NYC Trip-Part 3 The Train Ride Home 2016

This train ride was definitely full of drama. More than we anticipated there at the end. You will see. But, it was fun.  You will see!

Thursday June 9th
Started out at Penn Station early. We thought we were going to get to visit with a homeless friend but she did not make it so we ate at Fridays and then sat in the waiting area watching people. Near the time we were supposed to leave, they announced that the train was late due to "malfunction of equipment" and so we waited another hour before we were off. Some of the people waiting were not happy and restless!

RETURN TRAIN ADVENTURE #1. Sitting in Penn Station waiting on a delayed Amtrak to come from the Sunnyside, Queens yards. "Equipment malfunction". The people are becoming restless and it is only been 6 minutes since we were going to depart. Gonna be a fun trip, I just have a feeling. More to come.

Experience # 2. So much in so little time. SMH. We got on the train an hour later. Two women in the front of the car are bantering about where to sit. Another guy is talking about his weight saying, "I know I'm fat. A closed mouth don't get fat and mine is wide open all the time". Very funny and chatty guy. A woman is worried because an Amtrak guy is in the passenger seat, "aren't u supposed to be in the front of the train"? She ws NOT joking. He slyly chuckles. AND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BHAM!!!!!! LOL.So they are all settling in so far. I foresee naps for everyone. Sooooooo very glad we didn't get a sleeper car!!!!!!

 THREE. "I don't know what she thinking. I ain't carrying no lasagna on the train. She's crazy. She stayed up late cooking that mess and expected me to bring it on the train. She just crazy!" Overheard from woman in back of me with a VERY.COUNTRY.ACCENT.

FOUR. Lady who shall be called Blue Jacket or BJ from here on out, is clapping, dancing in her seat, talking and singing to herself and shaking. She is going to be very entertaining.
Oh and Russ and I are having a crossword contest while all this is going on. Will let you know who won.
 FIVE. Introducing Redhead....argues with Blue Jacket about which station is next. Blue Jacket won. And she made sure Red knew it.

 SIX     Uh oh. BJ and Red are getting into it over a suitcase. This is better than tv. There was a big red suitcase in the corner behind these bags and BJ was miffed over Red asking her to move it to her side. Now, Red has more room since Lady with Stripes came and sat down with Red. BJ is talking LOUDLY on the phone to her friend about what Red did. ROFL.

SEVEN Okay, Cologne Guy just sat down next to BJ. Men's cologne and the cold mac and cheese I'm eating for supper JUST DONT MIX. ‪#‎imabouttobarf‬
 
Rest of supper in the cafe car.

EIGHT The conductor just announced FOUR TIMES that "this is a non smoking train". Hmmmmmm. Who was she aiming that at? Are people REALLY that dense?

BJ has settled down a bit now that handsome older cologne guy sat next to her. Thank you sir!!!!!!!

NINE It's actually quiet in my corner of the train. Red and Lady in Stripes are in dining car. Cologne Guy is too. BJ is eating at her seat and behaving. Sun is setting in VA. People are napping. All is good.  By the way, BJ's ringtone is FREAK OUT. lol.

TEN. Russ is convinced BJ is THIS woman. BJ keeps saying "Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Hello. " I guess she could be. The other lady was from Bham and BJ is going to Bham. LAUGHING OUT LOUD.

June 3 at 11:26pm · Cowpens, SC ·

Okay, not joking, there is a woman behind me who just got on, talking on her phone, in a moderately monotone voice saying Hello. Hello. Hello.Pause. Hello. Hello. Hello. Pause. Pause. Pause....wait for it......Hello. Now she is silent. 2 men are snoring, including my man, and Im wide awake....even with a sleep aide. This is the funniest experience I have had in a while. ‪#‎Ineedtogetoutmore‬ ‪#‎wehumansarejusfunny‬ Oh My goodness, she has started agaiin. Hello. Hello. Hello.

 Since BJ is quiet, Russ and I are going to try and sleep. Night all.

ELEVEN   Rise and shine! Well, Cologne Man and Lady in Stripes got off at Charlotte in the middle of the night. So that just leaves Red and Blue Jacket(BJ). They are still snoozing so it's quiet right now.

MORNING RANT #2(no pun intended): WHAT IS IT about public toilets and nasty care? Do these people act like this at home? Seriously, most of these people SEEM clean and decent on the outside. Why is it when they go into a toilet, they become ANIMALS? I had a RUDE awakening when I went to the restroom just now after half sleeping all night. Paper towels ALL OVER THE FLOOR. Water everywhere......no flushing. What a horrible thing to wake up to. Anyhoo....PLEASE, WHEN YOU GO TO A PUBLIC RESTROOM.....CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF. Its a sad day when one of the constant announcements is...."ladies and gentlemen, please leave the restrooms the way you would want to walk into one". Well, I guess we all know what they like walking into. NASTY. 

