Year 3, May 11th, 2018: Whitewater River Valley Railroad Field Trip

Today was the day of the Whitewater River Valley Railroad field trip!  Yeah!  It was a gorgeous day! A cool 65 degrees in the morning, to a high of mid 80's on our way home.  The railroad station is a little over an hour away, but we made it there in plenty of time to spare.  In fact, we were ready to go a few minutes early!  Which was a good thing because Keturah slammed the van sliding door on Abishai's fingers.  Ouch! Some ice and some lavender and copiaba oils with coconut oil and he was good to go in no time!  At the station, there was our homeschool group and another school, as well as a few older passengers.  Not overly full, which was nice.  The 1 hr, 20 minute train ride out to Metamora from Connersville was pleasant.  It wasn't too warm yet, and we ate some lunch on the way to help us pass the time. The scenery was your basic farmland, woods, and streams kind of scenery.  This particular part of the railroad is taken care of all by volunteers.  They do these train rides for school groups and then other rides like the Polar Express, which we went on 8 years ago, a fall foliage ride, a ride to dinner (you eat dinner at a restaurant in one of the small towns), and then they are the ones who host Thomas the Train every year, which is probably one of their biggest money makers besides the Polar Express.  Thomas is a full sized engine and is brought from railroad station to railroad station via a truck and then lifted onto the track, hooked up, and away it goes.  We went when Justin was 4 and Keturah was 1.  I didn't take Benaiah because it was expensive, but it was in June and very, very hot. I remember nursing Keturah on the 20 minute train ride and being so sweaty.  That's one reason I decided we would go with the homeschool group because for $46 we all got a total of 3 hrs on a train!  Thomas has lots of kid activities, too, but it would have been so hot and so crowded.

Anyway, we passed a few historical sites which I'll explain below and then got to Metamora, an old little town which doesn't have much activity except for the train coming through.  It's right beside the trickle of the canal that was built years and years go.  We spent 2 hrs in Metamora, which was very peaceful, but made me wonder how those people actually make a living when the main foot traffic comes by train.  Everybody kept pretty good attitudes, until after the train ride back to Connersville when we were all exhausted and just done with being around people. It had gotten really hot and sticky on the train, too.  Abishai didn't nap until the car ride home, so he was flopping everywhere.  Made a quick stop at McDonald's for drinks, and onwards to home we went.  They all fell asleep.  I tried to fall asleep but wasn't quite there.  We had bought groceries the night before and brought home one of those big fresh pizzas.  So I cooked it last night so a) it could fit in the fridge and b) then we could just eat it cold or warm it up quickly when we got home.  Perfect idea.  But first, they had to eat vegetables they had refused to eat earlier in the day.  One small package of mini carrots and one package of mini peppers should be eaten all in one meal when 6 people are eating from it.  That's how many veggies you should be eating.  Well, we don't get enough.  But they got them for dinner, that's the point.  We got everything put away, life reorganized, plans made for the rest of the weekend (ok, that's mostly me doing that and using that), showers taken and bedtime.  Long, long, tiring day, although we were only on our feet for 2 hrs.  (And we are all feeling it today, the next day, so we are taking it slow. Abishai woke up feverish, too.)

I'll try to add more stories with the 110 pictures I loaded for this post.  Um, yeah, I won't type something for each picture and feel free to skip all of them.

Real train tickets!

Trying to get a group photo is daunting.  I wanted Abishai on the bench, but he wasn't having it.  Sidenote: One reason I like bringing both Jared and Benaiah along for field trips is because they can carry our stuff.  Jared keeps everyone in line.  Benaiah looks after his younger siblings.  But it's mostly the stuff I need carried, like our lunches and my medications/oils.  I am not as sore today as I usually am because I only carried my camera, my camera bag, and my personal beverage.  The camera does weigh few lbs and gets heavy after awhile.  The middles also carried most of their own lunches and whatever books they brought to read and do (as you'll see below).  The day was more relaxing because I didn't have to fuss so much and keep track of everything.

Grand Central Station!

I didn't push for me to get in the picture.  This is good enough for me.  Cute little station though!

Real railroad men, lol.  Older gentlemen who volunteer their time.

