Yea! I came to Washington D.C.!
Before getting excited, I need to write about a miracle Amtrak did.
I was supposed to leave Fayetteville at 1:04 p.m. DM and CM took me the station. Because I was told by the customer service that I need to check in 45 minutes before my departure, we tried to arrive there earlier. We ended up arriving there one hour early. I finished check-in without any trouble or security check. Checking in didn't take time at all, actually. It's not airport check-in, anyway.
Because it was around noon, we had lunch in a fast food restaurant adjacent to the station and came back to the platform around one o'clock. Then, we heard an announcement saying that the train is late for 25 minutes. Well, it's not Japanese railway system. You can't expect much. So, the train came exactly 25 minutes later. In that sense, Amtrak is punctual (?). After saying good-bye to DM and CM (it was sad), I popped on the train.
Because I knew SH was waiting for me in Washington D.C., I needed to let her know that I would be late because of the train delay. Otherwise, she would waste her time at Union Station. I took a nap for a while and came around in Virginia. And I found that I lost signals. Of course, the train was running through ... what can I say ... jungle? My signals came back when the train reached a town. So, I called her and told her to see me around 8:30 p.m. instead of the scheduled arrival time (7:57 p.m.).
After hanging up her phone, the conductor came to tell me that Washing was next. My watch showed 7:00. I thought it's weird and tried to think it would take another hour to get to next stop. But, I was wrong. In 10 minutes, I found the train crossing Potomac River. Why did I know it's Potomac River? Because I was seeing Washington Monument in front of me!
Anyhow, in no time, I arrived at Union Station. The clock showed 7:20! I couldn't, still can't, believe what happened. The Amtrak train which was 25 minutes late caught up and arrived earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Amtrak's ability of catching up is much greater than the Tokaido Line, man!