On another note, just passed through lovely Toccoa Falls. Need to go back there someday. Just gorgeous.

BJ just woke up to her phone alarm of "I'm Too Sexy". It's gonna be a fun 5 more hours.
                                        Red is still stretched out all over her seat, as you can see.

TWELVE So Red just got through telling me her life story after I asked her if the train was on time. So here's the scoop. Married 3 times, once to a NJ Gambino Mafia family member, once to a Texan who took everything she owned and now to Big John, a rancher. Note to self: Only ask if the train will be on time to a conductor. lol.
BJ has made approximately 36 calls on her cell since yesterday.. conversation mostly been.....Hello. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? She is now talking to herself about something. She is apparently still mad at Red because Red offered her a compliment and BJ ignored her. We may never see a friendship between them.

The National Park volunteers are on the train again telling lots of great facts. Maybe I can do that when I retire.


OH GOODNESS.,. BJ has now said 5 times in a row.." I left my comb not my phone". Russ says to me, If she left her phone, she wouldn't be talking to the person! Duh!!!! Oh my gosh, I'm laughing so hard, I can't type. Tears are rolling down my cheeks.

THIRTEEN So this morning, in Atlanta, we added a new character, a conductor, Anal Anna. Remember the luggage from yesterday all piled up? (SEE BELOW)
Well, AA came though like a tornado and made Red move everything off the floor....chop chop...move it now! She then came back and placed this sign on the wall. It says "keep all luggage off the floor" basically. Now she is vacumming the floors really fast and spraying so much Lysol, its choking us all.
Not joking, my eyes are burning.
Someone had a LITTLE too much coffee this a.m.

 S.....M.....H...Phone call # 41. Hello. Hello. Hello. Boo, where u been? Hello. Hello. Did you get those shots in your booty butt yet? IM NOT MAKING THIS UP!

FOURTEEN
We just hit a car or a person. We may be in Anniston for a while. Pray.
It was a person. BJ is freaking out. The whole car is freaking out, speculating what went down.

SIDENOTE:  Okay, BJ, no joke, is talking to an Amtrak agent to see if she can get credit for time spent waiting because of the accident. I AM NOT JOKING. We may have to have a come to Jesus meeting.

Of course everyone is anticipating what happened and calling everyone they know to call. One guy in the back keeps saying: " Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!"  He was all out of sorts. It seems a man was trying to run across the tracks and did not make it. Very sad. We sat on the train for about an hour. And then everyone was silent the rest of the weay.

 Sad news. The guy hit by our train died this afternoon. Thanks everyone who helped get info. Pray for the family and the Amtrak staff.  Here is the link to the story:

      Man Who Got Hit By Our Train 

We got into Birmingham and everyone got off the train in silence and we all just went our own way. Humbled all of us and it sure goes to show that in a moments notice....we are gone. 

Overall, this was a great trip. We can't wait to do it again! Thanks for following along with us! 

Russ and Lisa 

NYC Trip Part 2-The City June 4-9th, 2016

June 4th,We made it. We got to our AirBNB and have napped all afternoon. Just woke up. Loving this place. The couple has done a great job on making us feel welcome and it is a gorgeous loft. Pictures to come. Probably posting once a day or so. We took a nap and walked around Ridgewood Queens, where we are staying. It is an up and coming hipster neighborhood so we felt very old! HA! We were going to a pizza place that our hosts recommended but it was packed with people from a street fair so we found this little mom and pop Mexican Deli. Food was delish...homemade.

Went back to AIRBNB and slept like babies!


Sunday, June 5th  We ate a quick breakfast and made it to Graffiti Ministries/E. 7th Baptist Minstries for church and fellowship.

 Afterwards, there was a Volunteer Appreciation Meal(that I helped start way back in the 80's). A local restaurant donated a pig and they roasted it out front. It was DELISH!!  Thanks to FBC Georgetown for a spectacular meal.

 Thanks to Graffiti Church photographer for these pictures.

Thanks to Michele Dunn Canada for this lovely pig photo.

 After that, sat in a restaurant and caught up with friends. Then moved to our fave Polish Diner, Odessa in the East Village for perogies, sauerkraut and kielbasa. Afterwards went back to Graffiti for Night Church.  Slept like babies after all the walking and sitting at restaurants!

