Thursday, February 8, 2007

Grand Canyon

A nice view of the canyon.
Proof we were all here together.
Another great view.
I had to stand on the rail to get a good look.
Boy was it slipppery!!!!! Don't worry, I didn't get hurt, I am stuffed with fluff, you know!

Wednesday, January 31, Arrived at 6am in Williams, AZ to snow flurries. (Tried to sleep at a rest area on the way, but didn’t sleep well.) Set up electric and slides and went to sleep. Checked in with office at 11. Old Route 66 runs through the town of Williams, so we had some good photo ops.. The elevation is about 6500 feet, so it was easy to get winded with activity. We were also baffled at first by the fact that many of our packaged items had expanded. At first we thought that package meat had spoiled, but soon realized that the altitude does strange things to sealed packages!!

Thursday, Feb.1- Woke up to heavy snow and wind. Temp. 16F. We headed for the Grand Canyon Railroad station. There was a Wild west shootout show before we boarded the train, but it was cut short because of wind chill and snow. We boarded the train at 9:45. Train served continental breakfast and there was entertainment by a singing Cowboy. The snow gradually stopped as we headed north and the sky became clear. We sat in the luxury class car. Seating was comfortable, but it was hard to see much. We could go out on the platform at the back of the train. Arrived at Grand Canyon at noon. We took a bus to eastern part of the rim to walk to trail along the rim toward the village. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground. Paths were cleared, but very icy. The view of the canyon was breathtaking! Visibility was 99 miles, and crystal clear. It took us 2 hours to hike 1 mile, going was slow due to stops and icy paths. The train ride back was great. We left at 3:45, this time in the dome car. The view from this car is fantastic, however, the seats were very uncomfortable and cramped. On the trip home, the train was stopped by the Cataract Creek Gang ( also had the shoot-out in town) who “robbed” the train. The marshal did finally catch them! Arrived back in Williams to a full moon rising in the east and clear skys.

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