Young Old's First Adventure

Having decided that we had been neglecting our friends up north in Bellingham, Washington for entirely too long, combined with the fact that we had been adventure-starved ever since the little man was bestowed upon us, we decided to head out on a four-day round trip journey by train to visit our dear friend Auntie Annie and her daughter Nessa Bug. This was to be Young Old's first rail voyage, unfortunate only in that it was not a proper "riding of the rails" filled with tramps, fleas, cop pursuits and knife fights. Ah well...all the same, it was a grand trip, Mama K and I enjoying the magnificent scenery scrolling past our window, Young Old seeing how many times he could vomit and shit his drawers within a six hour time span. Really, though, taking the train beat driving any day. We didn't have to stop and pull over every 30 minutes to feed or change the little guy, potentially making a 5 1/2 hour drive into an 8 hour nightmare. The Amtrak train has a diner car fully-stocked with tasty nibblets and life-warming coffee slurps. Onboard bathrooms left something to be desired in the sanitation department, but all the same, saved us time as we never stopped getting closer to our final destination. We'd also like to think we were being environmentally friendly by utilizing this oldest form of mass transit, though I'm not sure what powers these suckers...steam, coal, the blood of gypsies? All in all, the round trip tickets for Mama K, Young Old, and I came to $60; no complaints there. Hands down, this is my favored method of travel from here on out.

More on the trip tomorrow. Until then, here are a few photos from the beginning of our journey out of Union Station aboard the Cascade Express.

Choo choo.

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I always vowed that I'd never be that guy, you know, the Dad with twelve bags. And yet here we are, lugging around enough supplies and rations to feed and cloth an army for six months of jungle warfare.

Young Old, waiting for the train to arrive, says "Boooooring. Let's get this show on the road, folks."

Boarding the metallic beast of burden.

Young Old, future hobo.