California Here We Come - Days Six and Seven

We are back in Williams, AZ after a whirlwind trip to the Grand Canyon.

Our adventure started when we boarded the Grand Canyon Railway on Tuesday morning at 9:30. No wait a minute, at 9:00 we were expected to attend a "western show" prior to the train boarding. Definitely not my cup of tea. There was a fake western town, 5 or 6 cowboys, a U.S. Marshall, and a guy picked from the audience. After the first gunshot, I left and waited by the train but I could hear them acting out some kind of drama. It made me very nervous about our train trip.

Thank goodness, the 2.5 hour train ride wasn't that hokey. We had a nice young guy assigned to our car who tried to engage people and basically acted as our flight attendant. The scenery on the trip up to the canyon was interesting but certainly not up to the standards we established the past couple of days!

When we arrived, we were ushered onto a tour bus. We had bought a packaged tour from AAA and this was included. The bus driver was a friendly type who had lots of interesting facts about the canyon. We first stopped for a buffet lunch which was included and finally began the tour.

The bus stopped for our first viewing of the canyon. I had seen pictures and paintings of
the Grand Canyon but I was not prepared for how emotional the experience of seeing in for the first time would be. The vastness and beauty brought tears to my eyes. I was completely unaware of the people around me snapping pictures. I was in awe and speechless. Our tour took us to three different outlooks. I took 90 pictures on my phone and a bunch more on my camera in the 24 hours we were there. These are of few of my first look.

After our bus tour, we checked into our lodge. We had a lovely back patio where we sat

and watched the train return to Williams. It was suggested that we take a sunset bus tour but after the first bus tour, we both decided we weren't that kind of tourist. We prefer exploring independently. They have free shuttle buses that will take you all over the park. We took one to a lookout to await the sunset.

The whole area is very crowded with tourists. It felt somewhat like when we travel in Europe and are surrounded by people speaking different language. It seemed like we were with mostly Germans and Asians but the lookout we chose was filled with about 10 Italians from Bologna with very fancy camera set-ups. Sunset was at 7:25. We arrived an hour early. It was windy and chilly but there was an excitement and expectation in the air. 

The photo on the left is how the area looked when we
arrived and the one on the right is after the sun had set. To tell you the truth, it wasn't as fantastic as I had expected. It was definitely worth the trip but I think I expected more.

The altitude was really getting to me. That, and the intensity of the experience left both of us exhausted. We had a quick dinner in the hotel food court and went to bed.

Today, we had until 3:15 to explore more of the canyon. I was feeling kinda crappy so Rick took off to explore the Bright Angel Trail. I took a shuttle to get me close to where
he would be and we met up. We went back to the hotel to check-out and then caught a shuttle to Pipe Creek Vista. We

actually then did a 1.6 mile hike to the Visitor Center. I tracked the hike on my walking app. We went from a minimum of 7059 feet altitude to a maximum of 7194. It took 41 minutes but I'm so proud that I actually did it! Stacy, our trainer, would be proud too.

We took a shuttle back to our hotel, collected our things and then went to the train station. By then I was cooked. Everyone on the train was in good spirits. It was nice to see everyone so happy but I wished they would just shut-up! I read for a while and then 2 hours into the trip they announced that the train was going to be robbed. It was boarded by the same "gun slingers" and Marshall. Oy vey. I just stared at the floor and hoped they wouldn't try to "rob" Rick and I. Luckily, there were enough passengers who wanted to play along so they left us alone.

We arrived back to our hotel in Williams around 6:00, had some dinner, FaceTimed with Clementine, and organized our stuff for the trip to LA.

What an adventure we've had! It seems surreal that we are not returning to Leawood but beginning our new life in Los Angeles tomorrow. Thanks for coming along with us. Knowing that you are reading keeps me writing. I like having a record of our travel experiences and I probably wouldn't do it if you weren't there!

Tune in starting July 30 for the next segment of Travels with Karen and Rick when we head to France!