Summer

Gone are our warm nights and whole days spent out doors. We're stuck inside and I find myself reminiscing about this past summer. Over a year ago, I won a contest that provided me with 4 round trip Amtrak tickets to anywhere in the continental US with sleeping and meal accommodations. We had a year to use it and finally, 2 weeks before expiration, we redeemed the prize for a trip to Dallas TX. Why TX? Well, my good friend Stacey lives there with her 13 year old daughter. She offered us her home while they were going to be out of town on their own vacation. It was going to work out perfectly, free board for the Castañedas, and Stacey got 3 days of free house sitting services. So we loaded our bags and boarded the Texas Eagle. We had two sleeper rooms across the isle from each other that each accommodated two people. Two seats faced one another that converted into a bed at night with a second bed up top that came down to make bunk beds. Our meals were covered on the train and let me tell you, that Texas Eagle sure knows how to feed their passengers. We had steak and roasted chicken and flan. Yum. When we boarded it was 8pm in St. Louis and just in time for the final dinner call. After eating we headed back to our rooms to put on our jammies and head to bed. Everyone slept decently aside from the train whistle that was too close for comfort. Our train pulled into Dallas at 11 the next morning where we rented a car for a great price thanks to a friend who works for Enterprise, and  headed to Stacey's. Her home sits about 30 minutes from downtown in a nice quiet subdivision. The three bedrooms, 2 full baths and large built in pool was perfect for our mini train vacation. We spent three days sight seeing, finding and enjoying food at Colombian restaurants (which we have none of in St. Louis) and we even got to hang out with good high school friend, her husband and two little girls who live near Dallas one afternoon. We took the kids to see a rodeo, the aquarium, Lego Land and ride on the Dallas Trolley. But the majority of our time and the best part of our trip was simply staying in and enjoying the pool. It was exactly what we needed. We get so busy with my teaching and Carlos being in school full time and not to mention two rambunctious kids that it was so nice just to relax and not worry about work or priorities for a few days. The kids loved the train and I'm thankful we could give them such a unique and fun experience.