We boarded at the Norman, OK station which is a small renovated historic depot that now serves as a charming local art gallery as well. We planned to meet up with Nana and Popper who were driving from Houston to Fort Worth to meet us and hand over Michael's new SUV (he'd purchased it from a dealership in Houston about a week ago).
Having worked in the tourism industry, I'd always heard great things about the Heartland Flyer. Their crew has been voted best in customer service for the entire Amtrak system, and after meeting three of them in-person, I can see why. They were absolutely delightful and made our experience even more memorable. Here are a few of the highlights:
Here comes the train!
Daddy & Gray pick out good seats on the upper level of the second car. We felt like we had the car all to ourselves.
Mommy & Gray checking out the reclining features.
Plenty of time for silliness.
Right before we pulled into the station, we thought Gray might take a nap. It didn't last, but the seats were comfortable enough to fall asleep.
I loved seeing sides of places you don't get to experience from the interstate. It's everything from mobile homes and junk that's been dumped by the tracks to perfectly preserved small-town depots on Main Street America and amazing landscapes that you can only access from the tracks. Both of these pictures are somewhere in the Arbuckle Mountains.
His new baby...there are already plans in the works for modifying it. Surprise surprise.
After an awesome steak lunch in Fort Worth's Historic Stockyards, we walked around some of the shops and picked up a cowboy had for Gray.
On the way back to the car, we passed this big guy. Gray couldn't wait to sit on him and then once he was up there he immediately wanted down.
We absolutely fell in love with train travel and can't wait to go on a longer trip up one of the coasts or somewhere we can experience sleeping and dining cars, plus take in some epic scenery from the panoramic windows.
4 comments:
I vote for the west coast... I'd love to join you guys! Mikey, when were you planning on telling me about the car? I'm hurt ;)
I got west coast as well since I have never been there. The car is kinda a sore subject. I am really sad to see it going to a different home, but I am glad I am not going to be putting all those miles on it anymore.
Did I ever tell you about my family's train trip? We were gone for almost the entire summer. We drove from NJ to Indiana...took the train from Indiana to Seattle, then to LA/San Diego, Vegas, and back to Indiana. We stayed in each city to explore. My sisters and I had our own room, we frequented the dining cart for all our meals (the food gets old, showered on-board, and spent most of our time observing our beautiful country from the observation cart. It was a trip of a lifetime! I think you guys would love it, too! You can bring John and me, and we'll babysit Grayson! :)
Whitney, that sounds like an amazing trip! After our trip, I stumbled across a blog about honeymooning by train. If you and Johnny plan to do that, we may have to join you :) We can't wait to go on another rail adventure. I'll keep you posted!
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