An Almost Grand Day

Saturday, we rode the train to the Grand Canyon. The shuttle from our RV park left at 8:30 to take us to the station, where we picked up our tickets and then we were directed to the wild west show, put on by the Cataract Creek Gang. It wasn't long before the fellow who had 5 aces in his poker hand faced the six-shooter of another player.

While we were walking to this show, we heard an announcement that the steam engine that was supposed to pull the train was broken down. Darn! The train was pulled by an ordinary diesel engine.

We learned later that the engine's dynamo--a generator--failed and the engine can't operate without it. We would have loved to see the steam engine in use, but it didn't ruin our day. Today we checked the weather and it turns out yesterday was the nicest day at the Grand Canyon of all the time we are here in Williams.  It was good we made the trip yesterday, even without the steam engine.

After the train was underway, we had some entertainment by a cowboy singer. Note, he plays the guitar and also has a harmonica.  There was another singer during the return trip.

After a two-hour ride through open fields and ponderosa forests, we arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Our first stop was the El Tovar hotel dining room. Our view during lunch was sure nothing to complain about.

You really have to visit the canyon to grasp the grandeur of God's creation there. Here are a few pictures that hint at what there is to see.

We had plenty of time to get in our daily five-mile walk before it was time to board the train again. But first, we watched a Native American dancer.

During our south-bound trip, three members of the Cataract Creek Gang rode up next to the train and made the engineer stop.

The bandits went looking for money and jewelry to steal from the passengers.

You certainly see all sorts of people on a tourist train. I really wondered what this fellow (yes, it is a guy) was about with this fancy hat.

Also during the return trip, we spotted elk and pronghorn. We had also seen a California condor souring above the canyon rim.

It Truly is Grand

This is our third visit to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We first came to the South Rim in 1990 on our way to California with our older son, Doug. We visited the North Rim 17 years later. And this time we are spending four nights at the South Rim. As a man from New York said, while we were sitting outside the El Tovar Hotel and looking at the canyon, "How many times can you say 'wow?'"



We arrived before noon Saturday. Each day we have walked along the rim, taking picture after picture. In fact, right now I have 360 photos on my computer from the day of our train trip and the time here since we arrived on Saturday. And that is after I eliminated the really poor ones! It is truly amazing here. Even though we have been here before, we both feel we are appreciating it more now. Is it because of our age or have we traveled enough we are finally learning how to really appreciate what we see?



Grand Canyon National Park is huge. The rim trail is about 13 miles long. We have walked something like 22 to 23 miles during the four days we have explored the park (we both wear pedometers every day). It is certainly a good place to get exercise. There is also an extensive shuttle bus system that helps visitors to get around. We have used it at times, in addition to all the walking we have done.



The crowds visiting the Grand Canyon are large and the summer season is just beginning. We are glad we aren't here during the summer. As we have seen at a lot of other national parks, many of the visitors are from other countries. When we volunteered at Bryce Canyon, we learned that 40% of the people were international visitors. Many of the visitors are young Europeans and families from the Far East.





We had planned to leave the Grand Canyon today. However, there is a high wind warning through 7 pm, and that is no time to be driving an RV down the highway. We are grateful Trailer Village, the concessionaire-run full-hookup campground inside the park, wasn't full for tonight and we can stay in our site another night. We haven't seen any snow, at least not yet. This wind is part of the same storm system that is bringing all the snow and cold east of here.





There is a a viewpoint on the South Kaibab Trail about .9 miles down below the canyon rim that is called the Ooh Aah Point. We had considered hiking down there, or maybe going a little way down the Bright Angel Trail. Those are the two main trails that lead down to the Colorado River. We knew we weren't up to hiking all the way down and back up. However, with the high winds yesterday and today, we ruled that out.





But it isn't necessary to go below the rim to have an ooh aah view. Here are a few more stunning views of the Grand Canyon.

Trains, Trains, Trains

Staying at Railside RV Ranch in Williams is great for train buffs. Not only does the Grand Canyon train pass by twice each day, there are also extra train cars stored nearby and the wye, where trains are turned around, is used each evening to turn the Grand Canyon Train around for the coming day.

These are shots of the train cars stored next to the RV park.



We didn't take pictures of the train on the wye, but this shows the train we saw each evening.



To top off these train sightings, one afternoon the steam engine that is used occasionally to pull the Grand Canyon Train was run up and down track next to the park. The shops where train cars are worked on is located just a little distance down the track. The Grand Canyon Trail is very proud of its green steam engine, which is fired by used cooking oil. We don't know what they were doing with the engine that day but several people were on top and they ran the engine up and down the track several times.



It is also possible to view BNSF freight trains on another track several blocks away. Obviously, this is a great place for train buffs.

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

A train ride and the Grand Canyon. Can you beat that? We are in Williams, Arizona, for four nights, specifically so we could ride the Grand Canyon Railroad to the Grand Canyon.





Our RV park, Railside RV Ranch, drove us to the depot. Before boarding, we were treated to a wild west shootout. These three western characters convinced a "wealthy" tourist to play poker so they could cheat him out of some money.



We boarded the dome car Coconio for the 2 1/4 hour ride north to the Grand Canyon. We had great views out of the dome car windows.



Clarence Clearwater, a Navajo, entertained us with songs in four languages--English, Navajo, Cajun French and German.



We pulled into the historic Grand Canyon Depot then walk upstairs (48 steps, we were warned) to the canyon rim.



We walked over for a quick view of the canyon,


then enjoyed a great lunch in the historic El Tovar Hotel dining room.



We will staying in Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon for three nights later this week. More great views of the canyon will be in future posts.

We walked the Rim Trail for a total of about four miles. Almost everyone there was taking pictures, whether with a regular digital camera, an iPad or iPhone.



At 3:15, we re-boarded the southbound Williams Flyer.



Our dome car seats included fruit, juice and pastries in the morning and snacks and a free sparkling wine serving in the afternoon. Here is our car attendant, Laura, pouring the wine.



Jesse Jacob Anderson picked a really mean banjo for the afternoon entertainment.



The morning card sharks tried to rob the train.



And we had a great view of snow-capped Mount Humphreys on the southbound trip.



We had a really fun and entertaining day. We recommend the train trip and look forward to spending more time at the Grand Canyon in a couple of days.