You could pay extra to ride in the caboose.  We did not ride in the caboose, but it does look cool!  They have two of them, one on either end.

One of the 3 couch cars.  We were in the one further down.  I think I rode one with red seats at the Day Out with Thomas thing.

Brakes and springs.

Abishai was watching the caboose car sway and go up and down.  He sat his seat most of the time going from Connersville to Metamora.

The rest of the crew.  The train cars are old, but fairly clean.  There are no restrooms on the train though. 

Keturah sat with friend.  I remember when Santa gave her her jingle bell on the Polar Express.  We saw the "North Pole" set up outside halfway through our train ride for it.  I also remember them getting their Jingle Bells from Santa.

The train blared it's horn at every crossing which was not fun for Abishai.  All of the crossings we went through didn't have the crossing arms and only a few had lights and sirens.  That's a little scary.

On the way to Metamora, we saw some old train cars and engines and unfortunately, I don't think they are going to be in use anytime soon.  Maybe someone donated them to this historic railroad thinking that they might restore them?  But it was kind of neat to see.

This one looks like it could have been running recently.

I don't know the whole story, but at one time there were water canals right next to the railroad, or maybe before the railroad?  There's no water down there now, although we did have a very wet spring.  Those rocks are piled liked that because they are the side of the old canal for the canal boats, which were pulled by horses on the shores.

So this is what it looks like at a crossing from the train's perspective.

We ate our lunch on the train so we would have plenty of time to walk around the town.  Abishai is very good about being neat and clean when we have our picnic lunches.

More of the canal.

Right in the middle of the picture is an eagle's nest!

And here's the bald eagle!  The train conductor let us know that it was coming up and told us where to find it!  The conductor, as well as some prerecorded material, gave us some history of this part of the railroad and what to watch out for on either side.  But the eagle was extra.

Whiteriver Valley? Not sure, but it looks like the river is a little drier than nrmal.

No screens in the windows, so we had to watch him carefully, but he was pretty content to watch out the window.  Some buildings were really close to the train.  I would not want to live right next to the train tracks, even if I had a fence for the kids.  One little dog barked and ran with the train, but there was a fence there, thank goodness, or it would have been knocked over.  I also made sure paci, blankie, water, and new train he got (because Jared felt bad that he didn't have any toys although I had asked him if he wanted to bring some and he said no) away from the windows.  I have a thing with being near ledges and losing something.

A bigger part of the Whitewater River.  The train guys said we had to slow down to 5mph to go over two bridges because they washed out during the past winters' storm surges.  And it's all fixed by hand/machine, but I mean by volunteers.  Yikes!  I'm sure they know what they are doing, but kind of scary to think that they didn't hire professionals.  I'm sure some of them remember when the railroads were used more heavily before 1950.

Not too deep or dirty.

It was hard taking some pictures because I could see something with the naked eyes, but then it wouldn't show up in the camera.  Like seeing the truss underneath.  I don't really want to know how little material we went over.  Scary.

Dried up canal.

Here's the dam they made as well, so maybe that helped with the locks?

Tired little one.  We got up extra early and he did nap on the way to Connersville.  Then he stayed awake for both train rides and all through Metamora.

#trainlife according to teenagers.  I told Justin not to bring anything too heavy but he whips out this huge picture book on Avengers and his Poke'mon cards binder.  Why did he bring such big bulk things?  He actually didn't complain about the weight.  Benaiah brought his cubes and his in ears and listened to music.  It's at this point that we lost any cell phone signal!  That's right, NO cell phones!   I should have downloaded some podcasts, but I also didn't want to miss the scenery either.

Pretty shore line.

Keturah hanging out with her friend.

Approaching the washed out area.  It's obvious that they put in new rock here.  There's also remnants of old railroad ties.  I don't think there were two lines here, so these must have been replaced by the current stuff.

Sleepy guy.

They did tell us that they used to flood this field in the winter and chop out blocks of ice for ice boxes before there were refrigerators.

Crossing guards (no arms that I could tell) with lots of lights for one of the bigger crossings.

Benaiah got new kicks!  He used to love his American flag Converse but he said these are even better fitting.  He has very wide feet so it's hard to find shoes that fit well.  These are not wide width and they still fit!  Yeah!

