Birthday Cake in the park

Saturday found me in Kircher park with the rest of the active St. Louis Live Steamers moving rock to fill in several washouts from last Sunday's 3 inches of rain which cut off access to the mainline from the storage and turntable tracks. We have a public run this Saturday the 18th, so we needed to fill in the holes under the track so the engines could get to the mainline and run.

It was hot (90) and humid, near typical for St. Louis in July, and we had rented a skid loader and had Al's 4-wheeler to do the heavy lifting and moving. It didn't take long to work up a sweat just shoveling and tamping rock. By noon the repairs were complete.

Mom and Dad had made it to the house Friday evening. Mom joined Dad, Max and I out at the track in time for the monthly business meeting over lunch. Mom brought a cake out and after several attempts to light some decade-old matches as subsitute candles and a chorus of Happy Birthday, we all ate cake in the park.

Later that evening Mom, Dad and I joined my friends Al & Jonelle and Bill & Laurie W. and their 8 year-old daughter Trinity at the Trainwreck Saloon restaurant for dinner.

Family, Friends, Cake and Trains -- a pretty darn good birthday!