Sunday, January 18, 2026
We took the Amtrak Hiawatha train from Milwaukee to Chicago. We hung out in the Metropolitan lounge (Lounge!). We got on the Southwest Chief going to Los Angeles. Yay!
The train mostly follows the same path as Route 66. We decided to go when there was a BOGO sale on roomettes. We will arrive Tuesday morning early, so we have all day tomorrow and two sleeps in our tiny room.
Traveling across Iowa was amazingly dark. We were really in the nowhere. Occasionally we passed a house or building that lit things up. I waved out my window in case anyone was looking. You never know.
Dinner was terrific and dessert was even better. We watched a little Netflix in our room and are coming into Kansas City right now. It’s very cloudy and the city lights up the clouds so we can see out the window. We have time to step off for a fresh air break, but not enough time to get any BBQ. Sad.
So many good things in this post! Your pictures show so much joy, it makes me happy to look at them. And the idea of Fiorella’s barbecue first made me laugh and then reminded that you can find a great, Famous Dave’s-inspired barbecue place even in a tiny Italian village, so why not an Italian-named BBQ place in Kansas City? Travel is so much fun, even when it’s vicarious!
That July 4th BBQ was the best, wasn’t it? Everywhere you go, you learn and learn!