#housegoals

Even bigger #housegoals but would I want to clean it? Nope.  But I love old colonials! This was in Metamora and is a restaurant now.

That's the engine that pulled us!  While we were walking around town, the train backed up a little ways and switched the position of the engine so it could pull us back.  There was a second set of tracks for just a little bit where the switch probably occurred.

Gorgeous day!  We saw a few cars and this town is great for those who love antiques.

I am so sending this Uncle Aaron! Oh! I didn't see the the "Aunt" in "auntiques!"  Bwahahahaha!  Uncle Aaron does go antiquing sometimes.  He's like the Cooks in that way that they will use junk and turn it into something useful.  It's an awesome skill to have!  Aaron certainly doesn't go overboard like some do, and he certainly doesn't have as much junk as I do.  I just know he loves the hunt for a good bargain. 

Yup, I think this town is one of those that only keep their business open for the tourists, kind of like the town in the Cars movie, Radiator Springs.  Blink and you miss it.  Jared is sure that they have to find other work, legal or illegal, just to make a living.  I feel bad though because this was our American way of life.  It was so peaceful there.  But life has moved on and it's not on a major highway so people don't discover it often.  And the generation that does appreciate this and enjoys the older things are much older than us, so this will eventually die.  It's sad, but it's life.  I'll enjoy and appreciate it while I can.

Field trip peeps.

Poor canal boat.  There's not enough water and they said there's "mechanical problems" with it.  I think there's just not enough money to keep it moving. 

Horses do pull the canal boat I guess.  That would be pretty cool to see!

A bygone era.

Oh my goodness!  This store was FULL of these cookie jars!  I had to use the restroom and it was one of the only shops with a public restroom.  Well, Abishai didn't want to stay with Jared, so yes, I took him with me but that was before I discovered that these were in here.  Yikes!  Praise the Lord that Abishai is a careful child and did so VERY WELL not touching anything!  I felt bad because we didn't buy anything, not even ice cream, which I had intended to do later but didn't get around to it.  And the bathrooms here and one other place I used were, um, "rustic."  Crazy!  They were literally like under the stairs and had the washer/dryer of the owners (who must have lived upstairs) and not dirty like you find at a nasty restaurant, but just old and dusty like you would find at someone's grandmother's house who might be a borderline hoarder? Am I painting a picture here? Not sure, but it doesn't bother me because I know what it's like to not have the time and energy to get everything spic and span like a fancy hotel.  They weren't outhouses, that's for sure.  One even had a bucket for monetary donations for toilet paper.  Yes, I did put some change in because I felt so bad for them.  Sigh.

A little bit of history that I didn't read.

And some more history that the kids never let me read in full.

Sweet buildings.  The restaurant down at the end is owned by a sweet couple.  The guy met the train and handed out flyers like they were anticipating us.  They had some specials going on so we did buy some cheeseburgers from them.  They gave the kids free drinks and offered me a free sandwhich, which I declined because a) they can't be making money if they just give stuff away and b) my sensitivities.  Thankfully I saw some of the school kids get fried dough from them.

After all that car riding and train riding, Abishai needed to get up and move!  He loved pushing his paci and blankie in the stroller.  The stroller is still very useful, even if Abishai doesn't sit in it for most of the trip.  I like putting my bags in it instead of carrying them around.  It was SO SUPER quiet here.  Just a couple of cars.  And no big crowds.  My kind of place and reminded me of PEI in spots.  You could actually hear nature.  I know we have parks and things near us, but to be so far out in the woods in something entirely different.  To see the slow pace of life in these places, that's where I want to go on vacation!  And in fact, we have at times been in the slower places of life.  I'm never going to be a big city gal, although the convenience when you are ill and don't/can't drive too far without a flare up is nice.

