The Santa Train

On Saturday we took Kaylee to the Northwest Railway Museum for their yearly run of the Santa Train. Tickets for this event sell out incredibly early in the season and this year I had finally remembered and purchased tickets for the three of us.  It was a cold, wet and windy day as we drove out to Snoqualmie and North Bend for our 1pm trip.

I was really anxious when we pulled into Snoqualmie and I saw the train sitting at the Depot with no parking to be seen. We rushed out of the car as the train left and my heart just sank. I found a volunteer who informed us that we actually depart from the North Bend Depot, just a few miles east and not only that, but things were running 30 minutes behind so we hadn't missed our train after all!

We bundled a very confused Kaylee back into the car and headed to North Bend, found parking and picked up our physical tickets. Then it was time to get on the train!

The cars were decorated for Christmas and were lovely. We walked nearly the whole length of the train before finding a seat. Kaylee was excited, though she seems dubious here.

As we left North Bend, heading west, we passed by the cafe made famous by Twin Peaks and you can see Mount Si. My phone refused to focus past the rain drops, but I really love this picture anyway.

Kaylee was excited to look out the window and kept exclaiming every time she saw any sort of standing water, thinking it was a river.

 And then we actually went over a river!

 One of the other train cars.

 Once we reached Snoqualmie (again) everyone disembarked and we were treated to hot cocoa or coffee, freshly baked cookies and a visit with Santa. The cookies and hot cocoa were provided on a kitchen car. Here you see the water heating for coffee and cocoa!

 There was even a train table for the kids to play with while the adults stood by space heaters and snacked.

 This is the outside of the kitchen car.

 Inside the depot where part of the line wound while we waited for Santa.

 The line. It wasn't that long but we had a tired, cold toddler on our hands. I was a bad mom and did not give her the best footwear for this outing.

 When we finally got to see Santa, she promptly laid down and didn't want to go near the poor man.

 She clung to Eric instead while I took the picture and then we moved on, with a small flashlight acquired for Kaylee as a gift (part of the ticket).

 We visited the gift shop and picked up a silly gift for our friend Dave, who volunteers at the museum and is a train fanatic then boarded the train for our return to North Bend.

 Family picture!

We headed over to visit our friends Cortney and Dave, who live in Snoqualmie. I had made a saddle pad for Cortney as a gift and I wanted to give it to her since we were in the area. Dave's sister was also visiting for Hannukah and we chatted for a short time before making the hour long trip home.

Terrible but typical Western Washington winter weather and Kaylee enjoyed the train.