The Grand Canyon!

The Grand Canyon! - Tuesday, May 24, 2011

We finally made it! This is what this journey was all about in the first place. When we decided to "go for it" everything else just fell into place. And now the story of today's adventure.

When we awoke at 5:25 this morning, it was 32 degrees outside and 42 degrees inside the trailer. As soon as Tom awakened me I was crawling out of bed; not because I felt like it but because I had promised. We needed to work at getting to the train depot when it opened at 7:30am. So Tom turned the heater on and headed for the wash house. I, on the other hand, stood it the stream of hot air coming from the vent and got dressed. Then I went to the wash house.

We had breakfast, packed what we thought we would need and were on our way by 7:05. By then it was 55 degrees inside the trailer and 37 outside. We were parked at the railroad station/hotel parking lot by 7:25. Tom headed for the ticket counter while I came along at a slower speed. We still had to wait for the place to open but the conversation was good.

We finally got our tickets for the train ride to the canyon, a bus tour and a buffet lunch. We were here and we were going to do it right; especially since we had some gift money in our pockets! ;o) We still had to wait until 9:15 to board the train. There were two $300 rocking chairs setting in the "tourist trap" and we occupied them. It was as good a place as any to sit and wait. Tom disappeared outside to take some pictures but no one wanted to sit beside me so the chair was vacant when he came back in.
We were not interested in the Wild West Show that was to be taking place at 9am on the other end of the train platform so we headed for our car on the train. We had reserved seats so we didn't have to hurry. We did get to our car early so we chatted with the conductor/hostess. We were boarded and then the engine started moving at 9:30 on the dot.

Our conductor/hostess's name was Angel, originally from Philadelphia but now from Flagstaff. She was a "hoot and a half" and very helpful. She was full of information and trivia that you would never find out any other way. One of the things she told us about Williams, the town from which the train leaves for the canyon, was that they can not dig wells here at 6800 feet so they must haul in all of their water. That was why they had the large plastic "tanks" in the yards. She also told us that the local Native American name for the Grand Canyon means "Upside down mountain."

The railroad is run by the same company that has the contract for the hotels, restaurants, buses, stores, etc. in the Grand Canyon, Yellow Stone, Yosemine, Mt. Rushmore and some others. So it was this industry that took this little town and gave it it's living. There are several hotels and multiple restaurants. The gasoline runs $4.19 - $4.29 a gallon. However, the gas station that is connected to the RV Park at which we are staying gave us a coupon for 20 cents off a gallon of gas and it could be used multiple times. You just go inside, show them the coupon and they will reset the pump. We were told that if the coupon was not returned to us that we should just ask for a new one. The coupon was also good for 10% or 15% off items in the gift shop depending on what you bought. I wonder if the gas is so expensive because it takes more to truck it up to this elevation.

The train ride which, lasted 2 1/4 hours, ended at the South rim of the canyon. Those who were not going on the bus ride where told that there were 47 steps to climb up to the rim with different viewing points of the canyon and restaurants and gift shops and on and on. The rest of us headed for our bus which took us to two different views of the canyon. We had about 25-30 minutes at each of the places to see what we could see and ask our bus driver our questions. Then we were taken to a hotel where we were to have our buffet lunch. What a marvelous hot lunch for only $12! We had an hour to eat and we were told by our bus driver not to come away hungry.

The bus delivered us back to the train depot 1 hour before departure/30 minutes before we could start boarding. I wanted to see what was at the top of those 47 steps. So we started up. Because of the altitude and my walking it took longer than I would like but we made it in a reasonable time. We walked around and then went to the rim. Each new view is different and as magnificant as the last. It was a day well spent!

We each expected to sleep on the trip back to Wiliams but this was not the case. Since this is a 2 1/4 hour trip the company tries to keep it's patrons happy and entertained. Our hostess was always telling jokes, talking with all of the patrons, and giving information in a happy-go-lucky manner. There were two "entertainers" that were on the train. The one in the morning was a fiddler and right good at it. He encouraged some people in the car to work with him. And he was a joke teller too. The one in the afternoon played the guitar and he was good. He did very good impressions of Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash plus a few other gags. He was a good joke teller too. There was also a Twist contest where all the people in the car were encouraged to get up in the aisle and do the Twist. Yeah. We did! Never would have thought it, would you?

We also saw a some elk and antelope on our train ride.

Then the entertainment included a train "robbery". The "bandits" rode up on horses and made the train stop. They entered our car first because we were the first one right behind the engine. They worked their way through the car telling everyone to had over their gold, etc. Then they went through the train, car by car, doing the same thing. Just after they went to the next car, the "Sheriff" entered our car and he slowly made his way through our car only to enter the next car slightly after the "bandits" had gone a car further.

As we were finishing our ride I noticed some snow covered mountains again and asked about it. They were the San Francisco Mountain range the tallest peak of which is Humphreys Peak. When I saw  Humphreys Peak for the first time yesterday I saw only one peak. Today I saw the series of 3 or 4 of them that make up the San Francisco Mountains.

We came into the station at Williams and headed for the gift shop. We were looking for something but couldn't find it. Maybe I'll look again before we leave Williams on Friday to see if I can find it.

We came back to the trailer about 6:30 to "crash". It was a little after 7pm when we got up and had a light supper. The barest of minimum of dishes were done so that we could have breakfast tomorrow and we started the computer work for the evening.

Now it's time to go to bed. It's 10:50pm, 43 degrees outside and 60 inside. I was getting cold so Tom turned the heat on. Feels good. Good night.