I've had this trip planned for a month or more, after seeing an advertisement for Thomas the Tank Engine coming to Tweetsie Railroad. I knew Sawyer would love seeing him, and I love any reason to go to Boone. After much consideration, I decided we would leisurely drive up Thursday, visit Tweetsie for a few hours and then camp for the night. Tweetsie has this cool deal that if you enter after 3 p.m., you can come back the next day for free. That was my plan. I thought about staying in a hotel, but A) I am cheap and didn't want to drop another $100, B) I love to camp and have been wanting to take Sawyer.
So after much packing and talking about it with Sawyer, the day had arrived. The weather was beautiful, just a day after we'd had gray skies and rain, so I was thrilled. It was cool enough to wear jeans, but the sun was shining and the clouds were gorgeous.
After a quick breakfast, we set off for the mountains. I had packed several electronic musical toys for Sawyer, so he kept himself busy with those for awhile. We sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" a half a dozen times and a few other songs. We talked about trucks beside us on the highway or pointed out things to see like flags, cows and rivers. We made one quick stop to use the bathroom (for me) and quench a chocolate milk craving (for Sawyer).
About noon, we arrived at our planned detour: the home of my friend Holly. Holly and her baby girl Sophie live pretty far up in the mountains, and every time I'd thought about making a trip after she was born, Sawyer would get sick. So now was the time. We played with the baby and her toys and ate lunch before setting off for Blowing Rock. The timing was perfect: Impending naptime and a drive on the serene Blue Ridge Parkway gave Sawyer a chance to recharge before we arrived at Tweetsie about an hour later.
The skies were a little dark, but I hoped for the best. Sawyer started spotting the trains as we climbed the hill from the parking lot. We walked in just in time to see Thomas before his 3:30 p.m. departure. Sawyer was excited but a little scared, I think. We stood near the crossing to watch Thomas steam past, and Sawyer waved so long I thought his little arm might fall off.
Watch Sawyer's poor arm as he waves. By the end, his arm is just flopping around like a fish.
Because it was near the end of the day, the crowds were fairly thin. We were able to walk around easily and see everything. We checked out a few shops and killed time until our 4 p.m. train ride. I let Sawyer choose which coach to ride in, and he picked the caboose. The whole train was pretty empty, but the last car had maybe six other people on it. The conductor climbed aboard, the bell rang and we started chugging.
The train (which was Tweetsie's regular train led by Thomas) puffed out of the station and crossed a wooden trestle before we were deep in the woods. The train ride is not long, but it was fun to see Sawyer's face. There were a few scenes with cowboys and Indians along the way, but mostly it was just fun to see the cars ahead of us making the turns as we wound around the mountain.
We pulled back into the station and Sawyer started crying. I thought he was sad because we had to get off, but he'd managed to wedge his arm between the slats of the seat in front of us. After I pulled him free and calmed him down, we took the chair lift to the top of the park, where were rode a few more kiddie rides.
We decided to head for the campground just about time the skies opened up. As we climbed into the car, I wondered what I was in for, trying to set up camp with a toddler in the rain. But Mother Nature spared us; the rain stopped almost as quickly as it started.
A short drive through Boone and we arrived at the KOA campground, where we checked in and bought some firewood. Our campsite was a big grassy spot with a picnic table and spot for a fire. Sawyer ran around while I set up the tent. He was fascinated by the tent poles. I heard, "What is dat?" about 3,000 times. After getting the tent and air mattress ready, I decided to try my luck at building a fire. We scounted around for some kindling, but most of it was wet. I got the fire going with newspaper and some dryer lint I'd brought, but it would not stay lit. I started to worry we'd be eating cold hotdogs for dinner.
So we walked up to the campground store where I bought some firestarters and some lighter fluid (just for insurance), and soon we had a nice blaze going. Sawyer did well with the fire, especially since there was no fire ring. His roasting technique was a little spotty though ... he was either torching the dog or standing so far away it wasn't even getting warm. The hardest part of the experience was multitasking. It was hard to keep an eye on him near the fire while trying to get my hotdogs ready. I was busy putting mustard and ketchup on the buns when I heard, "Oh no. It's dirty." Thankfully, I brought a few spares expecting we might lose one.
A family with a small boy arrived at the cabin near our campsite, and when he and his daddy started running around in the grass, Sawyer just joined right in. He chased them, tackled them and the dad picked them both up and flipped them around. And when your son joins another family, you have to overcome being an introvert and go talk to them. They were from Raleigh and were there for Thomas, too.
It was difficult breaking up Sawyer and Gabriel, but I finally got him to come roast marshmallows, which Sawyer didn't love as much as I expected. I explained that everyone was going to bed and we had to be quiet. I'd whisper it and Sawyer would repeat it L O U D L Y, over and over again. We put out the fire, brushed teeth, got in our pajamas and snuggled up under three heavy blankets. We read a couple books by lantern light. When we turned the light off, Sawyer threw an arm around my neck and was snoring in two minutes.
Sawyer slept like a log all night. I, on the other hand, never could get comfortable so I was still pretty tired. Someone firing up a weed-eater at 7:15 a.m. didn't help much. We got up, broke down camp and let the tent dry out a bit while we bought goat and donkey food in the camp store to feed their farm animals. When everything was packed up, we took a quick shower and Sawyer wore his Thomas shirt to go back to Tweetsie.
The park was much more crowded Friday. I could retire if I had a dollar for every kid in a Thomas shirt.
Our first mission was to ride the Ferris wheel. We'd seen it Thursday and Sawyer wanted to know what it was. I told him we'd ride it and go way up high in the sky. Watching the other kids riding it made me a little nervous that Sawyer would freak out. I made a point to say, "Wheee!" every time we went around and Sawyer was grinning so big that he was drooling.
After that, we rode the merry-go-round, airplanes and old-time race cars. We played a few games in the arcade, and hit the Thomas stations where we got our map stamped for a (very lame) free prize. Sawyer jumped in the Thomas bounce house and waited in line to meet Sir Topham Hatt, head of the Thomas railway.
We both got temporary tattoos: James and Thomas for Sawyer and Percy for me. Sawyer could've spent all day playing on the train table, though we had to spend 10 minutes before an engine opened up. After popcorn and a drink, we looked at the giant hall of Thomas-related paraphernalia. I told Sawyer I would buy him one small thing, and we disagreed over what that would be. Sawyer chose a new engine while I wanted him to get a Thomas whistle. I decided to cave and get both, and Sawyer pitched a fit. (He was getting tired and cranky by this point.) He actually picked up the whistle and hung it back on the rack while crying and saying, "No whistle."
We hung around a bit longer, making one of those souvenir pennies and buying a Christmas ornament (a family tradition for all our trips), so we could see Thomas depart one more time. The time had come to head home. Sawyer was asleep in five minutes.
Poor guy. He was tired and cranky. I was trying to take a picture, and he could hear the bell ringing. He was scared Thomas was going to run over him!
It was an amazing trip. I'm sure neither my words nor the hundreds of photos I took can really capture the fun and excitement we had this weekend. I hope it was as magical and memorable for Sawyer as it was for me.
And I hope we can go back again soon.
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