Grand Canyon Railroad

What a surprise day this turned out to be and ALOT of fun!! We got up early to head out for our day to see the Grand Canyon...we needed to be in Williams by 9am to check in for our train ride on the Grand Canyon Railroad. At 9:45 our adventure began with an old Wild West Shootout that got everyone shot except for the Marshall! From there we boarded the train and found our seats not realizing what an experience we were about to have. You see this train ride was more than just a way to get to the Grand Canyon, this was to be an experience we would not forget! We were served by a wonderful hostess that gave us lots of history and funny little tidbits of information along the way...we were entertained by a guitar player who sang songs from the old west and on the return trip a violin player serenaded us with his music and funny joking (notice the picture of Ann Marie playing the violin!)...we knew we were safe because the Marshall made several passes through our car visiting with all the passengers...but then the train got held up by those mean train robbers that we thought got shot in the shootout in Williams! It was certainly a day full of laughter and a fun experience aboard the Grand Canyon Railroad. The kids all had a great time going on their first train ride and getting to experience what it might have been like in the Old West!

Of course our reason for taking the train ride was to get to see the Grand Canyon...a breath taking sight to behold! It is so difficult to really be able to understand the magnetude of what you are looking at when you first gaze out across that wide expanse. Depth perception is totally lost when you look out across the Grand Canyon that averages 10 miles across and 1 mile deep. The shadows that play across the red sides of the canyon can make you think that those canyon walls are much closer than they really are! But I think the majesty of the Grand Canyon is a little lost when you are a parent of six children and you are wanting to hold on tight to them so that they don't get too close to the edge, especially when you have two 4 year olds who fear nothing! Now don't let me frighten you, we didn't have any scary moments, but we were certainly holding on to those little hands tight!! We spent about three hours at the rim of the Grand Canyon...hiking the Rim Trail, looking in gift shops, and eating lunch. Then we got back on the train for our two hour return trip to Williams. We got home 12 hours after we had left at 7:30pm with some very tired children who had many exciting stories to tell.