then she and I headed up
to breakfast. We sat with a lovely couple from Boston who was on their first
trip on the AutoTrain and had hoped to drive back to Boston after the train
arrived. With the delay, they weren’t sure that was a good option anymore and
thought about getting a room somewhere along the way. I assured them that
although this happened twice on this trip, it was highly unusual and typically
we arrived very early. It was just dumb luck this time!
The train did arrive at 11, and we got our car and headed
home. I got the car unloaded, got lunch for everyone, grabbed the cats, and
started unpacking—and to do more laundry. Yep, back in the very big home..and
back to normal life. But what an amazing trip! Two weeks, three countries,
trains, boats, automobiles. Fine dining, new acquaintences, fireworks, and
Mickey Mouse. Life doesn’t get any better than that. I’m so glad we’re booked
to go again at some point in the future—it is becoming a must-do vacation for
us!
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