NC Transporation Museum Visit

The boys and I traveled to the NC Transportation Museum yesterday. We've been at least 4 times before, usually for Day Out with Thomas events, but this museum is always worth another visit.

Thomas wasn't there yesterday, but they did have some Thomas themed activities going on, and they had a firetruck show. I think the boys enjoyed the firetrucks almost as much as the trains.

Pictured here is a mural in town that caught my eye.



I found this view through the Pullman coach cars fascinating. At the time of this picture, the car was roped off, so that's why no people.


I thought this vintage photo of Spencer Shops was really interesting too. There are quite a few old photos enlarged and on display in various building at the museum, and I think they do a great job of portraying how things were at the shops 50, 100, and 150 years ago.


A shot I took while we were on the turntable. It moves pretty slow, but it's impressive how many bays this roundhouse has and just how many engines the turntable can move around. We saw it in action at the end of the day putting back the diesel engine that took us for our ride around the yard today.

The 37-bay Bob Julian Roundhouse, one of the largest ever constructed, was built in 1924 and is one of the few preserved roundhouses remaining in the country. The building houses about 40 restored locomotives and rail cars.

A close-up of the tracks at the roundhouse.


The wheels of the 544 Seaboard Airline steam locomotive. This engine greets you as you first walk into the Roundhouse. The large Decapod (an engine with 10 driving wheels) was originally built for Russian railroads, but a civil war there kept the engine in the United States. Because Russian rails have a broader gauge than U.S. rails, the engine was fitted with especially wide wheels to accommodate U.S. track.


A close-up of engine 1925. This locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in February 1925. This Shay type of locomotive, named after the inventor, was designed for the steep grades, sharp curves and bad track conditions found on logging railroads. The Shay locomotives were different in that pistons were vertically mounted on the engineer’s side of the boiler, using connecting shafts and gears to turn the wheels. The 1925 was used by the Graham County RR to haul logs out of the Snowbird Mountains to the Bemis Lumber Company mill in Robbinsville, NC. The logging portion closed in 1948, but the railroad continued to carry general freight between Robbinsville and Topton, NC, where an interchange was made with the Southern Railway. Due to dropping freight levels and track conditions, the Graham County ceased operations in 1970. Restored in 1988. Currently out of service but scheduled for an overhaul.


A view from our train ride around the yard. I liked the blur of color.



A view from inside the red caboose the boys spent so much time playing in in the Roundhouse.



Windows in a room in the Roundhouse first used as a machine shop and later used as a locker room.


This locomotive was built by the Baldwin Locomotive works in June, 1913. This 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler was one of 25 ordered at that time by the ACL. These class of locomotives earned the nickname “Copperhead” because of the bright copper rings around the tops of the smokestacks. The ACL used them for freight and passenger service around Fayetteville, Rocky Mount and Wilmington in NC, and many places from Richmond, VA to Jacksonville, FL. The Atlantic Coast Line had their corporate headquarters in Wilmington, NC from 1900 until 1960, when it moved to Jacksonville, FL. It was the only Class 1 railroad to be headquartered in this state. As dieselization occurred, many of these locomotives found use on smaller subsidiary lines of the ACL. The 1031 was used on the East Carolina Railway in Tarboro, NC during the mid-1950s and the Virginia & Carolina Southern in Lumberton, NC during the later part of the decade. In 1959 it was placed on display in Florence, SC behind the passenger station adjacent to the rail yards. The City of Florence donated the 1031 to the NCTHC in 1994, resulting in a cosmetic restoration to a 1940s appearance in 1996 for display in the Robert Julian Roundhouse.


Last but not least, some shots of the boys enjoying the day.

Johnny is miffed here because we were in the air conditioned car for our train ride but I wanted to be in the one with open windows for pictures. We compromised and did the first half in the open window car and the 2nd half in the air car. I love the perturbed and hot face. It wasn't too hot for our trip, but we would have liked it cooler. I guess it was high 80s to low 90s.



Just a sweet shot of the boys being close. Really, they are very loving siblings.


Many, many cute firetruck shots. The one upper row second from left with Joey wearing (sortof) the fireman hat is priceless.


The boys even got to honk the horn:



and talk on the CB:



No trip anywhere is complete without at least a drive through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru. Here, we are in the CFA in Asheboro. I feel like I know this one as well as the one in Fuquay. We go in every time we go to Poppop's, the zoo, or elsewhere west of Raleigh.



Many other pictures are here including a good number of vintage car shots and other train engines on display and even a glimpse at the train restoration shop.

Rain!

Did I mention lately that we've gotten a bit of rain? I don't know how much for sure at my house since I don't keep accurate records, but a lot for August. Oh, I've got a rain gauge, but I'm not scientific about it. Yesterday, though, it said we got a whopping 4.5 inches. And, best as I can remember, that's the 3rd big rain(measured in inches) in as many weeks.

