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Thursday, October 04, 2012

On Trains and Moms and Vacations

Jean Sexton muses:

I've loved trains nearly all of my life. I've counted the cars when they go past and waved at people when I saw them on the trains. There's a crossing not far from where I live and on a quiet night, I can hear the whistle. I may have fallen in love with trains when I rode the old narrow-gauge steam locomotive (Locomotive #12) at Tweetsie Railroad, near the place my father grew up and near where he met my mother. Cinders and all, riding Tweetsie was great fun.

When I had the chance to go on a Real Vacation (i.e., not a working vacation in Amarillo), I looked for a tour that would be short enough to fit in the time frame I had. There it was -- trains and West Virginia. I called my mother to see if she wanted to go and, of course, she did.

One of the amazing things about growing up is that my mother and I have become friends as well as family. It surprises many people that we enjoy just hanging out together. (In fact, my next trip home will involve us going to a Civil War re-enactment in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.) We decided that this trip would pick up where we left off a bit back -- our tradition of going on trips together. We'd gone on beach visits, dug for fossils in a mine's slag pile, traveled to the mountains, visited historic sites, and always had grand fun each time. This time would be the same.

We rode a dinner train and saw the foliage on the mountains in its green, gold, orange, and red glory. We saw deer and rabbits along the way. We had a huge meal (neither of us could finish a 16-ounce prime rib) and good dinner partners. But the best part of the train rides was yet to come!

The Durbin Rocket is a steam engine, just as Tweetsie is. What I didn't know is that I would be able to ride in the caboose. I haven't ever made a formal "bucket list," but if I had, I'm not sure that riding in the caboose of a train would have been on it because I didn't know that doing so was possible. We were warmed on that chilly morning by a coal stove and my job responsibility was to keep the door closed so the heat didn't escape and to keep the doormat flat so no one tripped. I was real train crew!

As is my norm, I chatted with everyone and learned lots. Train aficionados told me about the role of the crew in the caboose and the conductor told me about the area we were traveling through. Another passenger was interested in plants and told me more about the flowers we were seeing through the windows.

I should mention that our trip also included a brief trip to see the New River Gorge. My mother is acrophobic, so going out on the observation deck was hard for her, but she did get to see the view across. (I hung out over the edge and took pictures!) She teased me when I bought (yet another) magnet for the refrigerator and reminded me that it was another thing to move to Texas this spring.

We also went to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank. I loved the science demonstrations and the pictures created by the radio waves that different planets emit. We did get to see the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT -- also called Great Big Thing) which is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. I didn't even know there was a United States National Radio Quiet Zone, but I know it now.

In between our visits to the different places, Mom and I talked. I value her perspective and wisdom. We discussed my forthcoming move to Amarillo, what things my apartment should have, the layout of my future office (SVC has already done a floor plan of it), how to pack to move, what things I could leave behind, and other domestic issues. We got very little sleep we were talking so much!

I think the best part of a vacation is that it rests your mind from focusing on work. That leaves your mind open to absorb new ideas, experiences, and dreams. Taking a vacation with a good friend (and mother) helps provide perspective and another person to relive the vacation with. And the best part of having a train in your vacation is that it takes you back to a slower time where you can appreciate the land around you. During this trip I got to see the river that flows past the town I was born in, past the land my father grew up in, past the land that many of my relatives still live near. It was a connection to my roots and a reminder that dreams flow on. They may meander as a river does, but the river reaches the sea eventually. My dreams will lead me to Amarillo where new adventures will begin.