All Aboard!

Today was a great day in Anytown.  The local Railway Museum had "Railroad Days" this weekend.  Last year it was a huge deal because the Museum's steam engine had just been restored and was on her maiden voyage.  Yesterday was the first day for Railroad Days, but we had plans.  So, we promised the boys that we would go ride the train today, just like we did last year.  Not that they could remember that.

Railroad Days 2010

Railroad Days 2011

This morning when we got ready to leave for church it looked like it could rain any second, but we made there without experiencing any more than a sprinkle.  However, it was full on raining when we left.  We came home for about 30 minutes, and then we headed out for a day of riding the rails.  The boys, like all little boys, love trains.  But, I like to think that their love runs a little deeper as my Grandpa Zimmerman, Great-grandpa Wieldt, and Uncle Fritz have all had lifelong RR careers.

Too much going on to get a decent picture

When we got to the station it was fairly chilly so I was glad that I had dressed the boys in their new sweaters for the day.  (Side note: I bought these outfits for the boys to wear to my sister's wedding reception in a few weeks.  After I bought them, Ian informed me he needed a tie for the wedding.  Apparently my selection just isn't formal enough for his liking.)  I, however, had made a poor choice by remaining in my skirt after church, and Cole was wearing a short sleeved polo shirt.  But, the boys were cozy and warm and that's what mattered most.

Lookin' good in their new duds

We rode the steam engine from the outer station into the depot in the middle of Anytown.  We then walked up to the square to eat lunch.  As you can imagine, this went over like a lead balloon.  Ian was FURIOUS that we were leaving the depot when he still wanted to ride the steam engine.  It was a torturous three block walk.  He was in a bad place, it was cool and raining slightly, and Eli....not the lightest kid on the planet and he's still not big enough to keep up with our pace.  We had a delicious lunch of Mexican food and headed back to the depot.

Finding out what Anytown's Railway Museum has to offer

We returned to the depot with a few minutes to spare before the next train was leaving for the main station.  We rode back out to the main station, toured a 100 year old passenger car that had been built for the Vice-President of a RR company, a U.S. postal service car, and a couple of cars with RR "stuff."  Shortly after, we were running back through the rain to get back on another train.  Back to the Anytown depot we went.

Ian would not give a legit smile, but close enough

This trip was a bit, ahem, less fun than the previous trip.  We were NOT riding the right train.  We were riding "Chuggington," and Ian wanted to ride "Thomas", who Eli kept referring to as "Mavis" which sent Ian into a tizzy.  The conductor told us that the best strategy to get back on "Thomas" would be to hang out in town for almost an hour and then hop on "Thomas" at the depot (where we were about to arrive), not the main station.  You have got to be kidding?  An hour?!?!?! I thought.  Yes.  An hour.  So, I suggested we hop over to the library to replenish our books.  Forty minutes later, the boys had six new books to read, I had three, and back to the depot we walked.  Keep in mind, it has never quit raining and we have been hopping trains like hobos and vagabonds for the past FOUR hours.  We are cold, wet, and tired.

Engineer Eli

So we got on "Thomas/Mavis" and a fight broke out because Ian wanted a window seat.  Big deal, let the kid have the window seat, right?  Wrong!  Ian wanted the seat by the OPEN window and was hanging his upper half out of the window into the rain 10 feet above the concrete platform!  Uh, no.  I'm sorry, let me be more clear.  Uh, HELL no!  Then there was a battle of the wills while Cole secured the window in its fully closed position.  Ian then decided that our seating was completely unacceptable and wanted to find someplace new.

Checking out the world from the comfort of the train

At this point, we already knew we were on our last ride of the day and we were kind of in an anything-to-get-us-through-the-last-twenty-minutes-of-this-excursion kind of place.  We went in search of a new seat, and Ian decided that he wanted to ride on the caboose.  We hopped off of the passenger car and ran back to the caboose at the very last possible minute.  This seemed like a great Grand Finale, but we clearly didn't assess the position of the train before we took our seats on the red velvet upholstered benches.

Engineer Ian

From where we were sitting we could see right through the open back door.  The train was driving in reverse so we were the lead car of the train.  And......the wind was blowing in and we were getting rained on and the whistle was too loud and it was very uncomfortable.  It was definitely the most uncomfortable ride of the day, but it was also Ian's favorite.  He LOVED riding the caboose.  Other than being very cold and very wet, we had a fantastic day.  The weather left something to be desired, but such is life.  I'm already jazzed for next year.