The Polar Express!!!

"Why to the North Pole, of course!"  Yes, that's where we went.  In Grace's words "most epic-est 24 hours ever!"

Grace was definitely the reason we went.  (Although, Harriet was pretty darn delighted too.)  Grace has been asking to go on the Polar Express since she started her love affair with trains at the age of 3.  They did have a couple options in New England, but they were very expensive and you had to book your tickets in like, July, so we never went.  Then, upon moving to NM, we did hear about the one in Durango and, well, it took a few years, and prodding from several friends to just do it.  Our friends, the Ponds, organized a big group to go.  We didn't take them up on it at first until one fine afternoon over Thanksgiving weekend at the Merrills house, we egged each other on until we got Durango on speaker phone and ordered the tickets for both our families to join the Pond's group.  Positive peer pressure rocks.

I normally don't like to be "that" family and take my kids out early for school breaks, but I had absolutely no problem skipping out of school a day early to head to Durango on December 21st,  especially after we worked our tails off for the school parties and could clearly see that nothing productive would happen on that last day.  We begged Aunt Christine to come sleep with the dogs for the night and headed up to the winter wonderland in our one horse open sleigh (aka trusty Subaru.)

Snow hadn't (and still hasn't!) fallen in ABQ this season, so it was super Christmasy and cozy to stay at the base of the mountain at the Marriott with a big fire in the fire place and snowy mountain peaks and pine tree scenery out the window.  I really don't like living in places like that and having to survive long winters, but visiting briefly is really nice sometimes.

We got there early enough in the day to enjoy the hotel pool.  Had the whole place to ourselves, so the kids swam until their hair turned Christmas tree green.  Then, the Merrills caught up with us and we headed to Steamworks for dinner to catch the rest of the crowd (Ponds, Burks, and Hoods.)

After filling our tummies with delightful things, we headed over to the train station for our 8:25pm ride to the North Pole!  (note to self - don't try to get seating for 25 people at a popular restaurant on a Friday night when you have a train to catch!  But, it worked out well in the end...)

I'm telling you.  I am such a kid when it comes to Santa and magical things.  When that big black steam engine came puffing around the corner of the station into the platform... well, it was seriously cool.  I was trying so hard to take video and pictures.  I missed getting a shot of the "Polar Express" lettering on the side of the train trying to get a shot of Grace's face as she saw it.

 We boarded the antique wooden train car, found our seats, and were immediately greeted by the staff.

The conductor came through and punched an "L" into all of our tickets.  I guess we get to choose what our L is for.  Lead, Learn, BeLieve...

 (I will say - the dim lighting and constant train movement made picture taking very difficult, but we did our best.)

They brought us delicious soft chocolate chip cookies with sparkly Christmas sprinkles and thick rich hot chocolate (in cups just the right size to finish it all and at a just the right temperature to drink it immediately - you have no idea how much I love stuff like that.  I hate it when it's too hot to drink and there is so much I have to throw half of it away.)

They read the story of the Polar Express as we chugged our way through the foothills.  You could see the snowy mountain glowing through the window in the clear night sky.  As we got close to the "North Pole" they wiped down the fog on insides of the windows and turned off the interior lights so that we could see the whole North Pole town.  It was so much fun!  I sat by Harriet and Grace sat by David.  Harriet's grin the whole way up and back was truly priceless.  I worried that she would get car sick with the rocking train motion.  Frankly, I did a little and she is much worse than I am.  But, she was SO happy and SO mentally involved with what was going on, she didn't even notice the motion of the train.

 They stopped at the center of the city and allowed Santa on the train to give the "First Gift of Christmas!"  Every child received a silver sleigh bell.  It was so awesome.  Grace, I know, has fantasized about what it would be like if the Polar Express actually picked her up in the middle of the night and secretly hopes that it will someday.  I think reality and fantasy came close enough this time that you could have almost convinced her that it did.

 

We sang Christmas carols all the way back to the station...

 

...where we found real reindeer...

 ...and the conductor...

(sneaked to the back of the train)

...and Santa waiting for us!

We got back to the hotel very late and tucked everyone in for a good winter's nap.

The next morning, we met the Merrills in the hotel lobby for a yummy breakfast by the fireplace and then headed out to explore Durango.  I have never been to Durango except to stop there on the way to Utah for gas and lunch.  I had definitely never been to the old Main Street part of town.  It was absolutely adorable.

(Harriet acquired 2 new little friends at the toy store - Alvin and Britney Chipmunk, Grace is wearing her latest Star Wars shirt - the Durango version that says "May The Forest Be With You)

It reminded me so much of the little antique towns in New England with unique and fun shops and great places to eat.  With so many little kids in tow, we weren't able to eat at this French bakery I had my eye on, but I have high intentions to go back and check it out.

We did revisit the train station and pick up souvenirs, ate too much chocolate at the chocolate shop, stopped in every toy store, and played in the snow on the street in between every store front.

After lunch we capped off the trip with a dip in the town pool.  Crazy thing to do on a winter vacation, but Durango does have a pretty awesome rec center with gigantic pools, slides, diving boards, lazy river, hot tub, and water toys.

I am so very glad we made this trip happen.  The girls are growing up so fast, we nearly missed our window to do it justice.  It was a truly amazing way to start the Christmas break and head into the Holiday week.  I'm sure we will try to do it again sometime, but the magic of the first time is never the same again.