We got up at 7am, which is actually a pretty normal time for Liam to first wake up. I thought of everything I had every learned about traveling with a baby, and decided to put it all to practice. I packed along plenty of books and different toys. I also planned to as much as possible to anticipate Liam's needs, and meet them before he got fussy. This meant, calming him down for naps at the appropriate time and making time for feedings.
We got ready and set out by 8:30 or so. After stopping to get breakfast, we got on the road. Liam typically takes his first nap of the day approximately 2 hours after he wakes up (give or take an hour, I watch for him to show signs of getting tired). So, by 9am I had pulled the cover down on his car seat, covered the side facing with to the East with a blanket to block out the light (I have noticed Liam is very sensitive to light recently), gave him a pacifier (which he takes from time to time now), and patted and shushed him. He went down and took a great 2 hour nap!
A little after 11, we retch the city we had planned to stop to grab lunch for the road, and stopped at our favorite fast food place, Chick-Fil-A. There I nursed Liam in the car and changed his diaper. Once back in the car, we didn't have much farther. I showed Liam picture books, talked with him, and showed him various toys as he made happy squeals and kicked his legs. We were less than 30 minutes from our destination when Liam seemed hungry again (didn't feed to well in the car, too distracted). He was staring down my chicken sandwich, so I decided to give him a small taste since my pediatrician said he can try chicken now. I did not give him any breading which I know is full of various things we aren't ready to introduce (spices, maybe wheat, soaked in milk, cooked in peanut oil), just very small shreds from the center of the sandwich where none of that stuff would reach. To my surprise, he loved chicken! That is the first food he definitely liked and was opening his mouth for more of. Part of me was thinking, I'm sure someone out there would be judging me as a bad mom for feeding my baby this (gasp...it's fast food, fried, etc....even though he really only ate just a little soft chicken meat only). Oh well. I just hope he's not too much like his daddy who loves meat, but not as many varieties of fruit or veggies. Next time, we'll just try giving him soft bits of chicken we make. At least for the road this time, it helped hold him over well.
Liam got to ride around in style in his stroller at first. We installed the car seat adapter or our BOB about a month ago, and were wondering why we didn't do this before. When we got on the train, we simply folded up the stroller and brought it aboard, just leaving Liam in the car set for part of the time (the other part of the time he was on someone's lap). He did so well and seemed to enjoy the motion of the train. On the way back, he got a little fussy and was clearly hungry. We found one of the air conditioned passenger cars at the back of the train that wasn't crowded, and he happily nursed and half dozed for probably at least 40 minutes.
Afterward, Michael and his Dad went chasing the locomotive to get video and pictures. Liam dozed and took his second full nap (or third, if you count the train nursing) in the car then. On the way back, we got him to sleep by 7:30, and he ended up sleeping all the way home, only waking up once a little before 10 as we got to a place with a lot of light (popped the pacifier in, put the blanket up to block the light, back to sleep he went).
I started reading the No Cry Nap Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. So far, I at least like her problem-solving approach and philosophy if it is not a real problem to your family, don't let anyone make you worry too much about it as long as your kid is getting the rest he or she needs. I already had those philosophies myself. Some of the things she suggests, we also already do intuitively. I will have to review the book more after I finish it.
In the car next to Liam, I observed a few interesting things. First, it confirmed that Liam is sensitive to light as I was suspecting. I think this is one of the reasons he usually needs assistance to go down for naps. We already bought darkening shades for his room to see if this will help, and I have started rocking him in the car seat in his room so he gets used to it (he has been taking great naps in there). I also learned what I thought were hourly "wake ups" really aren't true wake ups. He just moans a little at the end of each sleep cycle, and this is perfectly normal. I will now only count the real wake ups that require our assistance to help him get back to sleep.
Here are some pictures of Liam. See Michael's blog if you are interested in seeing more specific train pictures or video!: http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/2009/05/riding-765.html
Future rail fan staying in the shade!
The 765
Hanging out in the vestibule.
Happy family
Riding on Grandpa's lap
The hat was cute and functional...helped keep small cinders out of his hair, face, and eyes. Despite that, I am pretty sure he got a full sensory steam engine experience: sight, sound, smell, feel and taste. 
With Daddy on the train
Three generations
Watching the train go by with Grandpa (it went back and forth a couple times for photographers and videographers). Liam was very curious about it, was not afraid. It did startle him once. When Grandpa Wayne was holding him, and the locomotive's whistle sounded, he said both of Liam's legs shot straight out in front of him. He didn't cry though. We thought it was funny and I wished I would have seen it! 
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