April 10th - Day 1/Part 1 - Morning Departure

"Too much time sitting on the train, watching the scenery fly by, thinking about what is to come.  Christmas morning was like this when I was a child before my parents woke up."

Up at 7:30am to finish packing and gather all last minute items together.  Could not find my check list and made note to self "Remember next time to put don't lose check list on the check list".  At this point in time I'm still sitting on Amtrak, which was 40 minutes late.  I considered taking the US Airways shuttle from Washington National Airport, but ultimately the train was more convenience without dealing with DC rush hour traffic. Happily, Craig kept me company as the anticipation built, waiting for that sight of the Northeast Direct coming around the bend.


Almost a three hour ride up to Penn Station in Manhattan. Too much time sitting on the train, watching the scenery fly by, thinking about what is to come.  Christmas morning was like this when I was a child before my parents woke up.  I had to sit impatiently waiting to open up the presents.

TravelWithVal.com

Bill Miller has already been on the ship for hours. Royal Caribbean, the parent company of Azamara, sent a car for Bill at 6:30am so he could appear on a morning news program. Another video interview Travel With Val hosted by Valarie D'Elia will be taped at some point today.  Val has a great website and her videos also appear on NY1. So the press is buzzing about.


So the plan is to grab a taxi on 8th Avenue once in the city and make my way to Pier 88. I'd like to be able to check in, drop my stuff off in the cabin, then head off again for a moment to capture some video of the Azamara Journey from the exterior. Bill and I arranged to connect by cell phone to figure out where to find each other.  Of course, plans change!


For now, just passing the time..taking advantage of the Wi-Fi on Amtrak and writing this little update.  More to follow....