Last weekend, we loaded up the car and headed north to Palestine to ride the Polar Express, while listening to From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler on audio book. With temps around 80 degrees, it was lovely out but decidedly not polar!
Our first stop was the Diboll History Center and their train. It's one of our favorite stops in East Texas.
Next up, we visited Caddo Mounds State Historic Site and arrived just in time for a special presentation by the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. We learned all about owls! It was a fantastic event.
After arriving in Palestine and checking in to the hotel, we changed into our Christmas pajamas and headed to the Palestine station for the 5pm ride on the Polar Express. We missed last year's ride due to severe weather, so this was our fourth ride on the train.
This year, we upgraded to Diamond class seats, which meant we were in the upper level and had extra special mugs and a bit more time with Santa.
The kids were so excited! The ride is as magical as it was the first time we went back in 2012.
The North Pole!
Santa came aboard and passed out sleigh bells to all the children.
And we even got a photo with the man in red!
We were all pretty tired after the trip, so we snuggled into our hotel beds as an arctic front blew in and read books before falling asleep.
The next day, it was only in the 20s when we woke up, so we ate our breakfast, bundled up and packed up the car.
We had planned to go hiking, but it was so cold that we thought better of it... until we looked at the map and realized we were passing right by Fort Boggy State Park. With our parks pass giving us free admission, we decided to take a quick break and stretch our legs.
The park is beautiful and we had it completely to ourselves!
We made it a quarter of the way around the lake before encountering a muddy trail that sent us back the way we came.
It was a chilly 28°.
As always, the Polar Express is a wonderful, magical Christmas experience and we had so much exploring some new parts of East Texas.
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