Monday, June 6th 
Russ and I ventured over to Governors Island which reopened in 2012. We had not gotten over there since it opened. It was spectacular. We rented a surrey bike and rode around a bit but mostly walked. Phew!! Afterwards, we took the Ferry back and went to a restaurant in the West Village and saw an off off Broadway magic/comedy show and it was hilarious. Russ got picked on for several things. We laughed all night.  Made it back to Ridgewood late and went straight to bed. Slept like babies again!!

Tuesday, June 7th 
Went and visited friends where we used to live at Metro NY Baptist Association. It was good to see them and visit for a bit. We also took a friend from Montgomery out to lunch at one of our favorites, Pier 72. Georgia and Geno were still there running the place and remembered me!!  She is up there for summer missions.  Went down to the East Village and visited with the staff at Graffiti for a while, remembered a lot of fond memories and laughed more. Stayed with some Manhattan friends tonight and had great fellowship and prayer.

Wednesday, June 8th 
Went to the High Line Park, which also was created after we left and it was fun. They converted some old RR tracks into a park where visitors can have some "green" and enjoy some art and peaceful times. It was beautiful. Kind of chilly that day. We bought some hot chocolate and shivered a lot!   Visited Chelsea Market and as we were leaving, we got a surprise rain storm. We had to run across the street and wait for the bus in the rain. It was fun and we laughed the whole time. Got back to our friends apt soaking wet, dried off and took a nap on that lazy afternoon.  Ate pizza for a late lunch and enjoyed more fellowship. Ended up going to the Wed night meal and Bible Study and though the people have changed the "personality" of the Wednesday night crowd has not. Great to be there and experience it again!

Thursday, June 9th. We packed up and headed out to the train station to return home. Here is what I wrote that day on Facebook:

Today, we will be getting up and getting things packed and ready to head back to Alabama. We have so enjoyed seeing friends and seeing the city. We are sad we didn't get to see everyone. Another time. Get ready for more train adventures though.
We love this city. It is no surprise to most of you. God is here. He is working in remarkable ways that don't make the headlines. People ARE coming to know Jesus. People ARE serving others. People ARE kind and friendly here. This is no more "sinful" a city than where you live. There just happen to be "more" imperfect people here.
Thanking God for those followers of Christ who live here and who LIVE OUT their faith every day despite the challenges of city life. They are social workers, teachers, business people, missionaries, pastors, students, etc.
If you or your church want to come and join in on what the Lord is doing, contact me and I can get you connected.
If you come, be ready for everything you think about people to be challenged and changed. God WILL change you into more of His image than you could ever imagine by being here.

Ciao'

NYC Trip -Part 1 The Train Trip to NYC 2016

So Russ and I went on vacation this past week BY OURSELVES and we took the train. A friend had blogged her trips on Facebook so I did the same. I decided though to transfer the posts here so you can see our adventures.HERE WE GO!

June 3rd, 2016 

It's almost time.....2:20 train. NYC, here we come.

ONE We are sitting on the train waiting to leave in a few. Already encountered a few interesting people.

First, woman across from us yelling through the thick window "ARE YOU GOING TO THRIFT STORE?about 8 times......lol. She is now asking Where's Lisa and them?" (I'M RIGHT HERE!) Now going on 5 times.
Met a beautiful, sweet lady named June who is from Manchester, New Hampshire(Chris Rose, Ted Rose she knows Wolfboro!)..who now lives in North Alabama. We had hoped to sit near each other but they assigned us different cars.....

There is a little boy whose mom has made him run up and down the aisles "to get his energy out". Its gonna be a fun trip, I can tell. Not crowded yet.
We have a volunteer park ranger on board giving us a tour!!! I'm impressed.
Here is Russell  ready to go.

Last comment...woman behind us:" Get off that phone sister. No one wants to know your d___business. Now where is my d____ticket? Da_______t. Where is it? Phew...found it it in my d______bag on the d_______floor!!!! " ROFL.
All aboard. We are off.


TWO  In GA now. Supposed to arrive in Atlanta around 7:45. We had our picnic dinner and now reading the books we saved for the trip. Everyone is quiet, some sleeping, dozing, reading. Our car is about half full. I imagine that will change in Atlanta.

THREE  On to next stop.....Gainesville and Toccoa Falls. Sun is setting. Getting a bit restless. Announcer just told us to keep our shoes on at all times "for our safety". Oops!!! Got to go put those shoes on now!!!! Here is Russ, deep into a book. I just finished one and taking a break. 

I read this book. You need to get it and read it especially if you are a single mom!