We get into really big trouble here in Raleigh when we have heavy rains in August and then hurricane force winds decide to follow. Praying for a lack of tropical development this season!

I can't help but remember Hurricane Fran on September 5, 1996 and what she did to our prized oak trees. They don't call Raleigh the City of Oaks for no reason. We have a lot of trees! Hurricane Fran left behind about 10 inches of rain, many downed trees, us without power for a week, and huge mess to clean up. It's an experience I can do without repeating. Even 14 years later, you can see the tree damage if you walk in the woods.

Coming home from school this morning, the debris on the road at Barber Bridge caught my eye. Wow, the water had been up over the bridge and onto the road over night. I turned around to go back and take a few pics.

Now, I think kids jumping in puddles with adult supervision is great fun, but I think going near rushing water on foot or in a car is extremely dangerous. Just a friendly remember to STAY CLEAR. I was on dry asphalt behind the cement bridge wall when I took these.

The view to the west.


The view to the west 1 year ago. You can see how much lower the water is. The bank is visible, and the branches hanging down aren't in the water.

The view looking east.


The view 1 year ago looking east. Besides the water being lower, you will see that it is very smooth and has very little movement. Also, the water is more green. Above it is filled with sediment and more brown.


An artsy shot of the water looking east.


The bridge looking toward Rock Service Station Road.


The view looking toward Hwy. 42. Notice all the debris in the road.


I also took a couple of videos this AM so you can hear and see how fast the water was moving.






The sun is out today, and hopefully we will dry out just a tad. And, wow, can it be that it is only 70 right now?!? I'll take it!

Puddle Splashing

It all started with the red galoshes...

When I was a little girl growing up in Trenton, NJ, I remember enjoying the rain with my Dad, and I remember my red galoshes. Trenton gets about 45 inches of rain each year and certainly has it's fair share of gray and wet days to go along with the gray clay soil.

I always remember my Dad loving rainy days. There was something special to him about the sound of the rain on the roof, the indoor activities we'd do on those days, and those priceless walks in the rain with our umbrellas and my red galoshes.

(We won't discuss the ping pong balls in the basement going into the sump pump or having to get out the push broom to push the water in the cellar over to the sump pump to begin with.)

I remember my Mom protesting with full anxiety about me getting my clothes wet, and my Dad calmly telling her not to worry; he'd clean me up. Off we'd go out the door, umbrellas in one hand and hand in hand in the other. Me at 3' and Dad at 6'3". Just walking and splashing and talking as if we had the world to ourselves.

Although my photography these days has me doing a lot of wishing for sunny days and blue skies, I still have a great fondness for those precious rainy days where the world seems secure with just me and my Dad walking in the rain.

Since Dad took all the pics at our house, there are no pics of me and him in the rain. Oh how I wish there were. There is a picture of me and the red galoshes, though.


Jump to the present...

It really poured while we were grocery shopping today, and as we drove home from Fuquay, Johnny started asking to go puddle splashing when we got home.

A few years ago, on a Blaze doggie walk after a big rain storm, Johnny happened to be with me, and he just happened to automatically do what all little kids do with puddles...jump in them whether Mom wants them to or not. It was like a blast back to the past as I ignored how wet he was getting and enjoyed how delighted he was with himself for getting wet in the puddles. A new tradition was born that day this time between a Mom and her son. Many rains and puddles since, the tradition lives on...

So, Johnny and I did end up out in the rain. I had the umbrella to protect my camera and my curls (ha!), and Johnny ran without a worry into every puddle he could find and enjoy. After 2.5", there certainly was no shortage of standing water. He started singing, and I continued with him several times, "Hi Ho Hi Ho It's off puddle jumping we go..."


Johnny even had a surprise today and discovered earth worms. This kid has no fear of insects and other critters outside.

I hope some day when I'm a Grandma I get an e-mail from Johnny with a picture he took of his little girl or boy out splashing in the rain puddles... And, the tradition will live on.

A super cute video of today's adventure is on YouTube.



All the pics from today are here. There are plenty more puddle splashing and jumping pics and a few more videos too.

My July 2009 blog post about Johnny in the puddles is here.

It's a Geyser and More at Engineers Day!

Here we go!



Our trip yesterday to The Museum of Life and Science in Durham for Engineers Day couldn't have been better! We got there around 10 and left around 5 and just didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to do.

Here are the kids standing by the rocket on our way in. I just loved the poses Madi was giving me and the monster faces Joey was trying to make.



