What We Saw

Yesterday  I told you about our bus/train ride with the senior citizens. Our goal was a waterfall that could only be reached by train. This was the purpose of our trip. When the train reached its destination, the conductor made this announcement: If you are unable to walk on your own, unassisted, then do not leave the train.
Excuse me? Did I hear him right? I very plainly asked the person in charge of the trip if we could push Mom in her wheelchair down to the falls and received an affirmative answer. There were many who chose to remain on the train, including Mom and Dad, of course. (Remember - the trip was for them.)

I was pretty excited by the time I saw this sign. Getting to this point involved carefully walking down a hillside. My hubby helped several women who were in danger of falling. There was no rail, only hanging tree limbs.

I didn't really know what to expect, but  my hubby was very disappointed in the size of the waterfall.

You must admit the scenery around it was gorgeous. We were there at the right time, that's for sure.

This is a cave we passed on our way down to the "lower falls".

This is another cave on the other side of the water.

The trees were in their glory.

Tomorrow I'll have one more post about the train trip. It had a surprising twist.

This little engine could.

I hope you've been reading about the train trip we took with my parents to see the fall foliage in Elkins, WV.  If you missed it, check my last two posts.
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2011/10/fall-foliage-on-tracks.html
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-we-saw.html

This sign was in the gift shop as we were leaving and I thought it summed up our trip very well.


Here is the special twist I mentioned:

I took this picture from inside the train as our locomotive was coming around us. Yes, the locomotive was coming around its train. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have taken a picture of the locomotives before we got on the train. What you are seeing here is one of the two locomotives that pulled our train. In order to get to the falls, this one had to come around on the side tracks so it could push our train to the top. It made me remember that great childhood refrain from the book: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....Pretty interesting, huh?

I'd like to end this post with a happy picture. These curtains were in the diner car. Aren't they the cutest faces you've ever seen?

Recap: We left our house at 5:00 a.m., spent 9 hours on a bus, 4 hours on a train, and got home about 8:30 p.m. My parents had to drive another 45 minutes, getting home about 10 p.m.

Memories: Somewhat priceless



Hubby and I left the next morning for Myrtle Beach and a much-needed vacation.

More pictures will follow.