It's rollin' around the bend...
This weekend, we took the older kids up for a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. Paige and I bought two tickets at the fundraiser for Phoenix Christian School, and then decided at the last minute that Ella, Levi, and Noah would really have fun on a train ride.
So into the van we went, and made the 2 hour drive up to Cottonwood, after dropping Luke off at Grandma's.
The train leaves from the station in Clarkdale, under the watchful eye of the town of Jerome, high up on the hill...
Ella was the only one who would smile for the picture. The other two were barrelling off to who knows where...
The big diesel engines...
"All aboard!" Anxiously waiting for the train to pull away from the station...
Levi, lost in thought...
They loved the trestles. I have no clue how they even know what a trestle is. It just took me four attempts to spell "trestle" correctly. Too much Thomas on TV I guess. Regardless, they all squealed "A trestle! A trestle!" every time we went over one.
Some of the local "wildlife." Three of these guys in formation flew right down the valley and over the train, maybe a couple hundred feet off the deck. Very cool, and I doubt that happens every trip...
The scenery was unbelievable. The weather was perfect too. Blue skies, red rocks... Paige made a comment that it hardly even looked like Arizona here. Apparently I need to get her out and about more...
(click on the picture below for a bigger view. It is a good one...)
Some of the actual wildlife. Ok, "tame" life. And some real cowboys, going about their work. On the trip we did see several bald eagles, hawks, an osprey, and evidence of a beaver.
Levi, of course, missed most of this scenery. He spent the first 30 minutes in single minded focus, staring down at the coupling connecting the two cars, the air lines, the tracks, the metal plate bridging between the cars that turns back and forth on every curve. Gonna be an engineer, that one...
"No kids on the railings" That is seriously one of the rules. If you are shorter than 4 feet, you get to spend the whole trip with your face smashed up against the metal grate, peeking at the sweeping vistas through little tiny metal holes. We conscientiously observed this rule.
As long as you had a good hold on your kid, they were ok with it.
Ella, checking out the sights with her "binoculars." She saw some of the other kids with binoculars, and decided to imagine some of her own.
Did I mention the scenery is incredible?
Into the tunnel. The kids thought this was the best part...
Ella, paying strict attention to the rule of keeping all appendages inside the train at all times. I think I spent a good portion of the trip holding her up on the rail, with her head out the side like a little dog. She loved it! (and so did I...)
After 2 hours and roughly 18 miles, you make a stop in the booming metropolis of Perkinsville...
According to the guide in our car (who was excellent, and a native of Jerome. How many people can there be who were born (born!) in Jerome?) it was originally a ranch, started around the turn of the century by the Perkins family. Moved out there with their 6 kids and started a ranch. When the railroad was built in 1912(ish), they built a depot and a water stop for the steam engines of the time. The railroad folk, having obviously superior powers of imagination, named it Perkinsville. Creative guys, the railroad barons! The Perkins ranch supplied beef to the town of Jerome, which at the time had 15,000 people in it.
After the steam engines changed to diesel, the water stop was no longer necessary. The railroad buildings deteriorated, and Perkinsville pretty much went back to being the Perkins ranch. Still owned by the same family, some of whom live in the house in the photo above (not the one with the old jeep.) If you jumped off the train, you would land on their back porch. And this line runs freight trains at night!
And virtually every one of those details may be wrong, as I was trying to listen to the guide while fending off requests for ice cream sandwiches and trying to prevent hyper little boys from leaping off the now-stopped train.
At Perkinsville, they switch the engines to the opposite side of the train to pull you back for the return journey.
The trip back is, as you would imagine, the same sights as the ride there, only in the reverse order. That college degree obviously sharpened my mental powers...
Back through the tunnel...
More cool canyon scenery...
Which Levi and Noah missed, because they were completely cashed out. They slept for most of the two hour ride back...
So while the boys were sleeping, Ella was treated to a bag of Cheetos, and her first Budweiser...
Kidding!!!! It was the guy next to her with the Budweiser, that I cropped out of the photo.
We also got a good look at the Indian ruins on the way back. The kids were fascinated with this. There were several other spots along the way that the guide pointed out indian ruins.
Overall, a very cool trip, with amazing scenery, beautiful weather, and well behaved kids. Highly recommended by the Addink clan. In fact, Paige and I even commented afterwards that riding railroads could totally be our "thing." I'm fascinated by the history, Ella loves the wind in her hair, Paige loves the gift shops, and Levi and Noah will just stare at the train couplings the whole time! Money well spent! ;)
Oh yeah, Luke apparently had loads of fun doing his best to destroy Grandma's house. Thanks Grandma! (pics she emailed me while we were on the train. Who knew that Perkinsville would get a cell signal!)
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