27 hours on the Amtrak train! Colorado bound with a family of 6! (April 1, 2014)

Although it was wonderful to have so much family out for the baptism and blessing, two very important people were missing. Grandma Karen and Papa Rigg had bought their tickets to come out but Grandpa's health had prevented him from making the flight. He still hadn't met Nori and since they couldn't come to us, we decided to bring the family to them!

But how to travel with an autistic child who can't handle the sensation of being buckled in on an airplane (or a car for longer than 20 minutes) or the pressure from taking off and landing, and a newborn nursing baby? We found the answer in the amtrak train. Cam is absolutely obsessed with trains so this was the perfect solution. He wouldn't have to be buckled down and he could live eat and breathe trains in real life for 27 hours straight. Sounded like the perfect adventure!

The train had observation cars with tables to play games or color on, sleeping cars to rest in, and dining cars to eat in. The kids could travel back and forth between the cars to their hearts content. 

Cam loved exploring the train and was very happy not to be wearing a seat belt. 

 

Meal times were a nice way to break up the time. The food, while nothing amazing, wasn't horrible either. Better than the junk we'd be eating on a road trip at the gas stations for sure!

 Cam was absolutely in his element on the train. 

He spent hours staring out the windows, playing with play dough and bubbles, and best of all, playing with trains on a train. 

 Since sleeping car tickets were super expensive we only bought one sleeping car for me Cam and Nori, and regular seats for Taber and the girls. Not the most comfortable way to catch some zzzzs but they did okay for naps. 

 At night though we just crammed everyone but Taber in the sleeping room because it had a double and a twin bunk, and we figured with tiny people they would all fit. 

 And fit they did! The trains constant movement helped rocked the babies to sleep and they actually slept surprisingly well considering being out of their routine and crammed into two little bunk beds. 

 In the morning we woke up to gorgeous views of the Colorado river and red rock mountains. We were getting closer!

The kids spent the morning just chilling in the their pjs and watching movies in the observation car. 

They colored, read books, watched DVDs and even visited with the conductor. Time flew by and before we knew it we were pulling into Grand Junction!

We were greeted at the train station by Papa Rigg. The kids were so happy and excited to see him! It was a fun way to travel and we couldn't wait to spend our Spring Break with Grandma and Grandpa Rigg.