Vacation ups and downs- the Grand Canyon

I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon.  It's been on my "bucket list" for as long as I can remember.  My first husband wouldn't take me there he'd "already seen it"  Chris had too, but he wanted me to see it.  I had heard about the train ride from Williams to the Grand Canyon and the  price was pretty reasonable, so we planned to go.    There's a James Taylor song that among other things, poses the question "what happens when it rains for eight days on your week off?"  The weather was scorching in Laughlin, be here it was "brisk"  almost wintery- well Winter in California, I keep forgetting I am in Arizona.

I suppose I have lived in Los Angeles too long and been in too many artificial places.  I kept looking at the fences that separated the cow pastures from the train tracks and wondering if the pattern were deliberate or it was just what they had.  I saw split-rail fences and weathered red barns fly by on the two plus hour trip up the hill.  There were cows.  Lots of cows.  It was interesting to watch them running or walking in a line across the fields.  Chris and I tried to come up with a name for the desert landscape, not exactly a prairie, I thought of Chaparral, which seemed most to fit.

The train ride was nice.  I am glad we opted for the first class, which was about 20 bucks more.  They served snacks and coffee.  I was thinking I should not drink so much coffee, but it was nice to have coffee and pastries..  We HAD had breakfast at the Depot Cafe, it's part of the package.  The food is like a bad Denny's, but it's relatively hot and it's in the hotel compound so I guess that's ok.  The next time, and we decided there WILL be a next time, we are opting for the observation seats, which are on the second level of the train and have a glass bubble around them.  There was entertainment on the train and it was amusing ( I STILL don't like the train robbers)


You cannot imaging, if you have not seen it, how vast and beautiful the Grand Canyon is.  It was really overcast.  It had been raining on the way up to the Canyon but we figured we would get some beautiful pictures in the rain.  Chris was determined that it would clear up just before we got there and it did.  I got some pretty awesome ( if I do say so myself) photos of the Canyon.  The tour was a great introduction to the park, but next time, and as I said, there WILL be a next time, we are going off on our own,

The weather cooperated and we did not have more than a drizzle while we were on the tour,.  At the last stop there was a HUGE rumble of thunder and as we wee heading back to the train the skies opened up.