What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[VladtheGlad]

Thanks very much. I really appreciate the detail. That seems like taking a flight to a city 3 hours away by car. You’d spend more time in both airports and on the cramped plane then you would driving. I wouldn’t hate that experience. Thanks for saving me money someday.

By car, it is about a 12 hour drive between the two points. Train is scheduled to depart at 4pm and arrive in FL at 9am. When fully booked, they have to load about 340 vehicles and if you do not get in line by 12pm, you are sitting in a queue for hours waiting before you get up to the point at the train station before they take control of your vehicle. You are sitting for another couple or more hours in a terminal with everybody else waiting.

Last I remember, pricing was based on three accommodations. They had a open seating area you could recline and hopefully sleep in and there was two other private accommodations like a glorified closet that had two sleeper chairs that folded out. The first two used a communal bathroom. The last accommodation is a private sleep room with bath/shower and two fold down bunk bed. On the way down, me and the wife used the glorified closet sleep and on the way back, the private sleep room.

The whole selling point of the experience is to take away the hassle of driving but when you factor in the time waiting and queuing up both ways and also the overnight train ride is really not that comfortable with the constant bouncing and clickety-clack, the charm wears thin and you really do not arrive fresh IMHO. The food is glorified reheat tin pack food and you are given a time slot to attend. If you have a later time slot, food is about gone or good selections are no longer available. The porters and room attendants for what little they do, are expecting a health gratuity. They are busy but personal attention for each passenger is minimal.

Lastly, the train hardly keeps to schedule. It leaves late and arrives late. The ride is not a constant in motion and is a speed up and slow down the whole way. Freight traffic on the rail lines has priority so there is spots in the middle of no where it will stop waiting on other freight traffic to cross. Just as you are waiting for hours to get the vehicle loaded, you are waiting for hours to get unload in addition to having arrived late. Amtrak is a unionized operation and no matter how simple the task that needs to be done at the rail yard, you are going to wait for that only one Amtrak employee that can flip what switch or lever that needs flipping.

I get some people think it is the cats meow and I do not begrudge them for thinking that, just for me it was not. The hurry up and wait was lost on me as I would rather have been staying in motion driving the way down and even if I stayed over night part way in a hotel, I felt I would have arrived more refreshed as I would have had more control of my accommodations and eating options.

It was just me and my wife but I could not imagine families with small children and trying to keep them entertained and wrangled doing this trip.

Sometimes it's difficult to see the forest for the trees ... thanks for all of your expertise.

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[WILDHOBO]

Sometimes it's difficult to see the forest for the trees ... thanks for all of your expertise.

I don’t know how much expertise I have. That’s for the real experts. I’m just a crazy person that wants to do everything myself, and I take learning how and tooling up to an extreme. It’s my mental health treatment. Plus the drugs.

 

[Hootbro]

Sometimes it's difficult to see the forest for the trees ... thanks for all of your expertise.

Maybe, but I am more pragmatic when it comes to things like this. Just my take, if others see and experience it different, I can respect that also.

 

[mclousing]

Finally replaced the useless nets.

I really liked the expandable front pocket. And it did come with zinc screws but I replaced them with black steel.

Not bad for 10 minutes of work and $65. And they screw in using the two bottom door panels screws.

 

[Supazuk]

boring but I put on new wiper blades

 

[YGBSM]

boring but I put on new wiper blades

They think wiper blades are hot!

 

[Lost1wing]

Thanks very much. I really appreciate the detail. That seems like taking a flight to a city 3 hours away by car. You’d spend more time in both airports and on the cramped plane then you would driving. I wouldn’t hate that experience. Thanks for saving me money someday.

My wife and I left Charleston SC at the same time our friends left Charleston. We were driving and they were flying. We made it home to LaGrange GA hours sooner than our friends. They had a slight delay and had to have wheelchair assistance. Driving was by far a better choice if you are up for that sort of thing. No rental car or Uber rides were needed either.

 

[JCappy]

My wife and I left Charleston SC at the same time our friends left Charleston. We were driving and they were flying. We made it home to LaGrange GA hours sooner than our friends. They had a slight delay and had to have wheelchair assistance. Driving was by far a better choice if you are up for that sort of thing. No rental car or Uber rides were needed either.

Great place. That's where I'm from and still have family/friends in the area. Go back quite a few times every year and will be there in a few weeks. It has never entered my mind to fly there. Way too much time wasted getting to the airport, waiting for a flight and then flight time. Plus I like having my own transportation while I'm there to get around seeing everyone. It's not that bad of a drive.

 

[Chasm]

Finally replaced the useless nets.

I kind of wish I had bought those instead of the ones with the expanded front section.
I learned recently that if you slide the seat all the way forward to work in the back, you can't close the door with mine.

 

[JCappy]

I kind of wish I had bought those instead of the ones with the expanded front section.
I learned recently that if you slide the seat all the way forward to work in the back, you can't close the door with mine.

I read that some of those cause issues with either the door not closing if the seat is pulled forward or the seat not being able to be pulled forward because they are in the way. That's one reason I have held off getting any. I may have to look for the ones that @mclousing purchased.

 

[mclousing]

I just tested. This is with out anything in the expandable area.

No issues with seat fully forward. If there is a soda bottle in the expandable area and the seat all the way forward the door will not close.

 

[JCappy]

I just tested. This is with out anything in the expandable area.

No issues with seat fully forward. If there is a soda bottle in the expandable area and the seat all the way forward the door will not close.

Good to know,

 

[Chasm]

I read that some of those cause issues

I'll be fine with not needing to move the seat forward, but I might need to pull it off for my wife to drive! I might throw a couple of options in my amazon cart and watch for a sale.

 

[JCappy]

I'll be fine with not needing to move the seat forward, but I might need to pull it off for my wife to drive! I might throw a couple of options in my amazon cart and watch for a sale.

I'm in the same boat. Shouldn't be a problem for me but if my 5'2" wife ever needed to get behind the wheel it would be an issue.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Finally replaced the useless nets.

I really liked the expandable front pocket. And it did come with zinc screws but I replaced them with black steel.

Not bad for 10 minutes of work and $65. And they screw in using the two bottom door panels screws.

Those are my favorite ones so far. Do you have a link handy?

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