Amtrakkin’
Today Ethan and I took Amtrak out to Hermann. Ethan, you see, is train-crazy and I decided to take him on a trip – at Greg’s suggestion, I kept it a surprise.
Well, sort of. Ethan figured it out when we were parking at the station.
Kirkwood’s Amtrak station is staffed by volunteers who are just delightful because unlike employees, they actually WANT to be there. In addition, the Kirkwood station has free books and novels for the taking for anybody who wants something to read on their trip. Oh, and parking? That’s free, too.
Ethan was SO excited when he saw the train coming around the bend and easily boarded the train even though there are some mighty big steps up into the cabin. He picked the seat and spent a good 20-30 minutes of our trip staring out the window until the motion of the train lulled him and he snuggled into my lap with his thumb in his mouth. He stayed that way until we went through a tunnel, at which point he popped up like a gopher to watch.
After the excitement of the tunnel, he couldn’t very well settle back down! We lurched up to the snack car and Ethan got a pack of donut holes which I immediately regretted, because after he ate 2-3 of them, I put them away and our conversation deteriorated into the following:
Ethan: “Mom, can I have one of those hole donut things?”
Me: “No. We’re saving the rest. You can have them after we get off the train.”
Ethan: “But Moooooooommmmmmm…..I want one of those hole donut things.”
Me: “I know. I told you. After we get off the train. That’s it. Don’t ask me again.”
[30 seconds later]
Ethan: “Mommy, can I please have one of those hole donut things?”
Once we arrived at Hermann, well, the first order of business was to walk some of that pent-up energy off a bit. We played on a caboose, walked to and visited a winery without buying anything, stopped at the riverfront to eat the holes and watch boats, held our noses at the smelly dumpster near the wheel monument, argued about the wagon I wouldn’t let Ethan climb on, and then…
…then we caught the train home and Ethan snuggled back into my lap with the occasional, “Mommy, I’m thirsty. I think we need to go to the snack car. I’m really really thirsty and really really hungry. Mom. MOM!”
Photos in order of occurrence – mouse over for a description:
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