In case I haven't made it perfectly clear, my Uncle Jerry is into trains. BIG TIME. In fact, he can no longer talk anyone into joining him on a visit to the Museum of Transportation when he visits St. Louis. He can talk for hours about them and all of their intricate parts. He takes several train rides each year, often by himself because even my Aunt Margy refuses to join him at times. Not surprisingly, in Spokane, he volunteers at a place that restores and houses trains. He volunteers in the library/information center--I feel for those innocent people looking for an answer to a simple train question....
Also not surprisingly, on our visit our west, we found ourselves visiting said center. Well, some of us visited, most everyone else hung out in the shade and chatted while Uncle Jerry showed me, Jason, Amelia, and another uncle around.
Inside a caboose--I fear that Uncle Jerry has already lost Amelia in his explanations.
I did actually learn something during the visit and thought this sign was funny.
Amelia and Jason trying out a piece of equipment who's name I cannot recall. Uncle Jerry would be most disappointed!
After a relatively short, but informative stop with the trains, we headed to Idaho. It was only about 40 minutes away to the beautiful town of Coeur D'Alene. I had a hard time capturing its beauty, but with the water, beach, and hills its really lovely.
During lunch, as you may expect the wait to prepare food for 10 people was a bit long and little Miss Amelia started to get antsy. Aunt Sue, who apparently is an origami expert, whipped up this crane for Amelia in about 4 minutes!
After lunch and some antique shopping (which Amelia surprisingly enjoyed even if Jason and i were chasing her around to ensure she didn't break anything), we prepared for some beach time.
The water was COLD! Amelia didn't mind though. She was in heaven on the beach!
She was pretty impressed that instead of shells, there were pine cones galore in the sand. Her sandcastle consisted of sticks and pine cones (which apparently I missed the picture of). Interestingly, I have pictures of my brother, Derek, and I from 20ish years ago building similar castles with pine needles, cones, and sticks! The beach experience in the Northwest is definitely different!
After arriving back home, Uncle Jerry brought out his special train puzzle to show Amelia. He was literally explaining parts to her that I had never heard of before. She was mostly just impressed that the puzzle was longer than she was!
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