The Christmas Train

I saw billboard advertisements for the Christmas Train in November, and my curiosity was immediately piqued. The girls are into anything train related, and since we weren’t able to ride the train in Eureka Springs, I thought maybe this Christmas Train would make up for it. So, I asked the family if they wanted to go, and we told the girls the good news. Little did I know, there are a limited number of tickets and a limited number of dates. So, when the tickets are gone, they’re gone. Needless to say, I checked on a Friday and found four open days; I went back the next evening to purchase our tickets and they were completely sold out. Sold out in less than a day! I was shocked, then devastated. I’m embarrassed to say that I actually cried. I was so upset for the girls, and I felt guilty for promising and getting them excited about a train ride that I wouldn’t be able to give them.

After I got over my disappointment a little, I started checking Craigslist for extra tickets. There were a couple of brief glimmers of hope, but they all fizzled out with, “Sorry, I already sold them.” Finally, though, my sister forwarded an email to me from someone selling tickets. By the time I got in touch with her, she’d already sold them, but she told me her sister was possibly interested in selling hers. Long story short, I had an email the next morning saying she had four tickets for us to go to the Christmas Train. Hallelujah!

I decided not to tell the girls the good news until I had those tickets in my hand, but Cadie squealed with joy when we pulled up to Dry Gulch and came face to face with a massive train. She immediately asked if we were going to ride it, and so help me, I couldn’t tell her “no”. Luckily, the woman who was selling her tickets came through, and we found ourselves in 19 degree weather in the middle of Dry Gulch USA. We thought it best to go straight to the train, even though there were other things to do. We didn’t have to wait in line too long, and we were relieved to see that they had more than one train running. The girls were beside themselves, grinning through their chattering teeth. There was plenty of room on the train –which was, thankfully, enclosed—and the windows were plenty big for the girls to see. So, we sat back and enjoyed as the Christmas Train wheeled us through the forest full of pictures depicting the story of Jesus. They had live scenes mixed in here and there, and the girls were excited when they saw baby Jesus. I was surprised by how emotionally touching the whole thing was. It was moving watching the story through the girls’ eyes, their innocence.

After the train ride, Cadie unsurprisingly asked if we could ride again. I had to explain to her that we were only allowed to go once. We opted to search out some grub, but made the unfortunate mistake of passing the playground on the way. Under other conditions, I would have been happy to allow the girls to play for an hour. This particular evening, though, was the coldest we’d had all winter and the girls’ red noses and frosty breath were proof enough. We allowed them a couple of trips down the slide, then pried them from the playground and headed to dinner.

After our bellies were full of tasty –and surprisingly, not ridiculously expensive—barbecue, we ended the evening with a ride around the carousel. The girls are suckers for carousels, and we’re suckers for the girls, so a ride –despite the freezing temperature—was inevitable. Amid the sounds of chattering teeth, we heard squeals of joy and delight, so it was worth it. The perfect ending to a perfectly frosty evening!