It has been five years since I rode Amtrak. It has been ten since I really rode Amtrak. Five years ago, my husband Andrew and I took a relatively short (in train time) trip from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The longer trip, five years prior, was from Washington State to Connecticut. Yes, I rode Amtrak all the way across the country. At this point, I could interject about my flying issues, but that is not what this blog is about, so I won't. I will say, however, that I have flown in recent years; Atlanta to San Francisco and back, New York, Washington, Minnesota, Texas. But lately, the skies have not seemed so friendly to me, so I'm in a self-imposed grounding. So when my Dad announced he would need hip replacement surgery, and I had the vacation time at work, the clickity-clack of my old friend the train echoed in the back of my mind.