Grand Canyon

Yesterday morning we were notified that there would be an urgent "Team Meeting" to be held at our earliest convenience.  It sounded ominous and as we approached "cell block 2" we could see dark clouds swirling over KC.  With arms gesturing for added effect, he informed us that under no circumstances (I highly sanitized that for my dear readers) would he spend another night in "Faulty Towers" (see the BBC comedy of the same name if you are unsure about my reference) and that he would bear the full brunt of this decision should we care to join him in his hotel in Flagstaff.  Since neither Sherry or I particularly enjoyed the hardest mattress in North America that we'd "slept on" last night we declared that we were all in.  High speed packing ensued.

After three pretty good breakfasts (KC's was a too spicy quesadilla), we were off to the train depot for our ride into Grand Canyon National Park.  We were early enough to see the cheesy cowboy shootout...actually the "cowboys" hammed it up pretty good and it was funny. 

By 9:15 were were boarding our luxury rail car with generous leather club chairs, ample windows, AC, full bar and restrooms. 

The car also had a very cool observation platform in the rear and since we were the very last car in the train, we could walk out and enjoy the view as we ran along the tracks at 40 mph.

Our hostess, Carol, spun interesting stories about the rail line and its history as we ran through limitless BLM land and a private cattle ranch with 125,000 acres.  She prepped us well for the attractions at the Grand Canyon, warning us that if we weren't back aboard by 3:30 we could find our own way back to Williams.

Mid ride we ventured into the next car in line, a double decker car with rooftop glass. 

It was very cool, though I preferred the more spacious, high ceiling car we were in. Shortly after this, a banjo player channeling Woody Guthrie came into our car and did 5 or 6 songs for us.  He was a good performer with lots of humor thrown in.

Around 11:30 the train pulled into the national park and we departed.  All morning clouds had been building and as we approached the rim of the canyon the entire canyon was socked in with very low hanging clouds.  Fortunately, the clouds were moving and although we had clouds all day, most of the time the canyon cleared up so we could see one of the most incredible sights in the world. 

I'm at a loss to describe the scale, the colors, the texture and the natural beauty that unfolded before us.   You have to see it to understand the spectacle of the Grand Canyon.  It is so immense that you are reminded of the concept of infinity and the permanence of death.  There is no other scale in the human experience that prepares you to take in this wonder.  Even for this non believer, it triggered a deeply spiritual reaction. And that is in spite of the 52,000 fat tourists that you are forced to share it with.

Not my photo...but too cool to pass up

I'm disappointed in my attempts to photograph it.  Having been though two dozen art galleries with Karen and Sherry and having seen dozens of brilliant photographs and paintings of the Canyon, my ham-handed efforts seem clumsy.  Granted the light on the overcast day I had to work with was less than ordeal, and we do plan to return on Friday under (hopefully) better conditions. I am feeling the same frustration I feel with my guitar...I recognize the talented efforts of others, but I'm just not skilled enough to create anything truly beautiful.   Still, I enjoy the process and will plug along, hopefully getting better incrementally.

The return train ride back to Williams was a repeat of the earlier trip, this time with a guitar player

and train robbers who gawked over Sherry's ring (they missed Karen's "birth stone") as they staged a faux robbery.  We also had great cloud formations and sunlight that made for some spectacular sights and I had fun using the HDR Pro X high dynamic range app on my iPhone. 

All great fun and a really memorable day.  Kudo's to KC for planning all of this.  It was a BLAST!!!!!

Steam Engine at Williams rail yard