Onward to the Burgh!

I didn't have a sleeping car to Pgh; I was in coach. Let me tell you, coach is lovely during the day. The seats are huge and are actually recliners with leg rests and all. The train provides pillows and each car has a water dispenser and cups. However, coach sucks overnight.

I got on the Capitol Limited so late that there were no dinner reservations left, so soon after leaving I headed down to the cafe to eat a little pizza. When I got back to my seat, I read a bit and then tried to sleep. The key here is "tried." Sleeping in coach was really hard. Even with the recliner sleep was impossible! We were told that the car attendants would wake us up when our stop was imminent, so we had to be in our seats at that time. After we were well on our way, I moved across the aisle to two empty seats. I set my cellphone alarm clock for 4:10am so I would be awake and back in my seat in time, and was able to fall asleep cuddled up in that pair of seats.

When I woke up, I had 20 minutes before my stop, so I went down to find a bathroom to freshen up. The bathrooms were amazing! They were huge, with a dressing room, toilet, sink with vanity. There was tons of room in there!

Despite leaving a half-hour early waiting for those of us transferring from the Empire Builder to the Capitol Limited, we were 20 minutes early to Pgh! In fact, my Dad was just arriving to pick me up, walking up the stairs to the platform, as I was going down the escalator.

On the way home, Dad and I stopped at Eat 'n' Park, a Western Pennsylvania restaurant that 'Burghers love. I don't know why it's special to us; it just is. After a delicious breakfast, we headed back to my Dad's place and we both went back to bed. My visit to Pittsburgh had begun!