Roaring Camp Railroad

Before we headed home from our staycation in Santa Cruz, we stopped at Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton, CA. Despite having read through their website ahead of time, I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The grounds are peaceful, nestled against the Santa Cruz mountains and evoke a small California town from the early 1800's.

As we waited for our train ride, the boys explored a covered wagon, visited the general store to look at model trains and watched as people "panned for gold".

Train Depot

The train ride itself was an hour and 15 minutes and was awesome! The steam locomotives are authentic trains, once used in the logging industry and now carry guests through the surrounding forest on tours. The scenery is just beautiful and serene, and the conductors narrate about the trains, the history of the area and the redwood trees themselves. The whole family loved it and I'm so glad we visited this charming town. 

This weekend turned out (unintentionally) to have a theme around early American days. Although it wasn't planned, it reminded me how many learning opportunities there are for our kids and by getting out of the house and exploring, their worlds become just a little bit bigger.