Celebrating forty years together

Dick and I finally celebrated our 40th anniversary today - three weeks late!  But hey, so what?  Now we're married 40 years and 3 weeks.  That's even better, right??

Yesterday Dick saw an ad on TV about a Fall Foliage train ride from Bellefonte to Lock Haven taking place this afternoon.  Since fall foliage was such a big part of our wedding colors, our honeymoon in the Poconos, and many trips there since, I thought, "That would be a cool thing to do for our anniversary."  We knew nothing more about it, so after we got home from church I looked it up on line and called.  They said they had just found a couple of more tickets to sell.  Three hundred had already been sold!  So we grabbed some sandwiches, changed clothes and headed for that beautiful park in Bellefonte where the historic train station is.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!

We were a big deal as we traveled through mountain country.  People were out waving and taking pictures of us.  Passenger trains no longer travel on these tracks, so a train with 300 people on board was quite a sensation!  We were particularly amused by a guy in a red jeep who seemed to be at every crossing taking pictures of us.  At times we would see him racing on the road next to the train track, trying to get to the next crossing before the train.  We asked one of the hosts about him.  His answer:  "He's a train nut.  I would be doing the same thing if I weren't on here." Wow.  I had no idea.

The trip was supposed to take three hours round trip.  However, when we got to Lock Haven we were informed that a 100-car coal train was going to be coming through, and we could not return to Bellefonte until it had.  We would be held up about an hour.  There was really nothing to do but get to know the other people.  We could not get off the train.  Water and popcorn had already been served.  Thank God there was a restroom in each car, such as it was.  But people were friendly, and it really wasn't so bad.   

At last we could hear a whistle and then feel the rumble.  The coal train was coming through.

All one hundred cars passed right beside us.  And at last we could make the return trip.

It was around 6:00 when we got back to Bellefonte, and we were HUNGRY.  Those quick sandwiches at lunch seemed like a long time ago.  We decided to continue our anniversary celebration by going to our favorite steak place - Outback.  Their food is always yummy, but especially so when you're hungry.

What a good day.  It does not seem at all like forty years since we enjoyed the waterfalls and fall foliage in the Pocono Mountains on our honeymoon.  I vividly recall sitting along the trail of Bushkill Falls and discussing our dreams.  The main thing I remember is that the top thing on his list was getting a twelve-string guitar and the top thing on mine was getting a piano.  I guess we haven't strayed too far from our dreams!