I had a taxi take me to the Heidelberg train station with a departure time of about 12:30 and an expected arrival at Amsterdam at 6:30. Everything started well, but before we got to Mainz, the train stopped (and stayed stopped for nearly two hours). That messed my connection up with two transfers, so I visited the on-board info agent who wrote me out a new ticket from Duisburg, the next stop past my first transfer, directly to Amsterdam (a slight improvement, since only one transfer, not two. So I went to the specified track, at the appropriate time, and stepped on the arriving train.
Unfortunately that train wasn’t going to Amsterdam. Instead, with delays (which added up to nearly an hour and a half) I arrived at the North Sea port about 10:30. Back to Duisburg, but with delays coming and going I didn’t arrive till about 2:40, too late to catch a train to Amsterdam. But I did catch the first train there and made it to the hotel by about 9:30. It turns out I didn’t have a reservation (which I made, but couldn’t fine the email confirmation) but being a long-time member of their rewards club, they found a spot for me. Moreover, while I was still eating breakfast, the lady that booked my room came in to tell me that a room was clean and available. Really good service.
So here I am, sleep deprived, but with the expectation of hitting the sack early and waking up in the morning to coffee, breakfast, and a quick trip to the airport for a 12:40 flight. First leg, DL 163 to Minneapolis-St. Paul, then DL 1411 to Pasco. I should be home by 8:00 tomorrow evening. Cross fingers.