2 weeks later....

Two weeks after the quick trip to Vegas we decided meet Brent in Denver. He had a job that he was measuring that was going to take a few days to do, so the kids and I decided to drive and meet him in Denver. This trip, like the Vegas trip, was going to be a quick trip. We left on a Wednesday and came home, well technically it was Sunday, but we shall say late late late Saturday night, since we left on Saturday and took a slight detour on the way home....more on that in a minute.We met Brent on Wednesday night and decided that Thursday was going to be a just whatever happens day. Really, we didn't have much planned for the trip, it really was just a whatever happens happens type trip. Thursday we went to Bass Pro Shops...it is near the airport and Brent had to return a rental car. We also went to an American Girl store for Madi, a train store for the boys, and an REI Flagship store for Brent, as well as having some of the best burritos we have ever had for dinner! We drove around Denver for awhile and went to visit his old boss and his wife as well. A pretty laid back day if you ask me.

Friday, we were going to drive to Cheyenne, WY. and follow Garrett's favorite train back to the train yard, the 844. It had been on an excursion to Arkansas and was coming back into town. Cheyenne is about and hour and a half away from Denver so we figured we would just make a fun drive out of it and chase the train for a little bit and then head back to Denver and play it by ear as to what we did. Well, I checked my twitter account for an update on the train (I know, I am definitely a dork) and the train was not coming into town on Friday after all, it was delayed due to a mechanical issue, so it would be arriving in Cheyenne on Saturday...Garrett's birthday! So, we quickly changed our plans and decided to go to the train museum in Golden. We have taken the kids to this train museum before, but they were little.

The kids had a blast...we spent a few hours exploring all the trains they had outside, the basement with the HO scale trains, as well as watching the crew work the train out around the roundhouse.While we were at the train museum Brent noticed some men walking around with shirts that had the Amtrak logo. They also had on Amtrak lanyards. One of the men was near Garrett and Garrett glanced over and saw the shirt and asked the man if he worked for Amtrak, in which he replied he did. That was that. We sort of shadowed these gentlemen the rest of the time we were there, not on purpose, it was just the path that we each took.A little while later I noticed Parker talking to both of the Amtrak gentlemen and then proceed to shake their hands. Parker comes over to where I am sitting and tells me that one of the Amtrak guys he just spoke to is the President of Amtrak! He then proceeds to tell us the conversation that he had with the men. Garrett wanted to meet them as well, so Brent went over with the kids and met them...let's just say the kids were heaven after that!

The next day, well it was Saturday, Garrett's Birthday, and it was time to come home. Remember how I said the 844 was heading home to Cheyenne and that we were going to catch it there to see it? And remember how I am a dork and have a twitter account and follow the Steam engine and know where they are when they are traveling? Well, yeah, they were not getting into Cheyenne at noon like they planned...no, they were getting to Cheyenne at 5pm!!! Did I tell you it is about 6 1/2 hours from my house to Cheyenne, WY? So what would you naturally do...head home? Oh no, not us. We decided to head to Sidney, Nebraska!!! Yeah, that is about, oh 3 hours from Denver! It is only and hour and a half outside of Cheyenne! What is in Sidney, Nebraska you ask besides a train that was heading there? Cabelas Headquarters, of course. Can I tell you, NOT what I expected. It was sort of like a Sportsmans Warehouse. Nothing fancy like the Cabelas in Utah. So, if you ever have the desire to head to Cabelas in Sidney, Nebraska...save your time and go to the Cabelas in Lehi. Oh, so what time did we get home that late late late Saturday night....2:30am (Sunday morning)!

Oh, and if you are still reading this far, we did celebrate Garrett's birthday...he had a long birthday weekend. We chased a train for him to Sidney, Nebraska for his birthday. Let him choose whatever he wanted to eat in Cheyenne, WY. We let him drive from Cheyenne back home. We even gave him a birthday gift in the car...Lego's! (that was not his only gift, he of course got some train stuff :) ) All, in all, I think he had an incredibly fun Saturday!