annegirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
Great start to the trip.
The ice cream place looks like fun.
And this picture-
is fantastic. I love it!
The ice cream place looks like fun.
And this picture-
is fantastic. I love it!
Our “California Adventure” a Road Trip to the West (Update: Day 17 - There and back again)
- Thread starter MarbleBob
- Start date
TheMaxRebo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
Joining in - can't wait to hear all the details and if you kept to the plan or had any hiccups or happy accidents. I think it probably worked out for the best that the other families had some different plans and you weren't all together 24/7 ... like you said, just hard to get that many people on the same page for that long of a period of time
Great picture! I feel like I am going to take far to many pictures of that statue!
Thanks for including that ... can totally see Pickles in these pictures of Stephanie
Marceline looks so cool and I can totally see just sitting there watching the trains go by!
I love the idea of getting the post cards and envelopes stamped - and quite the sizeable stamp too!
Great - now I have to read the rest of this Tripe Report ..... which I totally would read anyway.
Haha, I love this - also the one of the kids on the merry-go-round ... nice to see kids just playing like kids in a small town.
Aw, that is so cute! Always great to see the kids showing love to each other and enjoying being together!
That's really cool! Seems like a good idea too - unless they'd want to re-create the tree via Disney fake trees like Swiss Family Robinson Tree House or something
That's really nice and super cool that you can come back and see that and remember that trip again.
Bummer that Taco John's didn't live up to the hype (I totally have a bunch of potty jokes in me head) but the ice cream place sounds great!
So glad you started this TR!
Great picture! I feel like I am going to take far to many pictures of that statue!
Love the collage - captured a lot of the sites you saw!
Thanks for including that ... can totally see Pickles in these pictures of Stephanie
Marceline looks so cool and I can totally see just sitting there watching the trains go by!
I love the idea of getting the post cards and envelopes stamped - and quite the sizeable stamp too!
You’ll have to wait until later in the trip report to see how they compare to each other. Ahhh… the suspense.
Great - now I have to read the rest of this Tripe Report ..... which I totally would read anyway.
but they still had fun running along the tracks… pretending they were driving imaginary cars.
Haha, I love this - also the one of the kids on the merry-go-round ... nice to see kids just playing like kids in a small town.
OK, this trip is really starting off on the right foot. (And I promise that the following photo was not staged.)
Aw, that is so cute! Always great to see the kids showing love to each other and enjoying being together!
That's really cool! Seems like a good idea too - unless they'd want to re-create the tree via Disney fake trees like Swiss Family Robinson Tree House or something
And here’s a message that Princess left on one of the rafters last year.
That's really nice and super cool that you can come back and see that and remember that trip again.
Bummer that Taco John's didn't live up to the hype (I totally have a bunch of potty jokes in me head) but the ice cream place sounds great!
So glad you started this TR!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
MarbleBob/Matt - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your first posts of the trip. This is going to be an epic TR!
Your collages are wonderful. I always enjoy looking at them and seeing how the kids have grown up.
Looks like you had a nice mix of 3 family together time...and lots of 'me family' time. And yes, it does keep the tensions to a minimum.
Marceline is just delightful. Thank you so much for making time to stop and look around. The 360 pictures are magnificent.
And trains......lots and lots of trains.
Pity about the sofa bed and the Taco shop. The icecream place definitely makes up for it!
Looking forward to the next edition.
Your collages are wonderful. I always enjoy looking at them and seeing how the kids have grown up.
Looks like you had a nice mix of 3 family together time...and lots of 'me family' time. And yes, it does keep the tensions to a minimum.
Marceline is just delightful. Thank you so much for making time to stop and look around. The 360 pictures are magnificent.
And trains......lots and lots of trains.
Pity about the sofa bed and the Taco shop. The icecream place definitely makes up for it!
Looking forward to the next edition.
momtohms
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2012
Love all of the pics from Marceline, especially the 360 ones! That old school playground equipment is awesome, they don't make it like the used too ;-) Probably for the best...ha! What a great way to kick off your road trip, and I loved learning a little bit about where Walt is from. Also, my middle DD and I shared a little treat at Marceline's Confectionary in DTD on our DL trip and I now realize why I thought Marceline sounded familiar when we were there 
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Thanks kaoden39! I hope you get to see Marceline some day too. It's really great.
