I must hurry and brush my hair, my teeth, get dressed and wake up my sister. Today we leave for a train trip to California! I'm 7 so this seems much more exciting to me than to my parents. We pile into the Kaiser (it's a wonderful green/yellow hard top), and get to Boston early in the morning. I have to have help to climb aboard the train, it seems very large to me at the time. The Porter, named Bill, explains to me that the ice cream vendor will walk the aisles at 3 every day. Exciting stuff!!! Only a nickle, we surely can afford that. My parents and my older sister are not near as excited as I am. My mother seems to be dreading this adventure, my father is his usual quiet self. My sister is 5 years older than I, so I ignore her. The first night I had trouble sleeping, too much noise, but I did fine the rest of the time. My parents look tired. They aren't enjoying the cows, mountains, lakes, cars, and people I see out the windows. I get to change clothes several times a day, because with the train moving back and forth, something is always spilling. There is a bathroom, on board the train! Indoors, not an outhouse! What an incredible thing. The trip took 12 days, not nearly long enough for me. The rules onboard were simple; 1. Don't run in the aisles, and 2. Don't bother people. I think I did good with the second, slipped up occasionally with the first. We arrived in California to find my grandparents anxiously awaiting our visit. I was happy to see them, but sad to leave the wonderous train. The sights, smells, sounds I still remember to this day. May we all have a memory which puts a smile on our face! | 
