All Aboard!

This past Saturday we went up to Strasburg, Pennsylvania for a day full of trains. Mom and Jeanne were on a church bus trip to Lancaster, and we met them at the railroad to spend the morning together. After we bought our tickets we looked through a few of the stores on the property - can you guess who was very excited by the Thomas store? We all got on the train together and enjoyed a 45 minute round trip ride through the country. After the ride we ate lunch, and then let the kids ride on the "crank cars." (These turned out to be Jamie's favorite part of the day.) Soon it was time for the bus to head back to Ohio, so we said goodbye and headed over to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania across the street.
Lined up throughout the large building were many trains, some of which you could climb aboard. There were more trains in the yard outside, where Jamie found a yellow caboose! However, the favorite spot here was the "Railway education center", where they have set up many different types of toy trains to play with. Dot played with Geotracks while Jamie preferred the Lego Thomas set. We had a hard time getting them out of that room! In the gift shop we found a few Erie Lakawanna items - need some EL coffee, placemats or playing cards? By this time the kids were getting cranky, so we headed back down to Baltimore.
This was my first time to go up to Lancaster County. I'm not sure why everyone raves about it. It was so built up and touristy. I'd rather "visit the Amish" in Ohio. At least there I feel as if I am in the country.