Mikey Rode the REAL Choo Choo Train!

This wasn't the first time Mikey rode Amtrak, but it's the first time he's been old enough to realize what's going on. We talked about the riding the train for about 6 weeks leading up to the big event. Yes, I used it as a bribe more than once to get him to obey me. We would talk about what we'd do on the train and Mikey got to the point of memorizing it. He would say, "Wuh gunnuh ride the choo choo train, and walk 'round, and eat food in the dining car, and walk 'round, and sit in da chairs, and go potty in choo choo train toilet!"

We had a great time. We rode the train from Grand Junction to Provo the Friday before General Conference. The train left Grand Junction around 5 PM and got in to Provo around 10:45 PM. We only got a few pictures before it got dark. One thing that kind of scared Mikey were the doorways between cars. They are sets of double sliding doors, and between the sliding doors is the crack where the two cars meet. It's kind of loud in there because it's not air-tight to the outside, so you hear the loud sounds of the cars going over the track and the wind. Mikey told me it looked like "machines breaking" and I needed to hold him so he didn't fall. I had to carry him every time we walked between cars, but it was kind of sweet and cute, so I didn't mind.

He also became fascinated whenever other people would cross between cars. He spent a good forty five minutes sitting on my lap, and leaning out slightly into the aisle so he could see the doorway. Every time someone came through the doors, he'd say, "That guy crossed the cracks! He's safe!" or some variation of that. It was funny.

Mikey loves to take pictures with my camera, and is pretty good now and pointing and shooting. The rest of these photos were from the train ride, courtesy of Mikey the photographer:

He wanted to take pictures of our hands for some reason :)

One of the window curtains hanging from the ceiling of the train

Views from the windows

I loved spending time with Mikey one-on-one and am always amazed and touched by what a sweet, calm, patient, obedient, smart, adventurous boy he is. I love you, Mikey!