"ABroad Travel" should be the name of our new travel company. Richard Branson has worked and continues to work tirelessly to make our holiday plans and schedule run smoothly. Over a coffee yesterday, he decided to check the train times and tickets. While reading the details out loud, I paused and calmly said "did you say the train from Rochester to Albany arrives at 12.50 and the train leaving Albany leaves at 12.10? How does that work?" Not to worry, Richard was on the phone straight away to Amtrack. The 'amusing' part was that the day before when speaking to the Amtrack service centre, he had confirmed all of the details and even the woman who works for the train company didn't even pick it up.

A 6am start, with Sal loading our gear into his car, we left at 7am to collect Peter from the hire car return at the airport. Two years, when Peter was last at Sal's place, he left his favourite grey beanie, of which Sal took special care of and presented it to him on our arrival. In true Broadfoot form, Hayley has now left her beanie at Sal's house (which is just funny). So it seems, as Sal has said, we will need to come back again to collect it. After loading Peter, It was then a quick 20min drive into the centre of Rochester (which isn't as big as Denver) to the small train station to wait for the 8.38 train to Penn Station New York. Oh and not to worry, Sal gave me a new Monroe College beanie, of which Hayley is the new owner.

Waiting for a train is an interesting experience. As the time ticks over more and more people trickle into the station; however, it's when the clock rolls over to 5 mins before the train arrives that the action begins. It only takes one person to walk out the doors onto the platform to force everyone to get up and head out into the freezing cold and wait. So like the crowd, we followed suit. Miranda and Hayley had to keep going back inside the building to keep warm. Clearly, this is the usual conditions and routine for the locals.

As the train travels further south, there is obviously less and less snow, until eventually there is none. The landscape, between Rochester and Albany, is similar to that between Toowoomba and Stanthorpe; open flat land with a few hills, except of course here it is covered in snow. When we first entered the train, we found 4 seats (2 on either side of the aisle). Further forward in the carriage was a set of four seats, with 2 sets of 2 seats but facing each other; however, a lady had already sat (alone) in these seats which was a disappointment. Miranda and Hayley though decided (because of limited passengers) to sit in a set of 2 by themselves. As we travelled, EagleHawk Hayley kept a sharp eye on the lady in the seat of 4, and you guessed it, she moved. So up jumped Hayley and quick as a flash she had now taken over the seats for us.

Eight hours on a train seems an enormous task for anyone let alone Miranda and Hayley. It's amazing though how many movies they can watch in that time. It really shouldn't surprise me anymore, but it still does. Even with a number of 'wee' breaks Hayley still managed to view three movies. She did, though, enjoy the opportunity to go exploring from one end of the train to the other, on more than one occasion. Peter and I, on the other hand, played a couple of rounds of scrabble on the iPad; it's a one-all-draw until our next trip. Miranda enjoyed a couple of movies but then played a number of computer games.

From Albany, we have followed the Hudson River, naturally getting larger and larger as we get closer to New York. It's certainly an irresistible river.

When we arrive, it is a quick walk to the hotel, check-in, spray some perfume, find something to eat (probably burgers and fries for something different) and go to the Minskoff Theatre to watch The Lion King. Then a little sleep-in.... (well that's the plan).

You will have to wait for photos when I find some free wifi ......