Train Trip

A couple weeks ago we had a delivery to make to Seattle on a Monday. We decided to go ahead over there on Saturday and make a weekend of it. Since we had plenty of time my husband thought it would be fun to ride the Amtrak train from there to Portland on Saturday, spend the night at a hotel near the train station in Portland, and then ride the train back to Seattle on Sunday. I thought it was a brilliant idea!(We could have ridden the train from here to Seattle, but since we had 7 heavy boxes to deliver we decided that probably wouldn't work very well.)

None of us had ever ridden a "real" train before, that we could remember, so this was a real adventure. We arrived in Seattle about an hour and a half before our train was scheduled to leave. We had deliberately left early to allow for extra time to park the truck and find the depot and get our boarding passes and whatnot. We had no trouble with any of that, so we had a little extra time to look around the train station. I was enchanted! The building was over 100 years old. It had been remodeled in the 1950s or '60s and was definitely showing its age again. I was glad to see that they (whoever "they" might be) were in the process of restoring the building. It had been very lovely at one time, so it will be neat to see it restored.

The process of boarding the train was very similar to boarding an airplane, only much more relaxed... no security to go through, and while they said for us to have our ID ready no one ever asked to see it. The coolest part was when they called for boarding, the guy said, "Last boarding call for Train 513 to Portland. All aboard!" I had wondered if they actually still said, "All aboard!"

We had asked for four seats together on the train, and when we boarded we discovered our seats faced each other. That was neat. The interior of the train was very nice and up-to-date. (After the aging depot, I wasn't sure what to expect.) It was nicer than an airplane. Comfortable seats, more elbow room, more head room, more foot room. There were curtains on the windows, personal reading lights, and headphone jacks on the arm rest for watching the movie they showed on overhead monitors.

It was interesting to see the passing scenery from a different perspective. My husband had got new GPS for an early Christmas present and he had it along. He held it up to the window and was able to get a signal. He was curious to see how fast we were going (70-80 mph at times). We thought it was funny that the GPS was confused that we "seemed" to be on the railroad tracks. It makes automatic adjustments for accuracy errors so it will move your route to the nearest road if the reading is off a little. Every time the train ran parallel to a highway the GPS popped our route off the railroad track and over onto the highway. It was just sure we couldn't possibly be driving down the train tracks!

It was about lunchtime so I "hiked" down to the bistro car to get some hot dogs to eat in our seats. It wasn't what I think of as an old-fashioned dining car, but more like a concession stand with 2 or 3 tables in one car. It was between cars 2 and 3. Our seats were in car 8, so it was quite a little walk through car after car.

Soon after we finished eating they started a movie. Fortunately, it was a kids' movie, so the girls were happy to plug in their headphones to watch it. It was a 4-hour trip, so that kept them occupied for a good portion of it.

The Portland train station was about the same age as the Seattle one, but it had been remodeled more recently, so it was a little nicer. We didn't linger long, though, as it was several blocks to our hotel, and as it gets dark very early this time of year we wanted to go ahead and get checked in.

We called my mother from our hotel to tell her about our trip. She asked if I remembered riding on the train before. I didn't. She got to figuring, and it turns out that my last train trip had been almost exactly 40 years ago... Christmas 1967. I was barely 2.

We had a relaxing evening in Portland and an uneventful (but fun!) ride back to Seattle the next day. I forgot my camera, so I took pictures with my cell phone. They aren't the greatest, but definitely better than nothing. I also found some pictures of the two train stations online.

He came...

On Christmas Eve as we were out driving around looking at lights and enjoying Christmas music, we stopped to visit for a bit with an older couple who are dear friends of ours. We had asked if they would be "in" that evening as we just wanted to drop off a box of cookies and wish them Merry Christmas. They assured us that we were more than welcome, even though some of their family would be there. They would be serving family communion and invited us to join them for that. That was a special time... but what struck me the most was the story told by another of our friends' guests, a Jewish man.

He said it was 25 years ago that night, Christmas Eve, that he came to know "Yeshua" the Messiah. He had been raised in the Jewish tradition and so was familiar with the "Scriptures", but knew nothing of the New Testament. That night he was visiting a Christian family and he asked, "Who is Jesus? And what does He mean to me?" His friend wisely counseled him to ask God that question. So after he went to bed that night he lay in the dark and out loud he said, "Who is Jesus? What does He mean to me?" He said he repeated that 3 or 4 times and as he lay there with his hands folded across his chest he was aware of a Presence in the room. He felt hands cover his, and lift his hands up and fold them into the position of prayer, and then gently lay them back down. And he knew. Jesus was there... and Jesus had come to be his Messiah. The Messiah that had been prophesied. He wasn't just some dead guy. He was the living Messiah.

He told how he began to read the Torah again and how it all began to make sense. He could clearly see the Gospel right there in the Old Testament scriptures. Adam sinned. That could have just as easily been him. God required a blood sacrifice. Jesus came to offer that.

And now, although this man still celebrates Hanukkah, he also has a reason to celebrate Christmas, because that's when Jesus came to him.

Isn't that a neat story?

Holiday Beverages

What could be cozier than a steaming mug of something delicious to sip on these chilly, gray days? I admit, my favorite these days is a caramel latte... but unfortunately, that's not very good for my waistline. I'm glad there are lots of alternatives to choose from!

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I love spicy hot tea... and especially enjoy the Celestial Seasonings holiday teas about this time of year. Several years ago my sister-in-law introduced me to Nutcracker Sweet and Sugar Plum Spice. I liked both of them. The next year at Christmas time Gingerbread Spice was added to the line, and I liked it even better. Last year the new flavor was Candy Cane Lane, and since I've always enjoyed peppermint tea, it became my new favorite. The new flavor this year is Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. Of course I had to try it, too. It's probably my least favorite of the five, but I enjoy having all them to rotate through the flavors.

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Here's a favorite from my childhood:

Friendship Tea

My mother got this recipe from Sister Frances Rehfeldt.

1 cup instant tea
3 cups sugar (or 2 cups sugar substitute)
2 small packages instant lemonade mix (Kool-aid)
1 14-ounce jar Tang (1 3/4 cups)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves

Mix all well. Use 1 to 3 teaspoons of mix to a cup of boiling water.

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Deluxe Hot Cocoa Mix

We included bags of this in our goody boxes this year...

4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (4-ounce) package instant chocolate pudding

Place all ingredients in large bowl. Stir together. Store in a sealed container. Add 1/4 cup of mix to an 8 ounce mug and fill with hot water. Add more or less mix depending on your taste.

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Do you have any favorites? Please share! I love to try new hot drinks.

Winter

Is today the first day of winter? Or is that not until tomorrow? In any case, it's been winter here for, oh, at least a month. Seems like an awfully long time until spring... *sigh* It's always seemed to me like Christmas ought to come in the middle of winter, and then by Valentines Day it ought to be spring. But, no, according to the calendar, winter is just beginning.

It's cold today, but for a change, at least it's not dreary. We don't get a lot of sunshine during the winter here, so I am enjoying the view out my window of the sun glistening on the snow on the mountain today (see picture). The sun came out yesterday afternoon and we had one of the most glorious sunsets I have ever seen. The fact that it occurred before 4 o'clock in the afternoon didn't detract from the beauty of it. The most spectacular part of it was the reflected pink light on the snowy mountain tops to the east. Too bad I was driving and didn't have my camera with me. I'm sorry you missed it.