Austin Steam Train Field Trip

My friend, Zelia was able to coordinate a field trip for some fellow homeschooling families over the weekend. After our train failure in Arizona we were sure to not miss this opportunity.
The train is run completely by volunteers.  We were in an open-aired car (no a.c.) and we were connected to the snack car.   The chairs turn around so you can face each other (2x2 -4 in a group) or face forward and two in a seat.  You can bring your own food and walk freely among the train (with an adult).
It is supposed to be a 3 hour round trip to downtown Austin and back to the station in Cedar Park.  About 20 minutes into the ride we had to stop and we sat on the tracks for forty minutes b/c a freight train farther up the line was having mechanical failure.  So, we rode backwards to Cedar Park and farther up the line to Leander, where we then proceeded forwards again.  It was not nearly the failure that we had in AZ, b/c we at least got to ride the train this time.  They gave us vouchers to ride again in November, but I think this time Mimi and PawPaw can get the steam train experience and we will keep HR home.  The kids really enjoyed themselves, thank you Miss Z for thinking of us.