Day from you know where part one.

We (Me, Spence, Benjamin, and Eliza) started at 9:00 a.m. on our big day out with Thomas the Train. First problem - Thomas was in Baltimore. It is not that it is so far away but it seems like halfway across the world when you factor in traveling on average about 15 miles per hour. How do people live like this?

People in Virginia drive like maniacs. The worst of which is Spencer. I don’t know how he manages without me gasping in horror as we almost ram full speed into the car ahead of us. Next time I have to get some serious medication for the nerves. Two hours fifteen minutes of that.

Ok, you know how I feel about hanging around kids, my grand kids excluded of course. The train station had more kids under the age of five than I have ever seen! Anxiety level started rising. Bathroom had a line of moms and kids that would make even the best bladder tremble. Everything jam packed with little bodies.

All I could see was Swine Flu and more germs than one human should endure in an entire life time. I couldn’t decide whether to hold the camera in my spare hand or the sanitizer. The sanitizer won out. I kept de-germing but the kids kept touching stuff so I’m sure it was a losing battle.

Now, about the actual train ride on Thomas the Train. What is it with the whole Thomas thing? I mean what is the appeal? Ok, I will admit I have only seen about one episode but I wasn’t impressed. He doesn’t even have any super powers, so geeze, why all the hysteria?

We board. We go. Well, I think we went. It was so slow that Eliza kept wanting to de-board because she couldn’t figure out why we were just sitting there. We moved slower than the traffic in VA during rush hour. We rode in a straight line for about nine minutes and then we went back in the same straight line. Thomas couldn’t manage a turn or a hill or much of anything. We did get a certificate. Spence said we couldn’t wrinkle them. I said “Why?” “We could make copies of these and pass them out to anyone walking down the street and they would look the same as the ‘official ones’!” By the way, a real train pulled us out and back in to the station. Thomas didn’t push or pull. What a sham! It was like a fake cardboard Thomas over a real engine.

Chicken nuggets, nachos, souvenirs, back to car and arduous trip home. Day gets longer. Part two of this story tomorrow.