Like the previous post, this is one that provides duplicity. The Clark Boys are named for their Grandfathers, and by chance we had events this weekend that involved both of them on different days. Saturday was Santa Train Day....a cold snowy Santa Train day for once. In past years the trip has been rainy, but this year a freak storm moved in and started dropping snow on the area. By the end of the ride the skies were dumping white stuff sideways, the ground was covered with 3-4 inches of snow, and driving conditions worsened. But more on that later...North Bend - where the Clarks met to board the train with the Grandparents and Cousin Eric - is at one end of the railroad to Snoqualmie, a part of the Northwest Railway Museum. We met there to board the Santa Train for a short ride to . Each year their sold-out trains rumble over the tracks once owned by the Northern Pacific Railway, now disconnected from the outside rail network.
While Jack has ridden a train before down at Tacoma Rail, this time he seemed to be more engaged on the trip. He was looking out the window and laughing, bouncing up and down on the seat, and talking away as landmarks would pass by. David and Eric sat toThe passenger car we were in was built in 1913, as part of the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway (a fully owned subsidiary of the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific....you got all that?). During the ride to Snoqualmie one of the museum volunteers walked through with a public address system singing Christmas songs. Once at the depot in Snoqualmie we headed straight to the Cookie Car where we picked up our cookies and hot chocolate (and coffee for us Norwegians). Lots of people stood in line to see Santa...lots and lots and lots and lots of people. Sherry elected to have The Clark Boys visit Santa at Crossroads Mall instead.There was some time in Snoqualmie before boarding the train back, so we headed across the street for some shopping. when we returned to the station, the snow had started to fall heavily. By the time we got to North Bend the snow began piling up and blowing sideways. It felt colder outside than when we had gotten there.
The drive to North Bend took us 30 minutes. Because of a jack-knifed semi on I-90 the drive home took us two hours. The air was right around freezing and causing ice to take hold under the thousands of cars that were stuck behind the semi and the rescue work. Traction control is a wonderful thing in our minivan. The Clark Boys even slept a bit. We did see a lot of cars off the road with flashers on; oddly (or maybe not) they were all expensive sedans of some sort. The crusty Aries K in front of us in traffic attacked the ascent like a mountain goat. Sad that the $90,000 Mercedes in the ditch wasn't able to do the same. I just realized that I should have taken a picture of all the cars backed up for over a mile. It was a site.
Once we did get home, Jack wanted to watch train videos and David wanted to play in the snow that had accumulated throughout the subdivision during our absence. Two hours later, we had built snowmen, used the sled with little Karl across the street, and conducted a snowball fight. This morning much of the snow was gone, but this blog and the pictures remain to describe the fun we had yesterday!
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