FOUR  First accident on the trip. Lady on crutches fell backwards on the floor trying to get dinner.😨 All 3 conductors rushed back, were very kind and are bringing her dinner. Kudos to Amtrak staff. They have been ultra kind to everyone.

 Snack car hopping more than coach. The accents are a changing!!!!! My new friend June came in and joined us.

 Overheard from young guy on cell phone...."Im still somewhere in the south. I just played a game between some of those liberal and strict Baptists. You gotta be careful so not to "explicative" tick them off." Im loving this.

 FIVE Okay, not joking, there is a woman behind me who just got on, talking on her phone, in a moderately monotone voice saying Hello. Hello. Hello.Pause. Hello. Hello. Hello. Pause. Pause. Pause....wait for it......Hello. Now she is silent. 2 men are snoring, including my man, and Im wide awake....even with a sleep aide. This is the funniest experience I have had in a while. ‪#‎Ineedtogetoutmore‬ ‪#‎wehumansarejusfunny‬
Oh My goodness, she has started agaiin. Hello. Hello. Hello.

SIX Well, sleeping was not really fun mainly because I just couldn't get comfortable. Everyone else seemed to be snoozing well. A gentleman across from me couldn't either so we started talking. He is from Atlanta via NJ via Puerto Rico. Chatty fellow. We compared notes on Alabama and Georgia and agreed that neither one of us liked the heat there. Lol. (The temperatures are dropping as we go north).

 Downside to this trip. People who don't know...don't care...????about restroom care. As of 4:30, someone in our car, stuffed paper towels in the toilet and now THE WHOLE CAR reeks of "the smell". What do we do? I feel the need to have a seminar on"how to use a public restroom" when everyone wakes up.

June 4th, 2016

SEVEN The biggest excitement this morning is watching everyone waking up to the lovely smells of that bathroom debacle(see last big post). Amtrak said they have to wait til DC to get it fixed. I foresee a delay......(thanks fellow passenger for not being thoughtful enough to NOT stuff towels down the toilet...well played). Everyone is not happy about it and NOW....they just announced the cafe car will be closed til after DC so there is a mad rush for caffeine. We ARE in a tizzy!

But hey...the sun is out now(we had some rain last night), I did get just enough sleep to get me to the city and then we will spend the afternoon taking a nap in a real bed in the best place in the world. 💙💚💛💜
About to make a stop in Alexandria. After that.....DC.
More to come on DC. There is something fun that happens there. And if you know what it is......shhhh! Don't give it away. ‪#‎Ilovetrains‬

 We are crossing the Potomac. Washington Monument in view.

 EIGHT Okay, so I am easily amused. At DC, they trade engines and go from diesel power to electric powered engines.In years past, I would get out and watch the change. But because it is a long train and we are at the clear other end , we got there too late to see the diesel go but we got to see the electric hooked up.

NINE We made it. We got to our AirBNB and have napped all afternoon. Just woke up. Loving this place. The couple has done a great job on making us feel welcome and it is a gorgeous loft. Pictures to come. Probably posting once a day or so. Thanks for following our train adventures....MORE next Thursday.

Here is where we stayed!  If you need a place to stay in NYC that is only about $85 a night, this is your place.

Chain and Elizabeth's AIRBNB

Will post more through out our week here in NYC.

Ciao' 

2016 update!

2016 so far..................

The Roses had a rough start to 2016 but we are getting back into the ebb and flow of life. We have completed 10 years of living in Alabama and 10 years of blogging. We are excited about the next 10 years and will be here til the Lord decides otherwise!! Keep praying for us....

Russ has started a new job at Wings Across Alabama and loves it. Go to their Facebook page to read more.  Wings Across Alabama 

 

Back in November, Russ got to spend some special time with his brother, Eric, who lives in MN. In this photo, they are at the Tuskegee Air Museum.

Lisa is doing well. She has been working hard at work. She loves helping others know Christ and also helping Christians live out their faith! Check out her personal blog at Lisa's Page  

Jason is just about to finish training at the Project Search. He would like to get a job at the hospital he is interning at. Graduation is the end of May so we are praying that he gets picked to work there. He is almost 22 and busy with work, basketball, young adult group and soon baseball for the spring.

Steven has just started a job training program and is very excited. Steven moved out in November and is doing well. We are hoping that he will be acquiring permanent housing very soon. He is not only training but looking for a job.

Russ and I are anticipating "Empty Nest" in a good way. It is time for the boys to spread their wings and even though they will always require support, we know that God has great things planned for them. Russ and I are even planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland the next few years. Looking forward to it.