The Santa Train

While I am generally not really into promoting the whole Santa/presents/Rudolph/materialistic side of Christmas, we got some tickets for the Santa Train from a friend and took the kids. It was a pretty fun experience, but our enjoyment was severely tempered by the frigid temperatures. You board the train in a small town outside of Seattle, then ride the train a few miles down the track to another depot, get off and get cookies and cocoa, and visit Santa. It's a great idea, but the one problem is that the old restored train cars don't have any heat! And we just happened to go on a day where the temperature was probably 25-30 degrees! We tried to bundle up as best we could, but you'll notice that we all look pretty chilly in these pictures. The kids got to see Santa (Drew asked for binoculars, Sam asked for a Barbie), and we warmed up in the "kitchen car" with some cocoa and cookies. It was a fun, albeit VERY cold, experience.


Missi and I on the train trying to stay warm


Here is one of the old restored train cars. I love the old-style text across the top that says "Spokane, Portland, & Seattle"


With snow on the ground and scenes like this little pavillion just across from the train depot, the whole experience seemed very Norman Rockwellish.




Doesn't this picture of the train depot just look like something from a Rockwell or Thomas Kincade painting? Very "Americana."