The train out of DC was a sleeper.  For whatever reason, when we bought the tickets, the "Family Room" was cheaper than the "roomettes."  This was mind-boggling, because the family sized room is more than twice as big as the roomettes, which we have traveled in before.  We just hurried up and bought the tickets before the system could change its mind. 

This is a pleasant way to travel--lots of room to spread out and stretch out, and, bonus, during the time of Covid, you don't have to wear a mask in your own room.  You have to wear a mask everywhere else on the train, unless you are actively eating or drinking, so walking to the dining car, for example, you have to put it on.  I'm happy to say that most people followed the rules--the few people I saw who did not must have got a talking to from the conductor, because the next time I saw them, they had their masks on.  Amtrak will put you off at the next station and bar you from further train travel if you give them a problem, so best not to give them a problem!  (Doesn't stop some people, though. ..just ask the airlines!)

We had dinner around 6:30; our attendant, Leroy, forgot to take our order until Tim went looking for him, and by then there were only two choices left, neither of which I would have chosen given a chance.  Note to self:  on the way back, grab Leroy or his days-off replacement and get the order in early!  I had enchiladas.  Train food is okay, but it is not anything anyone would write home about (she says, as she writes home about it!).  In the pre-Covid days, there were real dining cars and you sat down and were served by waiters, and the food was quite good.  This service has apparently been restored on some trains, but not on those east of the Mississippi.  Why not?  Who knows.  

There was also no wifi on this train, despite ads all over every station that "most trains" have free wifi. Bizarre.  I'd think the long-distance trains would be the first ones you'd want wifi on.

So we just read books instead.  I finished my book discussion book for this month by the time we got to Chicago.

We had a four-hour layover in Chicago.  This should have been five and some, but the train was late.  The problem with trains in the US is that CSX owns the rails.  For years there were terrible delays on passenger trains because they had to give way to every freight train that came along, and those aren't scheduled such that they can be avoided.  Then, a few years ago, some deal was theoretically worked out so that passenger trains would have the right of way, and it seemed to me that things got better for awhile, but that does not appear to be honored any more. So we rolled in to Chicago about an hour and 15 minutes late. 

Got the luggage and checked it back in (terrible customer service in Chicago) and then relaxed in the fancy schmantzy lounge in Union Station, Chicago.  Here it is called the Metropolitan Lounge--same deal as DC: snacks, drinks, wifi, lots of comfortable chairs. 

I scooted out for a few minutes to try to get a geocache 5 minutes' walk away at St. Paul's Church, only to discover that the church is under some sort of construction (looked like they are working on the stained glass window), and the road is closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, right where I needed to go.  Too bad!  Better luck next time--though next week is probably not soon enough for them to finish the construction work!

Despite a completely inept process for boarding the train to Minneapolis-St. Paul, the train pulled out only 3 minutes late.  Next stop:  Minnesota.