IBM and it's team of volunteers did a great job as the event partner again this year hosting a hands-on exploration activities. Favorites of the kids were dropping an egg all wrapped up in recyclables and trying not to break it, taking apart a computer keyboard and mouse, racing the remote control rover bots, using 10 gumdrops and toothpicks to see who could build the tallest tower, and making boats and seeing whose could withstand the most pennies on top. Fun stuff!








Another one of the highlights of our day was watching Mentos geysers. Here Mentos Man has set off a geyser putting 11 Mentos into a Diet Coke.


Have you ever seen this? It's a great way to entertain the kids. Just make sure you have several bottles of diet soda and tubes of Mentos because once is just not enough. The Museum sells a kit in the gift shop, and you can get a similar one on Amazon.

Anyway, we watched 2 geysers, and the first time I was behind the kids and just got the geyser then I thought how cool to get the geyser and the kids in the same shot. Let's just say I am pleased with the expressions I got!

This video is worth watching if you enjoy music. I didn't quite understand the technology, but the cello is connected to the computer and is recognizing harmonics and creating a whole orchestra of sound on the go as the gentleman plays. So beautiful sounding I thought.

We ride the train almost every time, and it continues to be a thrill!





The kids aglow!





You can check out all of the Engineers Day pics on Picasa here.

We'll be back for Heroes, Villains and Special Effects on 9/11 AND 9/12.

Bubbles Galore at the Bubble Blitz

The boys and I headed to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today for their Bubble Blitz event. As you'd expect, there were all kinds of bubble opportunities. The boys got to decorate a card with bubble wrap stamps, make bubbling bath fizzers for the tub (we'll try it tomorrow), make all kinds of big bubbles, and even learn a short science lesson about Cartesian Divers. There were lots of delighted children throughout the museum grounds blowing touchable bubbles that were given away to members. I enjoyed finding them on grasses and flowers and trying to take pictures of that too. Really great to see the joy in the kids' eyes as they blew the bubbles and watched them take flight.


I always take butterfly, flower, and bear pictures when we're at the museum, and today was no exception. I was thrilled to take a picture of the butterfly in the upper right of the collage. It was on the flowers in the garden outside the Butterfly House. Ranger Greg was kind enough to identify it for me as a Great Spangled Fritillary. That's my first sighting ever. Cool!

It was also fun to watch one of the bears swimming...back and forth, relaxing, staying cool. We must have watched for 10 minutes. We also enjoyed watching Max the Jersey Steer get brushed by the trainers (not pictured here).

I do not remember the lily pads in the Explore the Wild swamp area blooming like I saw them in bloom today. What a delightful mix of pink and whites standing so proud in one corner of the swamp. Super sun lighting up the petals. I was mesmerized taking pictures of them for a few minutes. After a quick search, I see that they are Lotus Lilies. Both the flower and large seed pod are super interesting. Apparently distinctive to this type of lily is the fact that the lily pads rise above the water's surface instead of floating on top. The flowers are in peek bloom right now, so if you want to see them, hurry out for a visit!

We saw that Dino Days are July 17 and 18th and Engineers Day is August 14th. I suspect we'll be back for more fun then.

All of the photos from today are posted here.

Note: Post modified to update the butterfly identification from Checkerspot to Great Spangled Fritillary.

Not Just Butterflies at the Butterfly Bash

The boys and I attended the Butterfly Bash at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today and had a great time. However, I really didn't see this experience coming. I was just as sure as Joey and Johnny that I was not going to eat a bug. But, after riding the train and giving it some thought, I figured I just shouldn't pass up on an opportunity like this one...ha ha gulp! So, with a little moral support from the staff and some help from Kristen with the camera I took the plunge and ate 2 cooked meal worms with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. Now, I have to admit I didn't, um, chew but they did go down! After all, it is just protein, right?!?





Much more seriously, I got some great flower pictures in the outside butterfly garden and some cool butterfly shots both inside and out.


The boys had a great time holding Owl Butterflies, riding the train, playing in the caboose, and all the other things they always love to do at the museum.



We also had a special treat and got to see the keeper at the Black Bear exhibit give the bears 5 gallon bucket size fruit popsicles. What a treat for them and us since they had to go into the water for a swim to retrieve their pops.


I even got to see the red-tailed hawk and kingfisher in the wetlands area.



What a day!

The link to all of today's pictures on Picasa is here.

Crayon Physics

Joey and I had THE BEST time playing Crayon Physics at The Museum of Life and Science in Durham today. I highly recommend you check out the new Contraptions exhibit, where the computer hosting this game sits, the next time you go to the museum or download the demo or full game at home. I was impressed that Joey, at 7, was willing to try 20-30 times to clear a level. He was very persistent and seemed to really be learning a lot. It's plenty entertaining for adults too! The whole Contraptions exhibit was great fun today as well. More on that later!