We are pretty sure when we go to Toledo for our second annual Lake Erie perching expedition we are going to travel via Amtrak.

With our AAA discount the roundtrip cost for both of us is $117.

At $2.99 per gallon the cost of the trip in gas alone if we drove would be about $65.

An oil change costs about $30 and is good for 3,000 miles, which translates to about $0.01 per mile. The 500-mile trip would therefore cost about $5 in oil change expense.

I am not going to quantify the wear-and-tear expense.

So the difference between the train ticket and the direct driving-related expenses is only $47.

The 2005 IRS mileage deduction for charitable contributions or moving expense is $0.15 per mile. (It is $0.405 for business travel.) This is probably pretty close to what it actually costs you to drive when you factor in oil changes, tire wear, fuel, wear, filters, etc. but does not factor in your fixed costs like insurance. At the IRS rate the drive would cost about $75, which makes the difference for train travel only $42.

An extra $47, and I am guaranteed that I won't get in an accident; get a speeding ticket; have to change a flat tire; get stuck in traffic. I can take a nap. Read the paper. Walk to the club car for a soda. Use the restroom whenever I need to. Seems like a bargain to me. Plus I am not putting 500 miles of wear-and-tear on the car.

The times are pretty convenient too. We would leave Union Station around 5:30 PM Chicago time and get to Toledo around 10:30 PM Toledo time.

For the return trip we would leave Toledo around 6:00 AM Toledo time and get to Union Station around 9:30 AM Chicago time.