A Great Train Show Weekend

Sheila, talking with one of our newest train show fanatics...
He went home with a new train set and a few other toys.

Sheila and I had a great time at our annual train show extended weekend. It sounds as though everyone who joined us had a great time as well! 

My spinal injuries were putting a painful crimp in our time at the show but, overall, we had a great time and are glad we ventured to the show regardless of my spinal injuries.

I couldn't walk at all in the days before we left for the show so it was a bit iffy whether I would make it to the show at all. We still probably would have traveled down to see everyone but being able to walk around the show didn't look promising in the preceding days.

After having problems getting around the show on my own this year... as well as some problems last year which weren't as bad as this year... and even some problems the year before that were milder (I see the pattern and it isn't a pretty pattern)... I have decided that I am definitely purchasing a wheelchair for future events just like this one. We spent so little time at the show this year because of my spinal injuries that I actually wish I had already purchased a wheelchair. That would have made things significantly better this year... well, better in that it would have allowed me to be more mobile and it would have cut down on some of the spinal pain. It really was brutal walking around for just the two hours each day... exceptionally brutal!

Actually, I was in so much pain for the two hours at the show on Saturday that I decided to leave ALL of my camera gear locked up in the car on Sunday to minimize the amount of weight I carried... I carried absolutely nothing for the two hours on Sunday yet two hours of walking put me beyond my pain threshold on this day as well. We made a point to get to all four huge buildings but there were definitely things I wanted to see but did not get to see. I'll write more about the show itself in another blog entry.

We did the usual first night in the hotel lounge... followed by some socializing in one of the rooms... breakfast at a nice restaurant on Saturday morning... the train show... then a great dinner at The Munich Haus... some time socializing in one of the rooms again... the show again on Sunday... and then a nice Italian dinner partway through our drive back home.

Below is a short video of some of the weekend's events. I shot very little video but I managed to put together a few short clips below. I didn't shoot all that many photos either but I'll share some photos too in a new blog entry soon. 

As always, this train show weekend was a great time! We did miss having Sheila's parents join us this year though... and, everyone else expressed the same. 

Is it time to start planning next year's show?