When you’ve seen first-hand the world, you tend not to concern yourself with the little things that most people seem to fret. You tend not to care about the fact that your train runs late, meaning hours not minutes.

Our train from Jasper to Edmonton was delayed by 9 hours. The one from Edmonton to Winnipeg, by 6 hours.

Sometimes we had to pull over and stop for an extended time in the middle of nowhere to let the freight trains pass, just like here, somewhere in the province of Saskatchewan. At one point, we stood still for over two hours.

The thing is that VIA Rail Canada doesn’t own the tracks it runs its passenger trains on. Thus, they have lower priority than freight trains, especially in the areas with a single track. And, there is nothing you can do about that.

But the delays were just what made the adventure – they were part of our ‘railroad romance’.

And, our daughters were awesome – flexible, resilient, focused on the amazing experience, as adaptable to circumstances as ever, and never complained.