Our trip north to ride the Polar Express was fun overall. We picked up Daddy at work, fueled up the car, and headed north at about 3pm. Shortly after turning on to 40 west at Flagstaff, Galen spotted a train running in the other direction of the far side of the highway, and a few more after that until the road and the track diverged too much. We hadn't told him where we were going yet.
When we arrived in Williams, all of Galen's attention was focused on the trains parked on the other side of the road from the depot, but we had to drive over to the other side of the hotel to find parking (the Grand Canyon Rail Hotel and the Grand Canyon Rail Depot share grounds AND parking). As it turned out, we had an excellent parking spot, because the coach we were assigned to boarded right across from it.
We went into the depot to pick up the tickets, decided the insanity inside was not worth sticking around to do anything else, and walked over to the buffet/gift shop to eat before our train. The buffet IS really nice, but it's also really expensive - as in about twice what any other decent buffet would cost in Phoenix. If we do this again, we will not be eating at their buffet.
It was in the buffet that Galen got to see the earlier train leave the station (they have one at 6:30pm and one at 8pm - I bought tickets for the later train to make sure we'd be able to get there in time). We had a table near the window, but not right at the window.
When we were almost finished eating Galen started making a fuss, which escalated into a full-blown crying fit in the ladies room while I was changing him into his new Christmas pajamas. He absolutely, positively, did NOT want to ride on the train. He wanted to go home. Galen loves trains, so this was a little disconcerting, but I thought it might have been because he'd never seen one close up before (there's an old steam engine on display between the buffet and the depot) and had no idea of enormous they were. We took a closer look at the one on display on our way back to the depot (it looks a LOT like the one depicted in the movie), and he seemed fascinated - he calmed right down and started checking out the pistons and the other parts he could see. I thought we were going to be fine at this point.
We headed down the walk to the boarding area for our coach (15 total - we were in the 4th). As soon as he realized we were waiting for the train to come so we could go for a ride, he started up again. He was adamant that he wanted to go home. This turned out to be a perfect example of why you should carefully listen to what your children are actually saying, rather than making what seem like reasonable assumptions. As soon as Richard told him we would be going home after we rode the train it was like someone had flipped a switch and our happy go-lucky, train-loving little boy was back. I think I've got a rash on my chin from it hitting the pavement.
He had a blast during the ride - he didn't know all the words to the Christmas carols we sang (they provided lyrics, but of course he can't read that fast yet - and there were a lot of words he still doesn't know), but he had big smiles while he clapped and stomped and all the other things the "chefs" asked us to do while we sang. He enjoyed his hot cocoa and his cookie. He loved looking at the pictures in the book as they read the story out loud. He loved the "North Pole" they had set up beside the track - lots of lights and buildings representing the part of the city that Santa lives in (but not the toy factories which were on the other side of the hill to give Santa and the Mrs. a little peace and quiet). They had a sleigh with a huge sack loaded on it (with Bernard from The Santa Clause on a ladder doing something near the top).
After picking up Santa, we headed back to Willliams. Santa worked his way through the coaches handing each child a large bell. Galen loves this bell. It's actually a very nice one. The bell currently lives on the train table in his room. Daddy had to talk him into putting it somewhere safe instead of taking it to bed with him - the train table was his idea (Daddy suggested the book shelf).
Galen fell asleep in the car on the way home. No surprise. The bell stayed in his lap the whole time, too. We still have no idea why he made such a fuss, but it all turned out the way I had hoped.
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