1. The boys got along better than best friends for most of our trip. They cooperated, split responsibilities, and took care of me and each other. Neither threw the other from the train.
2. Food in Flagstaff is expensive. The city is quaint and unassuming, as are the restaurants, until it comes to the bill.
3. You can play Monopoly in the car if you're very careful.
4. Staying up late to visit an observatory after dark is so totally worth it when you can look through a hundred-year-old telescope and see Saturn and its rings.
5. The Truman Library is worth the detour on the way to Kansas City. After having seen the Truman and Lincoln libraries I'm beginning to consider making pilgrimages to all the other presidential libraries.
6. Much of the train route through the American Southwest is strewn with automobile graveyards.
7. No matter how annoying they may be during daylight hours, tween boys are still adorable when they're sleeping.
8. Parts of Arizona can be very cold.
9. I do have the courage to climb a few yards down into the Grand Canyon; I need help climbing back up.
10. But I still freak out when the boys get too close to the edge.
11. If the weather is cool at night you can leave your leftover pizza on the windowsill and have it for breakfast in the morning.
12. People in funky little ski towns suck at giving coherent driving directions.
13. It is possible to survive a few days without WiFi.
