Thursday, July 31, 2014

A Day at Tweetsie Railroad ~ Part II

After lunch, we started the second half of our day at Tweetsie with a ride up the mountain on the chairlift.  I was nervous about riding with Brody on a chairlift so high off the ground with only a little lap bar holding us in.  I had a little trouble getting him up into the seat quickly enough and actually spilled my drink all over my lap in the process.  The attendant was basically no help at all!  We made it safely up the mountain though and had lots more fun.

 photo Tweetsie68_zps540faaaf.jpg

 photo Tweetsie69_zps455e38cf.jpg
My cowboys heading to the chairlift.

 photo Tweetsie70_zpsef8ebd29.jpg
At the top of the mountain was a little playground.  I thought this little zipline was a neat feature.  

 photo Tweetsie71_zps06736a81.jpg
Big brother Evan didn't mind riding the jets with Brody although he was technically a little too big for them.

 photo Tweetsie72_zpsa456bf94.jpg
Brody loved flying the plane. 

 photo Tweetsie73_zps65790928.jpg
Then, we tried panning for gold.  I did this for real in Old Sacramento when I was a child so I loved sharing the experience with them.  Of course, we weren't likely to find any real gold in this sand that came from who knows where.  North Carolina was home to the first gold rush, but that was actually closer to Charlotte.  We may have to go to Reed's Gold Mine one of these days to see if we have any luck.  

 photo Tweetsie74_zps997eddf6.jpg
I did find this little gold looking nugget and some flakes that were likely iron pyrite.

 photo Tweetsie75_zps9c70868f.jpg
Brody just enjoyed getting thoroughly soaked playing in the water.

 photo Tweetsie76_zpsa65c258c.jpg
Evan gave gem mining a try.  We got a bucket full of sand with some interesting rocks and stones in it.  I had put them into a bag to keep, but somehow it disappeared before we got home.  Update:  I found the rocks...The bag was still in my purse.  I lose everything in there!  Haha!  I also tested our gold finds.  Some of it was not magnetic so maybe we did find real gold after all.  We're rich!  Ha!

 photo Tweetsie77_zps2a80670b.jpg
Mining for gems

 photo Tweetsie78_zps9ec382ae.jpg
We found many of these interesting rocks and stones. 

 photo Tweetsie79_zpsbd824d3b.jpg
Then, we let the kids watch this little show with Hopper the Engineer and Porter the Conductor.  

 photo Tweetsie80_zps0b8b5faf.jpg
Evan got on stage and helped perform "I've Been Working on the Railroad."  He hammered a little too hard and his hammer head went flying off.  

 photo Tweetsie81_zps5ed302f5.jpg
He hammered more gently after that.

 photo Tweetsie82_zps4502aa85.jpg
I had to be in the picture to get Brody to cooperate.

 photo Tweetsie83_zpsbf07cdc7.jpg
Brody was very excited to ride the mouse train and go into the tunnel.

 photo Tweetsie84_zps21e83495.jpg
His excited face

 photo Tweetsie85_zps3ab7f2cd.jpg

 photo Tweetsie86_zps87ec5711.jpg
Our little train heading out.

 photo Tweetsie87_zpsc7ac51c5.jpg
Daddy and Brody

 photo Tweetsie88_zpsf276d75c.jpg
My sweet cowboy Evan

 photo Tweetsie89_zps48472e76.jpg
Heading into the mine

 photo Tweetsie90_zpsd620cdd9.jpg
Yep, it was a cheese mine!

 photo Tweetsie91_zps7e881835.jpg
Brody enjoyed watching the mice at work and also seeing everything glow.

 photo Tweetsie92_zpsfb9ac64d.jpg
Heading back down the mountain with Daddy.

 photo Tweetsie93_zps2267c9ae.jpg
Evan rode with me this time.

 photo Tweetsie94_zps31e66c35.jpg
Brody enjoyed his ride.

 photo Tweetsie95_zpsa60af40d.jpg
Then, the boys all rode the ferris wheel which was a very fast moving ferris wheel.

 photo Tweetsie96_zpse8c35e69.jpg

 photo Tweetsie97_zps714829e3.jpg


 photo Tweetsie98_zps112e371d.jpg


 photo Tweetsie99_zps3137dad5.jpg


 photo Tweetsie100_zps4d753ce9.jpg


 photo Tweetsie101_zps538a6ed5.jpg
At the top


 photo Tweetsie102_zpsec77623d.jpg


 photo Tweetsie103_zps7137a0fb.jpg


 photo Tweetsie104_zps2e6d4a14.jpg
Evan and Daddy had some fun in the arcade practicing shooting.

 photo Tweetsie105_zps13829980.jpg
Brody wanted to try too.

 photo Tweetsie107_zps53a81c85.jpg
Then, we headed back up the mountain one more time because the kids love the chairlift, and we wanted to check out the animal park.

