Monday, June 5, 1972 – On our way to Washington D.C.

This morning Mom and Dad woke Jeff a little before 6 a.m. It took us until a little before 7 to get going. When we finally started going Dad and I were in the front seat and Mom and Jeff in the back. After a while we stopped at a rest stop, went to the restroom, and ate at a Howard Johnson's. After breakfast Jeff bought a tiny duffle-bag for a quarter for his Big Jim. We got in the car again and started driving, still in Ohio. I was laying in the back seat and went to sleep. When I woke up we were driving through PA. After a while we stopped at a rest stop again and went to the bathroom. After that we got filled up with gas and started driving through PA again. At 12:00 we went through a huge tunnel. After a while we stopped at a Howard Johnson's to eat lunch. Jeff tried to buy something else in a machine in the bathroom but lost a quarter. After driving some we entered Maryland. After a while we wanted to stop and go to the bathroom. We went into a little messed up town and spent an hour trying to find a gas station. We went to a gas station and a drug store and headed out. Somehow we took a wrong turn and headed north instead of south. We had to turn around in another city and come out again. Boy was the traffic bad. We finally got to the Autotrain. The train was really nice. It had private sleeping cars but we decided to sleep in our seats. The train had a place to eat, a night club, a movie, and other things. The places to sit were in the top of some cars with a curved windows on each side. Below the places to sit were the restrooms and a little place to get drinks. Some of the other cars had little restaurants in them for supper and breakfast. We had supper at 6 and the train didn't leave until 8. In the evening at 9:15 the hostess told us the train would slow down and to wave at a man on the porch of a white house. She said that she would explain later.

Everyone waved. After that we went to see the movie (Brian's Song) in the diner car but it was too crowded so we sat in the lounge. Mom and Dad went to have a drink and Jeff and I went to another car for a movie. The movie started just as Mom and Dad came so we went to go to sleep in our seats. The seats leaned way back and leg rests came out. The long night ended at about 10:00.