Come back Thomas! Come back!!

On June 10, while discussing and researching some fun things to do with my sister's family, we discovered that Thomas the Tank Engine was making a guest appearance at Tweetsie Railroad and that June 11 was his last day. Liv loves Thomas, so we knew we had to make this excursion happen. We called the box office at Tweetsie and managed to get tickets for the last ride of the day on the last day of Thomas's guest appearance!. Whew!

My wonderful sister kept Ro for us so we could be alone with Liv and give her some quality time. The drive from Abingdon, Virginia to Boone, North Carolina was very scenic on what was mostly a two-lane road cutting through the mountains. We left early and took our time, enjoying the countryside.

My family visited Tweetsie a few times when I was a child. I have very fond memories of it. The small park is situated on the side of a large hill. It's a wild west theme park, with a historic train to ride and lots of kitschy exhibits. Many of the things I remember doing as a child are still there, such as the go-cart style cars on a circular, single-lane, rubber-bumper lined track for small children to drive. It seemed that Liv enjoyed driving the cars as much as I remember enjoying doing it.

So there we were on a Sunday afternoon waiting to ride the train pulled by a life-size Thomas the Tank Engine. (For the grown-ups out there, I'm sad to tell you that Thomas was not a working engine. The train was actually pulled by Engine Number 12, the historic Tweetsie engine. But I'm sure the kids thought that Thomas was doing all the work.) We arrived early and thought we'd have some fun riding the rides and eating junk food until our scheduled train ride. Thomas had just dropped off his passengers and more passengers were boarding when we walked up to the depot. We got some great pictures of Liv and Chas standing in front of Thomas, and then it was time for Thomas to depart. We stepped back and, not thinking carefully about our words, said to Liv, "Wave bye-bye to Thomas." Liv's face screwed up to cry and as he pulled away she pleaded, "Come back Thomas! Come back!" It took a few minutes of consoling and explaining to convince her that Thomas was coming back and that she would get to ride the train. She thought he was gone for good. It about broke our hearts. She does love Thomas!

We ended our day at Tweetsie with a much anticipated ride on Thomas. Liv was in heaven. A good time was had by all.