 photo Tweetsie108_zps039a5fec.jpg photo Tweetsie109_zps853912dc.jpg
We fed the deer.

 photo Tweetsie110_zpsbc791a67.jpg
The potbellied pigs were not interested in eating.

 photo Tweetsie111_zps663e0348.jpg
Emu

 photo Tweetsie112_zps4fb3f106.jpg
Feeding and petting these little mules.

 photo Tweetsie113_zps5ee7f982.jpg
A miniature horse

 photo Tweetsie114_zps5d0965ad.jpg
This llama was not in a social mood after having a rough day, but she appreciated the food.

 photo Tweetsie115_zps46909b47.jpg

 photo Tweetsie116_zps1b32bc72.jpg
Brody loved petting this little goat.  Apparently, the babies can fit through the fences.

 photo Tweetsie117_zps4b18b58a.jpg
Right above them was a very pregnant mommy goat who was determined to get all the food.

 photo Tweetsie118_zps36f6f8e4.jpg
Brody enjoyed feeding the llama.

 photo Tweetsie119_zps8d0bd06b.jpg

 photo Tweetsie120_zpsa5dbdd93.jpg
Riding the little boat ride.

 photo Tweetsie121_zpsc5b77986.jpg
Of course, Brody can not be this close to water and not touch it.  It is just pure torture to expect him to resist.

 photo Tweetsie122_zpsd356980b.jpg
We headed back down the mountain to ride the train one last time in the evening.  We had a little time to wait for the evening train ride to start so we hung out in the shade while daddy kept our place in line.

 photo Tweetsie123_zpsff148aef.jpg
The kids visited their old friend in jail.  

 photo Tweetsie124_zpsfdcfcd9d.jpg
Little jailbirds

 photo Tweetsie125_zps4aefd3f7.jpg
I think this kid likes being behind bars.  He liked them at Alcatraz too!

 photo Tweetsie126_zps63d13794.jpg
Cooling off in the shops.

 photo Tweetsie127_zps2ed34915.jpg
He thought he could push this statue over.

 photo Tweetsie128_zps7290ba52.jpg
Then, I put them in the back of this covered wagon where Brody couldn't get out.

 photo Tweetsie129_zps970220e7.jpg
They practiced their horse riding skills some more.

 photo Tweetsie130_zpsa7e9c4a4.jpg

 photo Tweetsie131_zps9df91c05.jpg
We finally boarded the train.  The evening show is different and more adult oriented with the cowboys and cancan girls.

 photo Tweetsie132_zpsa45b0d20.jpg
Evan chose to be a bandit since there weren't any in the show.  Actually, he heard the announcement about possibly getting ash in your eyes and mouth from the smoke stack and covered his face.

 photo Tweetsie133_zps4871b590.jpg
Brody started getting very tired during this show.

 photo Tweetsie134_zps8677dbf5.jpg
At the first stop, the cowboys wanted to show off their shooting skills for the girls.

 photo Tweetsie135_zps5b0d6c66.jpg
And the girls sang RESPECT to demand respect from the boys.

 photo Tweetsie136_zpsb0a10a77.jpg
 photo Tweetsie137_zps1db66b91.jpg
 photo Tweetsie138_zps3ebb9023.jpg
At the fort, the girls forgave the boys, and they performed "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch." 

 photo Tweetsie139_zps1e695590.jpg

 photo Tweetsie140_zps0c30da90.jpg
And Brody fell asleep on the ride.

So after a long and tiring day exploring the old west and riding choo choo trains, we were on the road.  We woke Brody up for dinner in Lenoir, and although he wasn't too happy about it, he was hungry enough to eat most of his mac and cheese.

 photo nametab_zps32a557cc.jpg

3 comments:

  1. I am tired just reading about this day. It sounds like it was so much fun though. A lot of it reminds me of when we went to the Yukon when I was fourteen. I wanted to be a cancan girl so badly!

    Also, yesterday before supper, I was looking at your previous post, and then when we went around the supper table being thankful, Rachel said, "I'm thankful for a good day riding the train." Dave and I were super-confused because the last time we rode a train was back in May. And then I said, "Oh, the pictures of Evan and Brody riding the train we looked at before supper?" and Rachel said, "Yes! I'm thankful Evan and Brody rode the train." I laughed so hard!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fun day! I love Brody's excited face picture and Evan in his cowboy gear. What a couple of cuties! There is a real diamond mine in Arkansas that we are hoping to get to this fall to do some mining. This post makes me even more excited about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whew! What a day...both the morning and the afternoon were jam packed. I think it is really cool that there were little shows while you were on the train rides. That makes it so much more fun than "just" a train ride.

    ReplyDelete

Leave some love! Your comments make me happy!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails