Jake's new obsession is Thomas the Tank Engine, so I was excited when I saw that "A Day with Thomas" would be in nearby Santa Cruz. We packed up early Sunday for a day of Thomas activities and a ride on the train!
Problem number one, I didn't check the weather. When we left San Jose it was already sunny and in the mid-80s. When we got up into the mountains it was raining and 60. So we started out the day cold and grumpy (and I was carsick, of course). Problem number 2, like every other event in this god forsaken area of the country, it was PACKED with people. You couldn't move. I laughed out loud when Dave turned to me an hour after we got there and said "This is just miserable." A bunch of 2-4 year olds fighting over trains, parents shoving each other around and giving the dirty 'your kid's not sharing with my kid' look. (This was at the spectacular 'train table' display... neither of the five set ups could compare to Katie Perusse's.)
And the kicker was, we didn't realize people lined up about an hour ahead of time to get on the train, so we piled on last. That meant we were stuck on this little bench in the middle of the car, not even able to see out the sides. Luckily, I'd hit full-on bitch mode at that point and shoved in next to a guy who was taking up an outside seat with his backpack so Jake could see. And for 20 minutes, it was all worth it... the ride actually went through the redwoods of Big Basin. It was really amazing and beautiful.
And then it ended. And we piled off. And we got a glimpse of Thomas and the hour-long picture line from about 100 yards away. Jake still talks about riding on the choo-choo, but I don't think he has no idea the day was associated with Thomas.
