train

Last weekend, we rode the North Pole Flyer.

We got off to a rough start, to say the least. Because my mom booked our tickets later in the year, we ended up in the excursion coach car instead of the first class lounge. Not only were we not served an endless supply of cupcakes and other sweets, but we had to go to the concession car to fetch our own hot chocolate. Oh the horror! As it turned out, none of us were especially interested in drinking much hot chocolate that day - mostly because it had the distinct flavor of hill country water. And my mom had packed a huge lunch for me with all of my favorites.

The concession car happened to also house a gift shop and that almost ruined my entire day, if not my entire life. My dad agreed to buy me one train to play with. Needless to say, I could not decide and, when I did make my purchase, IT WAS ALL WRONG. So I spent the next three weeks (oh wait, we were only on the train for 2.5 hours) on the verge of a tantrum. And your parents cannot simply get you off the train and take you home when you are in the middle of no where. I ended up negotiating a loan with my dad and buying a second train. Then everything was good and my first train and my second train played nicely together and they continue to bring me hours of fun. (Thanks for the negotiation skills, Montessori. But please keep your fingers crossed that my dad doesn't remember that I owe him $16. So far, he hasn't tried to collect.)

Once I had my toy train situation under control, we had a fantastic ride. There is plenty to look at. There is always at least one person in the train car who talks loudly about himself/herself the entire time  so that entertained my mom. My dad marveled at the rock formations and I was interested in all of the construction sites adjacent to the track. We even passed by a cement factory!