A Train, A Train.....

A train a train

 Since we had confirmation that we would be leaving Colombia and heading to Alaska Amanda and I have been telling Fiona that we could ride a train.  On Saturday the 8th December we came through on our promise when we took the Christmas trip on the train up here in Anchorage.

The trip lasted 2 hours and was an out and back trip.  On the trip Alaska rail had enlisted the help of some singers, a magician and jolly fat man in a red suit to entertain the children.

Waiting at the station

We were at the station at 9am for the 10am train, I think they were staggering people to try and avoid big lines of people, it worked for us as there was no line, later on that was not the case.  At 10am we had boarded the train and set off on our ride.  First we got to experience some singers, they performed all the usual Christmas songs, next we had a magician, then judging of the colouring competition and finally for our car we had Santa and Mrs Claus.

The scenery we saw whilst on the train was fantastic and not driving enabled Amanda and I to both look at it rather than one person drive whilst the other takes fleeting glimpses.  All in all the trip was a huge success although Fiona was having nothing to do with Santa even though she had been telling us she wants a green and red present and a present for someone else who Santa won't be able to bring one for which was rather cute.

Ice Climbing road start

Look do you see it

Freezing before getting on the train

Ahhhh Santa Claus!

In other news
We are now living in temporary accommodation, this is until we can move into a house which we are trying to buy, yes we found one though it is not a sure thing yet we are still working out the finer details.

The current place we are staying in is so much better than the hotel for a few simple reasons :-

1. It has more than one room
2. It has a garage so I don't need to clear the car off all the time.
3. It has a kitchen as eating out was wearing really thin.
4. It feels like a home although there is way to much stuff on the walls for Amanda and I.
5. It has a garden with fresh snow so Fiona could do this!

Snow Angel

We have enough space for a Christmas tree.

Mini tree

And finally for this post, on Tuesday night Amanda was told at work to bring her computer home since they were expecting a storm to move in overnight and driving would be difficult during rushhour.  Luckily for Amanda the snow wasn't so bad first thing in the morning, about 3" fell overnight.  After dropping Amanda off I was not so lucky since Fiona and I needed to get things on Wednesday so we were prepared for the arrival of the cats that evening. It is safe to say during my shopping trip the blizzard conditions arrived and during the remainder of the day we received another 6" which made driving a little challenging.  Here is a photo taken after a 1 hour trip to Walmart.

Post Walmart

PS - I still find it strange that when it snows here the whole world doesn't come grinding to a halt... UK please take note!