Speaking of city life.  The older kids could NOT stand being outside in the bugs and wind.  No joke! But Abishai and I enjoyed the out of doors.  It's a good thing I grabbed the sunscreen/bug spray bag before we left.  I brought it for the sunscreen not thinking we would need bug spray.  But it cracks me up that my kids are such city folk.  "It's so hot! (It was 80 degrees, which is pretty warm but not oppressive when you've got a great breeze like today.) "It's too buggy!" "I don't want to walk and learn about a grist mill!" "Meh, those things are just old, but oooo, let's get one of these shiny new toys!" Someday I'll find some friends that like to just wander and enjoy the old treasures.  Someday.

City kids.

Water wheel!  Yes! And it did turn the grist mill grinder up to a few years back.  Water wheels are important to me because my grandmother's family owned a wheel house in Maine in the early 1900's.  I never got to see it but my mom did.  I'm not sure if has been sold or not, but it's one of those background stories I will tell the kids over and over and over again.

Closed, but I wonder what it housed?  I told them it might have been like a Ripley's Believe or Not kind of thing.  I should have said it was like the circus in "The Greatest Showman."  Then at least Keturah would have perked up.

Sweet! Looks like it could have been a western saloon!  I'm watching "When Calls the Heart" mini series that is based on some Janette Oke books.  It's set in a mining town and the main character is the new school teacher who has to teach the kids in the saloon because the school building burnt down.  So I was explaining that to my kids and how there would be boarding rooms upstairs in these things.

I didn't know what a grist mill was until I walked in.  It's a grain grinder!  I know grist means fat, but I didn't know how it all worked together.  It's kind of neat that it's part of the Indiana State Museum program.

Grinding corn between 2 big stones!

Watching it grind corn.

Then it sorts itself out in these three buckets.  Some for human consumption and some for the ducks in the area.  I think I overheard one teacher say something about different colors of the different parts of the grain.  They used to grind wheat, but that became expensive for demonstrations.

The big wheel is about 1,500 lbs and the small wheel is about 750 lbs.  Yikes!  You put the bigger one on top of the smaller one and the bigger one twists, which grinds the grain. 

Water wheel lock on the canal.

Oh how I LOVE this!  The are still using the old gears and belts.  But they did have to switch to an electric motor because the water wheel isn't working.  I remember my mom having to change the belt on her old sewing machine and I know there are still belts in other machines like vacuums and cars, but you don't get to see how it all works.  Plus the newer machines break so easily.  These old gears have worked for what, 100 years or something?  And they are easier to repair, but maybe a bit more time/money intensive than cheaper parts that are just replaceable.  Machines that really work and are well made by hand.  That's what I prefer.  This was course in the basement which was much cooler than outside was, just like other cellars of older buildings, like the plantation we went to in New Orleans.  I love it!

This thing looked tiny from afar, but it actually is pretty big.  Not as big as some of course.

More gears!

Impressive!

Abishai said, "That water is yucky."  And yes it was.  I'm still not sure why there wasn't much water in this canal.  Maybe it was drier this spring, although I felt like it rained for days and days.  Maybe the water has been diverted elsewhere.

Ducks!  Impressive colors of brown and white and not just mallards that we have in our neighborhood.

So serene.

Time to take a rest, except we've been sitting half the day.  City kids.

Poke'mon, again.

Jared finally had his lunch.

Abishai was the only one who wanted to get the wiggles out.

Teenager thinking, watch out! Nah, I'm glad he took this little break.  He gets overwhelmed with the chaos of fighting siblings.  And he needs to rest.  I let him listen to his music most of the day and just chill.  He did have one earbud out a lot of the time.  I'm just grateful when one of the kids don't whine for a new toy or that they're tired or hot.  So, I let him be.

We of course had our return tickets, but anybody wanted to get on at this station was kind of out of luck.  And I don't think the train returns here again each day.  I'm not even sure if it continues down the track.  It is an operational ticket shack, but I found it kind of interesting.

The gem mine place.  Gorgeous home.  Filled with voodoo stuff that kind of freaked Jared out.  I had to use their restroom, that's why we went in there.  Again, I felt bad because we didn't buy anything, but we didn't want to support some of the things they were displaying, which was leaning towards the mystical.  Keturah and I saw the gem mining thing which was similar to other gem mining operations we've seen and used just this past year.  It would be something kids would love to do.

This sweet shop had a ton of old books and old miner's lamps/oil lamps, as well as trains and cast iron pans!  Sweet older gentleman who ran the train for us.  It makes me want to get out my grandfather's trains that my dad saved.  We kept one box, but I think we gave away the other box.  Someday.

Two sections of the store, or two stores?  Either way, there was a walkway in between.

Main St. vibes.

Gettint ready to ride back.

He licked the frosting out of the cookies and cream snack he had bit by bit and it was all over his face.  But it kept him occupied for a good long while.

Boy do I wish I could have actually sen the track down there.  But then I would be super scared.

The little guy would NOT sleep! So he bounced around in different positions the whole ride back.

Another sweet colonial on our trip back.  Gosh I love this look!  Simple, square rooms.  Not like our cookie cutter subdivision homes.  Large windows on all sides, too.  #housegoals

Quiet and serene.

Playing a game of "Would you rather...."  It's kind of a like a tame version of truth or dare, especially at these ages.  "Would you rather play Pokemon or Mario bros?"  "Would your rather eat ice cream or a candy bar?" "Would you rather go to the zoo or the museum?"  I'm so glad that these kids are all still so innocent.  I could only imagine what this could into with some older, "rougher" kids like "Would you rather kiss a girl or hold her hand?" (That's pretty "safe" but let's just not go there at all at this age, ok? And I'm sure it can and does get much more immoral after that).

Most won't find a rock quarry/concrete business interesting, but I find everything interesting, especially if it's something a little boy would enjoy.  I appreciate the men and women who work these blue collar jobs because without them, life wouldn't run! They are worth the same or even more than those in the white collar jobs.  In fact, men and women who actually want to work in these fields and stay there are becoming more rare.  We need more tradesmen and women.  Not everyone needs to go to college and get some degree they will never use.  Use your hands!

Seeing the rock mover out there (or whatever call it) reminds me of a Micro Machine set that we have this is a rock quarry.  Little connections are still important connections and makes me smile.

Hey, these are the guys who poured our sidewalk!  Cool!

Another crossing!

I could have taken a nap but I stayed awake because I wanted pictures of THIS building.  We sat on the east side of the train on the way back so I could see these things better.  It's an old train station.  I don't think the train stops here anymore though.  There is some historical significance to it and it looks like the outside is maintained well by some group.  I remember it from our Thomas trip and I think from the Polar Express trip, so it's not far from the Connersville station.

It looks like it's from another time period!

So cute!

Oh, this side says "Dearborn" and the other side says "Rushville!"  Maybe because those were stops along this railroad line.  Although Rushville is west and perpendicular to the railroad.  Maybe it was so people could buy a ride on horse and buggy to these towns?

It's our van!

Another look at the caboose.

We parked so close to the railroad tracks!  It's unnerving!

Sweet sunsets.

Boyhood, almost manhood, applied for a job at Kroger this evening!  Historic moment everybody! Time to celebrate!  Then he asks, "What's the difference between a checking and savings account?"  I almost got mad at him because I just assumed he could figure it out, but actually, I don't think we've explained all of that yet.  And it's our job to teach him and I should be happy to, but I feel like I don't have time for these fun growing up moments and keep track of a toddler.  Plus I was just exhausting from the day.  He is asking for help and I should be more willing to give it.  I keep delegating this stuff to Jared and Grandpa, but then regretting that I don't do it.  Maybe I should go with him to get his bank account instead of Jared.  I just thought it was a man to man thing, or Dad and child thing?  Maybe because my Dad was involved for those big moments?  I want my child to be independent, but I want him to still ask for advice on the big stuff and want us to teach him.  He's already done so much on his own because we haven't taken the time.  It's a balancing act and I think God does keep me busy with the others because I wouldn't let go otherwise.  This is cause for celebration because it's definitely time and I don't bemoan them growing up, at least in a big way.  By the time we are empty nesters, we will probably have grandkids.  Our home will never be quiet.  Just another step closer to adulthood.

Just some info on the railroad.

We saved a TON of money!  Sweet!

Finished the day with Jared reading an entry in this to Abishai.  Jared doesn't read aloud often, but he's used this book off and on because he loved it so much.  It's pretty much a Charlotte Mason style living book, great for nature study.

Nighty night and good night.