The Polar Express

We made it back safe and sound last night from our adventure to ride the Polar Express on the Mt. Hood Railroad.

This was a trip we had been planning for months (you have to get the
tickets months in advance - a big thanks to Jen for the reminder email
earlier this year to sign up) as a surprise for Simon. He is a huge fan
of the The Polar Express
story and especially the movie.

We picked him up early from school on Wednesday and started driving north. We told him we were going on a surprise adventure and it was going to be quite a ways in the car. In a box in the car we had packed a new set of surprise Christmas PJ's and planned to stop at Target to pick up a bathrobe like the boy in the movie wears.

Our big fear was that we would not be able to make it over to Hood River. It's a three-hour drive in regular conditions but because of snow and freezing temperatures all over Oregon we just weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it. Because of that we did not tell Simon where we were going until we were sure we were going to make it all the way.

We stopped at a Target south of Portland and I ran in to see what kind of boys bathrobes they had available. They actually had quite a few choices but I went with a fleece blue Cars bathrobe with red on the collar and cuffs...and it was $8 (probably the best $8 I have spent in a long time as you will see). I got back in the car and off we went.

The roads were totally fine almost the entire way. It got a little bit slick with packed snow and ice and snow coming down as we approached Hood River but nothing that slowed us down.

As soon as we could tell that we were really going to make it we started giving Simon clues about where we were going and what we were planning to do. We gave him the PJ's to open and he was pretty excited about those but still had not guessed where we were going. We came up with some easier clues, handed over the bag with the bathrobe and let him open that and it all started coming together for him.

"Are we going on the Polar Express?" he finally asked with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.

"That's right buddy. We are going to ride on the Polar Express and you get to wear your PJ's and bathrobe on the train just like in the movie."

As we pulled into Hood River the snow was really coming down. The train depot is right downtown so we pulled in there and checked-in, picking up our official tickets. We had been going back and forth about staying the night but considering the weather and the fact that the Hood River Hotel was right across the street we decided to just go for it. We drove over, got a room that was able to accommodate the dog as well, gathered up our stuff, and piled into the room so that Simon could change into his PJ's and bathrobe.

The excitement level at this point was pretty high for all of us. We were able to walk out the door of our room right down to the train depot. The fact that it was snowing and there was snow all around really added to the whole adventure.

Down at the train depot there were lots of families gathering to wait for the train. While waiting we picked up a copy of the Polar Express book and Simon sat down to check it out.

Soon enough everyone began forming a line and we saw the train pull up
and the conductor come in and welcome us to the Polar Express. We
found our train car and climbed aboard. Because of the weather there
were many families that decided not to brave the elements so there was
lots of room available to move cars or change seats. We ended up moving
into a warmer car that ended up being a great move because we ended up
being second in line to see Santa (a wait that would have been
challenging).

Once we were all settled in the train began to move and the conductor came around and punched all the kids tickets just like in the movie with little punched circles flying all around.

Polar Express music was playing on the sound system. Hot cocoa was served by "bakers" (as Simon likes to call the white hats). And then they read the entire Polar Express story over the loud-speaker. It was cool to have the book with us at our seat so Simon could follow along.

As the train rolled along we came to a little village they had set up as the North Pole with elves and Santa! Santa and the elves boarded the train and came and visited each of the kids, giving them their own special Christmas bell.

On the way back there was lots of singing and finishing up of hot chocolate. It was such a cool trip. The best part for us was just watching Simon's reaction to everything. Seeing all the joy and anticipation for each little thing. It was so cool.

After the train ride we headed across the street for some pizza and video games before heading back to our room. When we did get back to the room Simon played out the entire Polar Express movie and definitely wanted to sleep in the bathrobe. And why not?

Overall it was a really special trip for all of us. We are so glad we were able to make it over there and back safely and that it was such a cool surprise for Simon.

Family adventures are awesome.

All day yesterday, as we made our way back home (including some shopping stops in Portland), he wore that bathrobe over his clothes with bell and punched ticket in hand.

And guess what? It snowed here again last night. For the third time this week we woke up to a no-school announcement. Talk about one very lucky little boy.

I will be catching up on December Daily creations this weekend.