Great Day Ends In Semi Disaster

This morning started out perfectly. Cael woke up and was in a good mood. We were all super happy and excited to start the day when we woke up. Brad and I treated Cael to a cherry slush, banana, and apple slices from Sonic (for ourselves we got McDonalds breakfast) and headed over to watch Ryan play flag football. Ryan was awesome! He definitely shows his father's genes on the field. The Tigers won their game, completing their undefeated streak. Cael was great at the game. He played nicely with Marc and the two of them had many cute and funny moments together.
After the game, Cael went down for a nap without a hitch so I got my homework done and played a little RuneScape before heading over to get Brad's mom to go to the train station. Our plans were to take the Amtrak to Kansas City, hang around at Union Station for a little while, then take the 316 train back to Warrensburg. The ride there was perfect! Cael loved being on the train and watched out the window as the trees, towns, and fields passed by. He waved at everyone at every stop. When we got off at Union Station, he was still excited and we got his picture taken with the train.

Union Station was absolutely bare when we arrived. The only thing happening there was a wedding reception. None of the shops, except the snooty restaurant, were open. So we sat in the waiting room until our train came at 5:55 to take us back home.

We got on the train again and met some difficulties. A freight train was comig our way so we had to take a short detour onto a sort of "off ramp" for trains so the freight could pass. We then made all of our necessary stops when, outside of Lee's Summit we stopped again. The passengers all figured that it was just another freight passing by, but it wasn't so. As we began talking about dinner plans for when we arrived back home, the conductor came over the loudspeaker and informed the passengers that a freight train was experiencing some mechanical issues closer to Warrensburg (where there was only one railway). While they figured things out, we would have to stop and wait for the problem to be fixed which  "could take 30 to 45 minutes."

But 30 to 45 minutes turned in to 3 hours. No joke. There were quite a few small children on the train and they were all getting antsy and bored with waiting. Cael had not had lunch so he was starving to death. Ryan and Chris were just full of energy and bouncing off the walls, like any normal 6 and 4 year olds. Marc was fussing because we had not moved and he was bored. Another baby up toward the front was crying as well. The adults tried to keep the kids entertained. I pulled out my stockpile of books and toys that were brought for Cael and that lasted for about 30 minutes... Then we all ate hot dogs at 8:30, since the kids were hungry. The baby up front cried even more. Cael finally fell asleep after eating his hot dog and Amy (Brad's cousin's wife) went to go put Marc to sleep in the empty car. Brad and I were exhausted but we helped Jane (Brad's aunt), Bryan (Brad's cousin), Betty (Brad's grandma), and Matt (Brad's cousin and Amy's husband) keep Ryan and Chris occupied.

More timed passed and still nothing had been heard from the freight train. The adults were getting pissed now. The conductor was hiding in the back of the last car and the stewardess running the concessions was rude and unhelpful. At 9:00 we received news about the problem: one of the knuckles, or the joints between the cars of the train that hold two cars together, had broken and was being repaired. Due to federal regulations, each car had to be inspected after this was fixed, which could take 30 to 45 minutes (again, with the false time constraints!). Then there was silence from the conductor again.

The baby up front was still crying so Judy asked the mom if she wanted to bring her daughter back with us so she wouldn't be as bored (Marc and Cael were awake by then). She came back with us and Judy asked how far the woman had to go. She said St. Louis... Poor girl! And she had no food for the baby. She said she had told there was everything packed but someone must have emptied the bag before they left because the baby had nothing at all. She also didn't have enough money for anything in the dining car. So being the good Samaritan/mom/grandma that Judy is, Judy went to the dining car and bought the baby some crackers, noodles, and cheese. Amy even pitched in Marc's neglected Cheerios. The little girl, Marc, and Cael were all having a blast waving at each other and sharing snacks. The baby was very happy after that and the woman thanked us profusely. I'm just glad that she was helped!

At 10:30 we finally got a message that the freight was up and ready to go, but that after it was two more trains... So we would have to wait for all three of them to go by before we could move. GAH! We were all so upset over more delays but happy because we were finally going to be moving again! The trains passed and in 5 minutes we were back in Warrensburg. We could have walked and been there and in our respective homes in the time we were stuck there. >:( We ended up arriving home at 11:05pm.

Obviously it was not our conductor's fault but he still could have been more friendly. He was ridiculously standoffish and unwilling to talk to any of the passengers. Thank God we got off that train!