Day 17: Train Robbers

Tuesday June 28 

Grand Canyon Railway Car

We take the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon.  We have to be at the train depot in Williams at 8:30 am so we are up and out early in the morning.  Before the train ride we watch a mock shoot out in “town” by the infamous Cataract Creek Gang.  The girls really enjoy this show but don’t care to take pictures with the actors.  We board the Arizona train and settle in for the 2 and a quarter hour trip to the Grand Canyon.  There is a continental breakfast buffet on the train and Mimi is our hostess who is great at giving us information about the Canyon but bad at jokes (they are all cow jokes).  We see a lot of cattle in the open areas along the train tracks and every time we see some, Mimi says a cow joke.  They get old after awhile but do help pass the time as the scenery does not change much.  On the way up, we use the time to look at the maps and figure out a plan of action once we get there.  We arrive just before noon with 3 hours to spend at the Canyon.  At this point we have decided to have lunch and hang out in the “village” for the day. 

On the Edge

The first view of the Grand Canyon is near El Tovar where we are listening to a Park Ranger initiate 3 boys into the Junior Ranger Program.  Isabella gets the book to do the junior ranger series but Lexi declines the offer.  The view of the Grand Canyon is incredible and no postcards, pictures or words can begin to describe how large the canyon is.  The layers of rock that make up the Canyon Walls are so clearly delineated and vary in color.  There is so much red and pink stone mixed in with a top layer of green vegetation along the North Rim.  We stop along our short walk to

One Big Hole in the Ground

Bright Angel Lodge to look at the canyon.  We have lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge and have a 40 minute wait which we use perusing the gift shop and lodge area.  I tear up realizing that my parents so wanted to see this with us and can not be there with us (and how much I wanted to see the Canyon with them).  After lunch we continue walking the rim trail to the Bright Angel Trailhead.  It is a hazy day so the canyon is not totally clear and there are a lot of shadows on different parts of the valley.  We don’t get to see the Colorado River at all a mile down in the canyon.

Because we need to catch the train at 3:15, we head back along the village area and stop at the Hopi House, a home built by Mary Colter, one of only a few female architects working in the early 1900s.  It represents how ancestral Puebloans would have lived and built.  Now it is a gift shop.  We continue on to the Verkamp’s Visitor Center.  This used to be the location of John Verkapmp’s Curios which he sold out of a tent.  He began the business of selling “keepsakes” in 1898 but didn’t find much success until the train brought visitors to the Canyon in 1905.  The girls get their passports stamped here and we head to the train.  The train pulls out of the Santa Fe Railway Station about 45 minutes late due to a medical emergency.  An ambulance arrives just before we were supposed to pull out and detains the train.  We enjoy a snack of veggies and crackers and cheese along with AC.  The train gets so cold people are asking for blankets and the engineers have to turn it back some.  The temperature on the Canyon rim was probably low 90’s but it seemed hotter because there was no way to get out of the sun.

On the return trip to Williams the train is held up by the Cataract Creek Gang who board the train and rob the passengers.  Anyone wishing to participate put a dollar bill somewhere visible on their body and the robbers grabbed it from them.  Scott puts a dollar behind his ear while Isabella puts one rolled up in her sock.  I missed catching the picture of the “robber” taking Isabella’s money so he redoes the enactment for the camera.  We also enjoyed some local music while riding the train both ways.  Isabella got up in the  middle of the isle and danced the Chicken Dance with one performer.  We really liked the fiddler, banjo and accordion music.

We enjoyed a quiet dinner at the campground and realized how quickly the sun sets here in the Arizona desert.  By 8:15 it is completely dark out and we are ready for bed.  This might have to do with the time being 3 hours behind NH- AZ does not honor daylight saving time and for the first time on the trip, we see the sun setting earlier.  I am the most tired tonight of any day so far on our journeys and headed to bed early.  Scott helped the girls enjoy smores made on the gas grill.  We have not had a campfire yet and the girls have missed making smores.  We again do not need to run the AC during the night and after we opened up the camper in the evening are able to sleep comfortably with most windows closed.  The temps so far have made it down to mid 40/high 50’s at night and made it very easy to sleep.