Day one of this journal begins in Boone, North Carolina, on September 21, 2021. My Subaru was packed with electronics & more clothes than I will need for the next 30 days. Beginning my journey to Snowshoe, West Virginia to meet up with my cousin, Harriet James and her husband, Bruce James for this great adventure.
To protect everyone on this trip, Holland America was only selling tickets to fully vaccinated individuals with a negative COVID-19 test within 3 days of boarding. At the last minute this requirement was changed to two days with the ability to be tested just as you got on the ship. This was scary so we decided to have our test four days ahead on my arrival date just to make sure we should get on the train.
I’m happy to report that we were all three negative so the next morning we packed the car and headed toward White Sulphur Springs and at the Greenbrier.
The first official leg of our journey was catching the train in White Sulphur Springs, the “Cardinal” , which begins in New York City travels south into West Virginia and then back into Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana on its way to Chicago. While it was late arriving in White Sulphur Springs we made it to Chicago almost exactly on time. Thus ends leg one, one-day and one night sleeping on a train!
Editors comment: This process took time to create and post! Hope the next one is easier!
Edited by Harriet & Bruce! Thanks!
Ellen’s Travel Journal 2016-2025 