August 14th, 1978 (Monday): Planning for an Adventure

Today Pete and I bought our tickets to Portland.  I ruthlessly ripped the boxtops off two full cartons of Cornflakes (to use with my coupon).  They had to call Amtrak and check with them, but it was all right.  I let Petey go into Iseri's with me.  He was enormously interested in the tickets,"Which one is the return, Mommy?", and they typed up an itenerary for us.

We leave here at 8:45am and get into Portland at 5:25pm.  Petey will have to take his nap on the train.  I wonder if I can carry a pillow for him besides the bag with our medicine and my camera?  I must have pictures of Petey on the train.  And, of course, I want to take a lunch.  They only have a cafeteria with hotdogs and hamburgers.  I'm making little lists everywhere-things to put in our lunch, in our suitcases, in my purse.  I keep reassuring myself-we're going, we're really going(!).  I'm terrified of missing the train at the depot, or missing Carol in Portland.  We can't check our luggage and I don't want to be too burdened by it.  

Traveling to England was horrible, and I lost my umbrella (a blue one with lace edging, the prettiest I've seen) on the Bermuda flight, besides having my small suitcase stolen, ransaced, and ultimately returned from Littlerock, Arkansas-on the way to New York.  If only there were a way to travel without luggage-like those jet setters who have fully equipped homjes everywhere.  I like to be in one place, then in another-but don't generally like the part between, so air travel is always my first choice (but Amtrak will be an exciting experience for both of us).  Petey hasn't ridden on a train since he was old enough to remember, tho we moved from Manchester to London on the train when he was three months old (he had hot water bottles in his carrycot so as not to chill, and we spent the night in Euston Station).