On our visit to Chicago/New Buffalo this past weekend, Grumpy took Joel Andrew, James Morris and I to the Hesston Steam Museum in La Porte, Indiana. Yes, we were in three states in just a little bit of time! We were in the middle of the weekend with Ama and Grumpy, and it was time to GET OUT of the house! The boys were good all things considered, but it is a lot traveling with the two of them. So, Grumpy and I took them to the choo-choo museum.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it would be maybe one choo-choo to ride on, and then a bunch of model trains. It was quite the opposite, there were more than four trains to ride on, and acres and acres of land that the trains took you through. This allowed the trains to get up to a speed fast enough that you really felt what it was like to ride on one of these trains ages ago. You buy a ticket, with up to four train ride punches and each ride is about 5-8 minutes long. This could have been tough with James but luckily we kept him quiet and happy for most of it - the scenery gets to be the same after a while, lots of woods with a "swamp" here and there, but going under and over the bridges was a real treat. I also was nervous that at some point during a ride Joel Andrew would announce he had to pee really badly, luckily that did not happen.
Grumpy and I noticed that there was not much in the way of safety considerations. Just a rope between you and tumbling out of the train, and actually that was only on one side. I figure, this being America, they must be all in check with their safety and so I continue on like no big deal. After our large train ride, we got into the half size one where you sit in a booth with another person. There were no completely empty booths, so James and I sat with a girl, about 12. During the ride this girl explained that her foster Dad is a big volunteer here, they stay in the volunteer campground (my dad suggested I get a volunteer campground for my volunteers), and that they come back every summer, each weekend, to help. She works the popcorn machine. Pretty cool. She noted that this is a fully volunteer-run organization which I cannot believe, as there were at least 25 volunteers I could count, running the trains, taking tickets, running the shop or the concessions, tinkering with train parts, etc. Then the girl tells me she likes to work with this other volunteer, who is in a wheel chair. The woman in the wheelchair is sad, I learn, because she cannot operate the small ride-on trains anymore because a few years ago she was operating it and it fell on her and now she is in a wheelchair. Cue us getting off the mid-size train and Grumpy saying, lets go on the ride-on ones.
I did, I decided that was years ago, and nothing has happened since. But, you were literally strateling a train about 2 feet off the ground. The conductor comes over and tells us that since it is the end of the day, we get a double ride as he needs to close down the track. Great, double the time... As we pull out of the station, I literally see a woman in a wheelchair waving nostalgically. We did survive though. The kids loved it. Joel Andrew could not get enough of Grumpy.
The only bummer is that we arrived towards the end of the day, so by the time the train rides were over the gift shop and soda fountain were closed. You could have made a three hour day out of it literally when you factor everything on the grounds in, and I am sure the kids would have loved another train ride.
Stellar pick, Grumpy! I hope you can get to that gift shop for us for Joel Andrew's christmas present. He will be talking about this one for years!
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