The Journey

Our journey started in Sacramento, CA where we boarded the Amtrak for New York with a train change in Chicago.  We had a family sleeper car for the journey.  This consisted of a couch that made into a bed and 2 beds that folded down from the wall at bunk bed height.

While it wasn't the most comfortable set-up, it worked.  There was also bathrooms close by, think airplane bathroom, and a shower similar to that of a camping trailer.  While on the train we got to see a lot of the beautiful landscape of this country that most traveling by car don't get to see.  My favorites were Utah and Colorado. While traveling through Colorado we saw eagles on 2 occasions.  The first time was a solo eagle in a tree.  The 2nd sighting the conductor had prepared us for viewing, there was an adult eagle with 2 eaglets that were perched on a branch as they were starting to get flying lessons.
Our journey was not without it's issues. First off the train started the trip running late and only got later and later as each day went by.  Typically they are able to make up time, but there was an issue with one of the engines and we were actually being pulled by a freight train engine.  I assumed all train engines could travel at the same speed, but apparently freight engines are slower than Amtrak engines. Who knew?!  The next part of our delay was because some guy was tired of riding the train and pulled the emergency brake in the middle of the desert.  He proceeded to get off the train and drag his luggage through the desert to the highway that was over a mile away.  We learned that it is a federal offense to pull the emergency brake when it isn't a true emergency.  We had a second emergency brake incident, this time the engineer pulled the brake because someone decided to play chicken with the train in their vehicle.  Luckily the vehicle moved in time otherwise it would have been a much bigger delay.
One of the cool things that happened on our way to Chicago was that we met a lady and her grandson who were also moving to England. They had come from Bellingham, WA where we had previously been stationed and will be living in Cornwall, which is the county next to where we are living. It is such a small world sometimes.
Our delayed schedule landed us in Chicago 10 hours late causing us to miss our connecting train to New York.  The Amtrak paid for our hotel in Chicago. We had to take 2 taxis to the hotel because we couldn't fit all of our luggage into one.

I fully expected a Motel 6 type of accommodation, but we stayed at the Swissotel and it was beautiful with great views. After returning to the train station and checking our bags, we had time to explore Chicago for a couple of hours.  We had authentic deep dish pizza at Giordano's, which one of our conductors had recommended.  Then we walked to Millennial Park and the kids played on one of the biggest playgrounds I have ever seen.
We headed back to the station and boarded our train to Washington DC.  There were so many of us that missed our connections the night before they added a whole train car to the train to accommodate us.  So, we knew most everyone who was in our sleeper car which was cool.  We got 2 rooms this time rather than the family sleeper, but it worked out fine.  In DC we switched to a commuter train to New York.  While that doesn't sound so bad, we had a considerable amount of luggage that we now had to load on and off the last train rather than check our larger bags.  I am sure we were quite the spectacle in Penn Station New York, but we made it.
We opted to take an Uber to our hotel instead of taxi that way we could make sure to have a vehicle large enough for all of our luggage.  We got to bed around 11:00 that night.  We were all so tired that we slept until 10 am. For those that don't know my kids, they are typically early risers no matter what time they go to bed, so it was quite the shock that they slept so long.
With only a few hours in New York we decided to head to the airport early.  After checking in our luggage we headed to the USO to hang out for a bit. Then dinner and boarded the plane to Dublin, Ireland.  The 5 hour flight wasn't bad, the kids slept a good part of it. The good thing we learned about international flights is that the alcohol is free. WooHoo! It was mid morning when we arrived in Dublin. With only 2 hours, we proceeded through customs and to our connecting terminal.
We boarded our purple plane, complete with purple lighting to head to Exeter, UK.
After our difficulty with the taxi in Chicago, we had pre-booked a taxi to make sure we had enough room for all the luggage pictured above.  Needless to say we probably should have gone up a size, but it all fit and we made it to our final destination Plymouth, UK.  We checked in to the hotel and headed to our room.  After we set all of your stuff down, we discovered we couldn't turn any lights on.  What we didn't realize is there is a cardholder near the door and in order for any electrical outlets, lights, and heaters to work, you have to put your room key into the holder.

Key holder, thermostat, and light switch

While it is a great way to save electricity when people leave the room, it means we can't leave any electronics plugged in to charge while we are out and about.
After a long day and a half of traveling, with little or no sleep we called it an early night.