Snow Train Adventure

There was snow and lots of it, making my annual trek over the mountains aboard the Snow Train an awesome adventure. I enjoyed the lounge car and dome car environments, sitting back, knitting socks (for me), watching my husband work the train. It was a lovely trip.

But the best part of all is that I came back with money in my wallet, a not so common result after spending 41 hours in that Biggest Little City of Reno. The appearance of 4 Aces on the fully loaded, $1.50 per pull, nickel slot machines, not once but twice, certainly spurred a couple brief moments of exhilaration. Fortunately I stopped while I was ahead.

With newfound winnings in my purse however I did accompany my friend Sally around the antique shops. While Sally was picking through milk glass doodads, Dam trolls, ice tea spoons and sugar & creamer sets, I did my usual browsing for red hats. Found one in great condition so of course I purchased it. Only trouble is, now my hat tree has one too many hats. So I decided I needed something new to collect. Something that I thought I wouldn't find everywhere I went. It finally occurred to me that since I own so many red hats, I should have a few hat pins. I now have a few hatpins. I now have also spent a few hours on the internet searching out the authentic vintage hatpins. I now realize that I am now probably the not so proud owner of a couple of replicas. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Yes, I also looked for that one in a million corkscrews that my brother might not yet have. I started to reach for my cell phone when I thought I had found a goldmine when the friendly antique shop owner asked me what my interest was in old corkscrews. When I told him my brother collects them, writes books about them, and has a virtual museum the guy said, "oh I know that guy, he already has all these." Sorry Big Brother. I give up.