Last Friday our family set out for Elkins, West Virginia to take a ride on the New Tygart Flyer train. There are various trains and routes to pick from, but we chose the New Tygart Flyer because it offered lunch on the train and a trip to see some pretty waterfalls. The journey on the train was 4 hours and both kids had a ball. Many people stopped us and commented on our cute little lady and how well she was behaving on the train.
Adeline took a short cat nap because she didn't want to miss out on her first train ride - you could tell she knew we were doing something "new" to her and she loved sitting on top of the table and looking out the window as we whizzed along the tracks. William, ever the "Flyer," was pleased as punch that our train made reference to airplanes. He was excited to have lunch on the train and brought along his sketch pad to doodle some planes while we rode along.
Once we got to the waterfalls, everyone got off the train and hiked down a steep staircase (Dan had Adeline in his arms, otherwise, I would have been terribly nervous) to view the falls. William had a good time throwing a bunch of big rocks into the water and seeing which ones made the biggest splash. After about 30 minutes, we all got back on the train and headed home to the train station in Elkins. We crossed over a HIGH bridge and road through a dark tunnel (William loved that part). Back at the depot, we took a quick spin through the gift shop where Dada picked up a t-shirt and WBB got airplane. That's right, an airplane at the train station. Go figure.
We headed home around 4pm and arrived back at the house around 9pm. It should have been about a 3 hour drive, but we took our time and stopped to check out a potential getaway spot, we had dinner, hit a car show, played in Walmart and gave Adeline a few breaks from her car seat. William was happy to be going home, but he was also terribly sad that our "great adventure" to the train was over. It was a sweet little reminded that sometimes even the smallest and easiest trips can have a lasting impact on kids. He truly loved the train ride, car ride and all the stops in between.
I failed to mention that we left on our trip Friday morning and spent the night at the Canaan Valley Resort State Park. We've stayed there before and it's a good location to hiking trails and the West, VA Mountain Railroad. The views are beautiful, the rooms are decent, breakfast is included and they have a pool, putt putt, hiking trails, golf, swimming, etc. We also returned to our favorite West VA restaurant called The Purple Fiddle. It's located in the middle of a ghost town in the old general store. Bands come from all over to perform there and you can have a delicious meal while you enjoy the music. William remembered the place and went straight to our table from last year! His memory cracks me up sometimes.
CHOO CHOO!
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