Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Late this summer we promised Evan that if he would consistently go poopy on the potty, we would go for a real train ride.  I hung pictures of the train all through the house; on his bed, in the kitchen and on the potty as a reminder of what was at stake!  He finally figured it out - Hooray!  So we ventured off to Akron, Ohio to ride the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad on Saturday, August 25.

Waiting patiently to get on the train

Walking to the train -
they held hands all on their own!  LOVE!

The boys were so excited to ride,
and couldn't wait to get on the train!

All settled in!

The Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad goes north out of Akron, and passes through the Cuyahoga National Park.  Along the way we saw an active Bald Eagles nest, but didn't see the Bald Eagles.

Can you see the brown nest in the middle of the picture
toward the back tree line?

Having fun as a family!

We elected to get off the train prior to the last stop to avoid sitting on the train for 45 minutes at the next stop as the train prepared to turn around.  This stop was called Canal Town Visitors Center which had an interactive Visitors Center, and working outside lock.   Unfortunately due to the lack of rain, the outside lock was nearly dried up!  But it is still an existing lock in the Erie Canal system.

During the whole trip, we saw many bicyclists, runners and walkers out on a path that uses the old towpath of the Erie Canal.  It followed pretty closely to the train line.  We've decided we would like to go back, do some camping, and ride bikes on the path.  It looked like a lot of fun!  What is neat is that bicyclists can ride, and then jump on the train for $2 to get back to their cars.

Bike 2 Ride train

Cuyahoga River and our train still parked at the
Canal Visitors Center depot.
Can you see it through the trees?

The boys learning about how canals and locks work
at the visitors center.

Pedestrian and Bike bridge to get
back to the depot.

Here comes the train to pick us back up.

The Conductor and the boys!

We didn't realize that we could ask for audio tour sets during the ride north.  So on the way back down to Akron, we enjoyed listening to the audio tour.  It told of the canal days, the way of life, animals, and other interesting facts.

Looking a little sleepy!

This bridge is the most famous of the railroad scenes
along the Cuyahoga Rail line.
They use it in a lot of their promotions.
Too bad  we couldn't get out to take pictures here;
This was taken through the train window!

We had so much fun on the train.  People were friendly, the boys loved it and didn't get bored.  It was about 3 hours round trip!  They are already asking when can we go back and ride the train again!