Thanks melk! I'm thinking about that ice cream sundae right now, wishing I had another one. Mine was butterscotch syrup, pecans, and hard chocolate. Yum!
You are off to a great start! As a mid-Missouri native, I love the shout out.
Jill in CO
Yahoo for Missouri! (I'm not a native, but the rest of my family is.) Down with Taco Johns. LOL.
Thanks justafigment27!
Thanks annegirl!
Thanks wiscbugs! I look forward to sharing the San Francisco portion too. It was a blast!!!
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Yahoo Phil! For the most part, we didn't deviate from the plan. Had to chop a few minor things off the agenda (like visiting the skatepark). We did have a few happy accidents, stay tuned!
Plan on it! It's such a great location, just outside of Carthay Circle. So cool!
Thanks!
I agree. She certainly gets her cuteness from Stephanie and not me
Yes indeed, I'm already wondering when we can go back to watch the trains again. A bit further north (say 45 minutes), they have an enclosed train watching platform which is even a little nicer.
And they make super cheap souvenirs! And even better, they have the date that you visited baked into it too!!!
Great - now I have to read the rest of this Tripe Report ..... which I totally would read anyway.
LOL
At least we didn't see anyone do this... YIKES!!
Yes indeed, and a rare occurrence too.
That would be pretty funny!
Thanks Phil. Glad to have you reading along
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Cool! I'm not sure that I'd want to live in Small Town USA, but I sure do enjoy visiting them
Thanks PrincessInOz. Stay tuned for more (and lots) of trains
Mich1218, that's awesome. Glad to have you reading along here too!
Love all of the pics from Marceline, especially the 360 ones! That old school playground equipment is awesome, they don't make it like the used too ;-) Probably for the best...ha! What a great way to kick off your road trip, and I loved learning a little bit about where Walt is from. Also, my middle DD and I shared a little treat at Marceline's Confectionary in DTD on our DL trip and I now realize why I thought Marceline sounded familiar when we were there
Thanks momtohms! We stopped at the Confectionary too. I planned to come back for a candy apple (we've had them a couple times before and they are awesome), but unfortunately we never got back it. Next time!!!
Sherry E
Currently tag-less...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
I just wanted to say that I'm here as well! I actually came to the TR forum to look for another specific TR, and I hadn't planned to click on yours but something made me click. I was instantly drawn in and engrossed in your epic trip! I love all of the pictures and details you have shared so far, and I can't wait for the next installments. I may not always have time to comment, but I'm following the thread so hopefully I will get updates.
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
um yeah this is something I want to put on my bucket list
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Thanks Sherry E!!! I'm happy to have you following along
Cool!!! Stay tuned, because the next post covers Bailey Yard
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Day 2 - Saturday, June 13 - Trains!!!!
So the game plan for the day was to get on the road around 8:00 AM and head towards Cheyenne, WY… stopping in North Platte, NE to see the world’s largest train yard. Otherwise, mostly a day of driving.
We woke up bright and early and packed up the car. Since the hotel offered a free continental breakfast, we decided to give it a try. This was probably the worst continental breakfast I’ve ever seen in a hotel. I tend to be pickier than the rest of the family when it comes to these, but even Pickle and Buddy couldn’t finish their “meals”. No biggie, Stephanie packed lots of snacks for the car ride, including granola bars and bagels (and a bunch of sweet and salty treats for later too.)
After the crummy breakfast, we hopped in the car and got a move on. I had anticipated a lot of, “Are we there yet’s” and “How much farther’s”, so I found a map online and printed a copy for each of the kids and one for the front passenger seat. It would serve two purposes: 1.) Everyone’s favorite license plate game. Check off the state the first time you see the corresponding license plate. 2.) I drew out the route showing the places where we’d stop for each night.
This turned out to be a great idea, because anytime someone asked how much further, I’d just point out where we were currently on the map. And of course, we all had fun looking out for new license plates. Unfortunately, we never saw all of them. We came up three states short. I don’t remember exactly, but they were all from the north east. Can’t believe we found Hawaii and Alaska, but not Connecticut. LOL.
