After a nice quiet morning, Hubby and I headed down to Keystone just to see some of the sights, and after finding a parking spot, we walked up to the train depot to see when the next train was leaving. Turned out to be immediately! I quickly bought two tickets (not even sure where we were going, but it just seemed like such a cool idea!), grabbed a couple of ice cream cones and bottles of water at a store across the street, and got into the back of the line at the train station. We were boarding within minutes, but being at the end of the line meant we had to keep moving forward until we FINALLY found two seats together in the front car. Fortunately, the seats were padded in the Keystone car, as opposed to many that had wooden seats, but being in the front meant it was pretty noisy, both from the engine and especially from the whistle, which blew often! What a blast it was! The trip climbed out of Keystone, up some quite steep slopes, and very close to the rocks on each side in many places. Hubby was reminded of his youth when steam engines were the norm in pre-WWII England, and the smells took him way back. The trip was about an hour to Hill City, where the engine unhooked and moved to the front, quickly heading back the way we came. We changed sides so we could see the other side of the tracks on the way back to Keystone, and we left the station soon thereafter. It really was a worthwhile trip, though if I were to do it again I would probably leave earlier in the day, stop in Hill City for a while, then catch a later train back. In any event, it was delightful, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After disembarking, we walked back down "restaurant row" toward our vehicle, then decided to get a meal in the Mexican restaurant nearby, as we haven't had Mexican food in quite a while. Headed back to camp, where the horses and dogs were patiently waiting for us, got everyone else fed and tucked in, then settled down for the evening.
After a nice quiet morning, Hubby and I headed down to Keystone just to see some of the sights, and after finding a parking spot, we walked up to the train depot to see when the next train was leaving. Turned out to be immediately! I quickly bought two tickets (not even sure where we were going, but it just seemed like such a cool idea!), grabbed a couple of ice cream cones and bottles of water at a store across the street, and got into the back of the line at the train station. We were boarding within minutes, but being at the end of the line meant we had to keep moving forward until we FINALLY found two seats together in the front car. Fortunately, the seats were padded in the Keystone car, as opposed to many that had wooden seats, but being in the front meant it was pretty noisy, both from the engine and especially from the whistle, which blew often! What a blast it was! The trip climbed out of Keystone, up some quite steep slopes, and very close to the rocks on each side in many places. Hubby was reminded of his youth when steam engines were the norm in pre-WWII England, and the smells took him way back. The trip was about an hour to Hill City, where the engine unhooked and moved to the front, quickly heading back the way we came. We changed sides so we could see the other side of the tracks on the way back to Keystone, and we left the station soon thereafter. It really was a worthwhile trip, though if I were to do it again I would probably leave earlier in the day, stop in Hill City for a while, then catch a later train back. In any event, it was delightful, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After disembarking, we walked back down "restaurant row" toward our vehicle, then decided to get a meal in the Mexican restaurant nearby, as we haven't had Mexican food in quite a while. Headed back to camp, where the horses and dogs were patiently waiting for us, got everyone else fed and tucked in, then settled down for the evening.
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