Good Sunday morning everybody!
This morning, unlike most Sunday mornings, is the second day in a row that I have not gone to work. Saturday is usually a work day for me, but I took a vacation day yesterday. Instead of going to work, I loaded the family vehicle up with myself, my wife, and the crumb snatchers and we headed off to Globe, Arizona to enjoy a Thomas the Train event at the historic train station in that town. It was a really good time for the kids and for my wife and I. There was a ball pit in which to jump around. There was an inflatable bouncy room thingamajigee. There was a play area with blocks and trains. They had miniature golf holes for the children. They had a magician and a band. There was a person dressed as Sir Topham Hatt, the Mayor of the Island of Sodor where Thomas lives. But most importantly and coolest of all, they had a train, a real full-sized, functional train with Thomas the Train as the engine and we got to take a half hour long ride on it! The kids were ecstatic!!!!
Unfortunately, we forgot to take the camera with us. We were out the door and party way to the event when we realized that we'd left it at home. So, we bought a disposable camera in Globe before the event. As a result, I haven't got any pics in a digital format to share with you. I think that I can take the camera to the Kodak kiosk at my local CVS and get the pics in a digital format to share some other time though.
Globe is about half way between Phoenix and the border that Arizona shares with New Mexico. It is a town that is in the mountains of what was Apache territory, but was eventually over run with settlers because of its copper deposits. That is also why the railroad is there. Globe is one end of what is known as The Apache Trail which goes through the Superstition Mountains at the other end. The stretch of I-60 from Apache Junction, Arizona which lies at the base of the Superstitions and extends through Globe to Lordsburg, New Mexico is sometimes called "The Old West Highway". It is a stretch of freeway full of beautiful vistas. Around every curve is seems there is another view of a deep canyon with mountains of boulders stacked high, saguaro cacti, cholla cacti, and jagged horizons. As we took one of those curves into a new panorama where we could see down into a canyon from a very high vantage point that offered a view of mountains in front of other mountains, in front of still other mountains, Todd said: "Wow! I can see the whole world from here!" It looked as though he may have been right.
Perhaps I will take another day off soon and we will retrace our steps but with the camera this time. I will take pictures of some of those stunning views along the way and share them here with you in another installment of my Sunday music series. For now, how about some railroad music?
This one is off of a children's album by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman entitled 'Not for Kids Only'. The music really is not for kids only. 'Freight Train' is probably the first favorite song Todd ever had.
Sticking with the train thing:
That's an old pic of my Petunia, by the way:
This one mentions subway trains toward the end, and besides, have you ever known me to need an excuse to play some Allman Brothers music?
How about some mining music?
How about a happy dixieland jazz piece unrelated to anything in the diary but with some old pics of the minion trainees? The band members take turns showing just what their instrument can do and a good time is had by all.
Lastly, just because my wife is awesome.
I hope that yours is a great Sunday. The kids and I are sincerely grateful for the time that you've spent with us today. Our Sunday is made better by the privilege of sharing it with you, you, you. We hope that you will join us in the comments section to share whatever tunes you feel like sharing or just for conversation and good company.
Remember, Todd and Lila love you.