All Aboard the Christmas Train

Living in Montana, the primary thing to do in the winter is outdoorsy stuff. Skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing...so great. I will be the first to admit that I'm not into winter...she says as she moves to Minnesota. Anyway, one of Montana's best attractions in the winter time is The Christmas Train. 

We always forget to buy tickets, and they sell out months in advance. This year, mom was on the ball (unlike me) and snagged tickets to go. So, we piled into the car: Mom, Dad, my sister, and her five-year-old.

After driving to essentially the middle of nowhere (~2 hours into rural Montana), we get to the train stop. Once herded onto the train, like cattle, we got some hot chocolate and cookies, delivered by elves. The train starts moving, and we get treated to all sorts of elf games, singing of Christmas carols, and reading stories.

Then here comes the cool part. It’s pitch black outside, and the train goes over this tall, trestle bridge. The elves tell the little kids that we have to fly to the North Pole, and to keep watching for when the train starts to fly. Going over this bridge, it looked like we were flying. Real magic right there.

After 45 minutes, we’re at the North Pole. There are Christmas trees, moving (but not real) reindeer, and, of course, we pick up Santa who talks to every single kid on the train.

For me, I can’t remember a time when I believed in Santa anymore. I don’t know when I stopped the belief, but it was a while back. I’ll also admit that my Christmas spirit is generally lacking. I could go into lots of reasons why this happened, but in general…not much on the spirit. My nephew though…he still gets it. The best part of this trip was seeing how excited he was to see Santa, or when the train started to fly. That made the long drive and the (many) tantrums worth it.

Long story short, bring the kids to the Christmas train. It’s great. Totally worth the drive if you can get tickets. Get some more information here. (Not sponsored or affiliated, just a great trip).

How do you preserve that Christmas spirit?