Now, I will admit in this column over the years when describing things I have been accused of getting charmingly descriptive and even been being told that I "watch too much of the Travel Channel." All I can say to that is, sit back and enjoy the ride again today.
After checking the train schedule online, we read it wrong and ended up at the Sandoval County/US550 station in Bernalillo one hour early. No problem, it gave us time to run across the street to McDonald's.
As the train's arrival time got closer, the crowd grew and I began to wonder if my daughter and I would even get a seat together, knowing for certain that everyone from the balloon park had the same idea we had and was already sitting comfortably on the upper level enjoying the view. The doors opened, and we all pushed our way in to get the best seat, as visions of the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland flashed through my head.
Doors close, and we were northbound on our one-hour trip up I-25 to our capital to do some weekend shopping and ice cream eating.
Riding the train is another one of those great people-watching activities, and since the seats face each other, the friendship factor is rather high. We happened to be in a car with what felt like one big happy family. The quiet newlyweds sat across from us, the four little girl cousins sat in the seats directly to my right, looking anxious, eager and ready to get off at every stop. Grandpa sat behind me, quietly taking his seat like he had done this a thousand times before. And Grandma sat at the opposite end of the car, never tiring of telling us all just how bad a workweek she had. I hope her boss gets the boot after making Grandma's life so miserable with his lies and smirks and unfair favoritism he is showing toward Juanita.
We relaxed and watched the countryside go by as we pulled into three stops along the way. Wild horses, cows and sagebrush dotted the scenery, and all I could wonder was, where was the bar car, I could use a spritzer right about now.
Upon arrival at the Santa Fe depot, our train tickets got us a free two-minute shuttle bus ride into the plaza and there we were. No driving around to find a parking place. No dodging tourists with shopping bags. And no parking fees. We hit our favorite shops first, then some new ones until we found the perfect birthday gift for my pen pal back in Michigan, a good luck three-legged pig from Chile.
We caught the shuttle back to the depot and waited with the crowd for the southbound train. The skies were threatening, and the rain began to fall just as we took our seats on the upper level and pulled out of the station. People were quieter on this leg of the journey, some spoke softly; some admired their purchases, and others simply slept.
After a day of walking, laughing, eating and shopping, relaxing on the Rail Runner beats driving, parking and getting lost any day.
Quote of the Week: "The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see." — G.K. Chesterton, writer.
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