Today we took the historic train from Williams into Grand Canyon National Park without having to worry about navigating our rigs or cars through the busy Grand Canyon roadways! We had the whole rail car to ourselves and Willard & Eileen took full advantage of it and danced to the music of Kenny!
I must have missed something in geography, because we passed the North Pole on our way to the Grand Canyon! Every winter the Grand Canyon Railway’s Polar Express comes to life on a journey from the nighttime wilderness of Williams, Arizona, to the enchanted beauty of “the North Pole”—where Santa Claus and his reindeer are waiting.
There is a couple that built their home, just outside of the National Park. They have lived her for more than 35 years and are in the yard to wave, every time the train goes by!
We arrived at the Grand Canyon Train Depot and debarked the rail car and made our way toward the canyon. Charlie & I have been here before, but every time you come you see something different and the light effects the look of the Canyon.
One of the wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River—277 miles long, more than a mile deep, and anywhere from 5 to 18 miles across—defies description.
Our staff from the Route 66 caravan gathered for a photo opportunity, on the South Rim. It is here that I learned a friend, for more than 20 years, is afraid of heights! And he is a tall guy!
The most amazing thing about the Grand Canyon, apart from its sheer size and incredible variety of shapes and colors, is how different it looks when viewed from different places. The great majority of the five million people who visit the Grand Canyon each year arrive at the South Rim and gaze down into the Grand Canyon from Mather Point, where the entrance road hits the edge of the gorge.
Around the Grand Canyon Village, we saw a bird flying and Marilyn and I tried to follow it. It perched several times and I was finally able to capture a picture of it. Our bird watching friends, tell us it’s a Western Scrub Jay.
The Hopi House (1905) is a large, multi-story building of stone masonry, shaped and built like a Hopi pueblo. When Mary Colter was commissioned in 1904 by the Fred Harvey Company to design an “Indian Arts Building” as the hospitality giant liked to call their souvenir shops, the talented and stubborn architect was eager to accept the challenge. She was one of just a few women in a male-dominated field, and “lady-like” wasn’t in her vocabulary. Neither were the words “traditional European influences.” Colter’s vision extended well beyond that. Inspired by the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, she wanted to design something that appeared native, natural and timeless. Hopi House, modeled after the 1,000 year-old pueblo dwellings of the Hopi village in Old Oraibi, was a radically new experience for tourists.
As we boarded the train to head back to Williams, we were all tired and full. Some had meals, but most of us just had hand dipped ice cream! On our way home, we had more music and we were robbed! Yes, robbed, by the Grand Canyon gang. It was two and a half men that robbed us. The Sheriff came after them, but I doubt he was able to catch them … he was kind of a bumbling idiot Sheriff!
We cruised on 66 for a while and enjoyed the sights of Williams, until we see it again!
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