Anyway, the morning was fairly uneventful. The most noteworthy thing was that it had been raining a lot up north and most of the creeks and streams that we passed were overflowing. Made for some interesting sites. Before we knew it, we had crossed into Iowa. This was the first time any of the kids had been in Iowa (for that matter, they had never been in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma either. Ha!)
And not too much longer, we made it into Nebraska.
Similar to dinner the night before (Taco John’s), I wanted to keep lunch fast and cheap, but also try something different. I had heard about Runza before, but never talked to anyone who’d ever had it. Here’s the description of what a runza sandwich is from their website:
Sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to give it a try...
Stephanie and I both had runza sandwiches, the kids had burgers and chicken nuggets. How was it? Somewhere between OK and pretty good. I’d probably try it again the next time we drive through Nebraska, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
The fries were pretty good. I love crinkle cut fries and these reminded me of Culver’s, so that’s a plus.
The other MAJOR plus in my book, is that they had self serve icee’s/slushies… which could be interchanged with any fountain drink option for free. Nice!
Using my best Forest Gump impersonation, “And that’s all I have to say about that…” Time to get back in the car.
An hour or two later, we made it to North Platte. Cool! This pit stop was mostly for Buddy, our big train fan.
We stopped at the Golden Spike Tower, which is adjacent to Bailey Yard. It has museum exhibits on the first floor and viewing platforms on the top two floors. I think it was about 7 bucks per person to go inside. And then a $1 discount per ticket for having AAA. Not too bad, and certainly worth it for a couple train fans.
So yeah, this is the world’s largest train yard. And pretty spectacular. They said that 10,000 train cars are managed there every day. Trains galore, and heaven for Buddy. He was super stoked!!
We browsed around the museum exhibits for a little while and then headed up to the viewing platforms. I took a lot of photos and videos inside and out, but trying to keep it relatively brief here. Here are a couple of shots from the top.
They had a retired Union Pacific train worker up on the top floor who was there to answer your questions. I didn’t have any problem showing my ignorance and I asked him a TON of questions about the various operations. I really learned a lot that day. Pretty fascinating stuff.
We probably spent 45 minutes watching the trains up from the top of the tower and then decided to come down and explore a little more and then hit the gift shop.
Buddy ended up getting a Union Pacific hat and t-shirt with his souvenir money.
Additionally, they had some amazing G gauge LGB model trains that ran up near the ceiling of the museum exhibit area. You had to deposit 50 cents into a machine to get them to run. Of course, we had to give it a try!!! We watched them run for a while. Super cool. If I had a lot of money, I’d build a backyard garden railroad using LGB trains (similar to what they have at the German Pavillon in EPCOT.)
After that, we explored outside for a little while, grabbed a couple more photos and decided to move on...
If you are ever traveling along I-80 in Nebraska, it’s worth a stop. Even Princess (teenage girl!!) enjoyed it… that’s saying something!
Stayed tuned for the next post as we explore North Platte a little more before we leaven, and run into our first happy accident
So the game plan for the day was to get on the road around 8:00 AM and head towards Cheyenne, WY… stopping in North Platte, NE to see the world’s largest train yard. Otherwise, mostly a day of driving.
We woke up bright and early and packed up the car. Since the hotel offered a free continental breakfast, we decided to give it a try. This was probably the worst continental breakfast I’ve ever seen in a hotel. I tend to be pickier than the rest of the family when it comes to these, but even Pickle and Buddy couldn’t finish their “meals”. No biggie, Stephanie packed lots of snacks for the car ride, including granola bars and bagels (and a bunch of sweet and salty treats for later too.)
After the crummy breakfast, we hopped in the car and got a move on. I had anticipated a lot of, “Are we there yet’s” and “How much farther’s”, so I found a map online and printed a copy for each of the kids and one for the front passenger seat. It would serve two purposes: 1.) Everyone’s favorite license plate game. Check off the state the first time you see the corresponding license plate. 2.) I drew out the route showing the places where we’d stop for each night.
This turned out to be a great idea, because anytime someone asked how much further, I’d just point out where we were currently on the map. And of course, we all had fun looking out for new license plates. Unfortunately, we never saw all of them. We came up three states short. I don’t remember exactly, but they were all from the north east. Can’t believe we found Hawaii and Alaska, but not Connecticut. LOL.
