Train Trip

I feel a need to record some of the nice, fun things that have been happening in our lives, in contrast to all of the really hard stuff. I don’t want to think everything is always doom and gloom. Last weekend I took the little ones to a small, quaint town up in the coal region, called Jim Thorpe. They were hosting a Fall Festival but the thing drawing us there was the train rides because Love Bug has recently developed a train obsession. I had been hoping to get a train ride from near our town to the event, but the tickets sold out. So, we drove the 90 minutes there. It was a fairly pleasant ride, although Love Bug had an accident the moment we got to town. Fortunately, I had a change of clothes along for him. His car seat mostly dried by the time we ended our day and it was promptly disseminated to be cleaned. It’s the glamorous side of the mom life.

 

The day was cloudy and while the sun never really made an appearance, it was not cold and dreary. I wanted to ride the 10:30 train but we only got there at 10:30 and had to settle for the 1:20 train. This left us ample time to wander around, buy junk food for the kids and tour a local church. We toured the church to get away from the kittens a rescue was trying to rehome outside the church. The kids were mostly interested in the elevator, one of the oldest operating elevators in the country. It was super-cool, being a cage elevator with heavy iron doors, but I found the church itself to be magnificent. It was hewed into the hill it sat on, some of the inside walls showing the rock outcropping foundation of the building. The stained glass windows were made by Tiffany, the actual man and were stunning. Pocket doors with old lead glass, gorgeous architecture in the two chapels with several stories of a unique layout with exquisite details and expert care. I could have spent the day just wandering around the church! The children, alas, were less-interested in the workmanship and once they rode the elevator to all available floors, they remembered the kittens outside and thus ended our tour abruptly. Fortunately for me, the horse and carriage ride was passing by the church and it offered ample distraction for us to leave kitten and melt-down free. Love Bug, who has eschewed holding my hand since forever, almost got hit by a car because he wasn’t listening to me, but disaster was averted by a fast moving mama and slow moving car. Love Bug kicked me for my troubles. Still, we managed only a mini melt-down, flinging himself to the ground, before we were able to carry on.

 

I tried slowing our progress but there was only so much staring at old things the kids could take and we didn’t walk far enough away, so we ended up back at the train station with ample time to wait for our train. Love Bug was tired and I tried cuddling him to sleep, but the noise and excitement was too much for him. Finally, we were able to board our train. It was a two hour trip out to the Hometown High Bridge. I was grateful to be sitting down because I had a raging head cold and all the chasing and walking and talking and cajoling left me utterly exhausted. Not gonna lie, I nodded off a tad on the ride back. The High Bridge, as the name suggests, is a very tall bridge over a gorge filled with trees and a creek cutting down the middle. I tried to take pictures showing just how high up we were but they didn’t do the experience justice. After our train ride we grabbed some snacks for the ride home, which the kids gobbled down before zonking out in their car seats.

 

The best part of the day was when I finally took my much needed, long anticipated soaking bubble bath. Both the kids were in bed so I could bathe undisturbed and it was glorious. We have an old, large claw foot tub that just begs for someone to slip into the welcoming waters. I lounged in the hot soapy water until it turned cold and my skin puckered into a prune. It was definitely a well-earned bubble bath and it did help me to feel more human. My cold has slowly been abating, although my voice has not yet returned. Maybe I just need another luxurious soak in the bubble bath?