Anyway, the morning was fairly uneventful. The most noteworthy thing was that it had been raining a lot up north and most of the creeks and streams that we passed were overflowing. Made for some interesting sites. Before we knew it, we had crossed into Iowa. This was the first time any of the kids had been in Iowa (for that matter, they had never been in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma either. Ha!)
And not too much longer, we made it into Nebraska.
Similar to dinner the night before (Taco John’s), I wanted to keep lunch fast and cheap, but also try something different. I had heard about Runza before, but never talked to anyone who’d ever had it. Here’s the description of what a runza sandwich is from their website:
“THE SANDWICH WE LIKE SO MUCH, WE NAMED THE RESTAURANT AFTER IT
Ground beef seasoned with a top-secret blend of spices and mixed with cabbage and onions. All wrapped up in fresh-baked bread. It’s the taste that generations of Midwesterners have grown up loving, and it’s our signature sandwich. Get it topped however you want – because while we make it fresh, you make it your own."
Ground beef seasoned with a top-secret blend of spices and mixed with cabbage and onions. All wrapped up in fresh-baked bread. It’s the taste that generations of Midwesterners have grown up loving, and it’s our signature sandwich. Get it topped however you want – because while we make it fresh, you make it your own."
Sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to give it a try...
Stephanie and I both had runza sandwiches, the kids had burgers and chicken nuggets. How was it? Somewhere between OK and pretty good. I’d probably try it again the next time we drive through Nebraska, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
The fries were pretty good. I love crinkle cut fries and these reminded me of Culver’s, so that’s a plus.
The other MAJOR plus in my book, is that they had self serve icee’s/slushies… which could be interchanged with any fountain drink option for free. Nice!
Using my best Forest Gump impersonation, “And that’s all I have to say about that…” Time to get back in the car.
An hour or two later, we made it to North Platte. Cool! This pit stop was mostly for Buddy, our big train fan.
We stopped at the Golden Spike Tower, which is adjacent to Bailey Yard. It has museum exhibits on the first floor and viewing platforms on the top two floors. I think it was about 7 bucks per person to go inside. And then a $1 discount per ticket for having AAA. Not too bad, and certainly worth it for a couple train fans.
So yeah, this is the world’s largest train yard. And pretty spectacular. They said that 10,000 train cars are managed there every day. Trains galore, and heaven for Buddy. He was super stoked!!
We browsed around the museum exhibits for a little while and then headed up to the viewing platforms. I took a lot of photos and videos inside and out, but trying to keep it relatively brief here. Here are a couple of shots from the top.
They had a retired Union Pacific train worker up on the top floor who was there to answer your questions. I didn’t have any problem showing my ignorance and I asked him a TON of questions about the various operations. I really learned a lot that day. Pretty fascinating stuff.
We probably spent 45 minutes watching the trains up from the top of the tower and then decided to come down and explore a little more and then hit the gift shop.
Buddy ended up getting a Union Pacific hat and t-shirt with his souvenir money.
Additionally, they had some amazing G gauge LGB model trains that ran up near the ceiling of the museum exhibit area. You had to deposit 50 cents into a machine to get them to run. Of course, we had to give it a try!!! We watched them run for a while. Super cool. If I had a lot of money, I’d build a backyard garden railroad using LGB trains (similar to what they have at the German Pavillon in EPCOT.)
After that, we explored outside for a little while, grabbed a couple more photos and decided to move on...
If you are ever traveling along I-80 in Nebraska, it’s worth a stop. Even Princess (teenage girl!!) enjoyed it… that’s saying something!
Stayed tuned for the next post as we explore North Platte a little more before we leaven, and run into our first happy accident
Last edited:
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
looks pretty cool the museum sounds a bit like one they have in Altoona Pennsylvania http://www.railroadcity.com/
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Thanks, that museum in PA looks awesome! I'll be in Philly for a business meeting later this month. I got my hopes up for a minute, but unfortunately Altoona is a bit out of reach for that trip. Maybe sometime in the future!!!
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
also with admission to it you get free access to the World famous horseshoe curve link to my pictures on Flickr of the curve, the Museum and some videos on youtube
Last edited:
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
I have a very good friend that is a train enthusiast. I'm going to ask him if he's heard of North Platte. What a cool stop!
Love the "Welcome to [insert state]" signs throughout the US.
Love the "Welcome to [insert state]" signs throughout the US.
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