We woke early on Wednesday and fed the kids a quick breakfast before battoning down the hatches (securing anything that might go airborne during a sharp turn) and driving a few miles over to the train depot. After scouring the lot for an RV-appropriate space, we were able to park and go get in line for our pre-paid tickets.
Once we had the tickets in hand, we made our way down the platform and caught most of the Wild West Show. There were some crusty old characters who pretended to swindle a tourist's money, and the crowd ate it up.
Then it was time to board. The train ride was about two hours and 15 minutes, but with interesting commentary, on-board entertainment, and a new friend for Foxy, the time seemed pretty much to fly by.
Did I mention that there was a cafe car, too? That seemed to help quite a bit.
We arrived at the South Rim depot a little before noon, and we had until 3:30 to see as much as we could. The kids' first question, of course, was when and where we would eat lunch.
We told them that it would be soon, but first, we needed to take in THIS VIEW:
We talked briefly with a park ranger who showed us some antlers and a replica condor egg. He also gave the kids Junior Ranger booklets that they could fill out during their visit.
Noah got right to it...
Then we hit the nearby restaurant for a surprisingly good and fortifying meal. Once we had full bellies, we were able to hike along the rim and take in some amazing sights.
Foxy had a close encounter with a friendly squirrel while making her way down some steps...
But the view at the bottom was well worth it:
I was most definitely NOT going to venture out to read THIS sign:
I did bring along my fisheye lens, which provided me the opportunity to capture some more creative shots of the canyon. Noah loves this first one.
The fisheye also allowed Brian and me to grab a quick self-portrait:
I also took the opportunity to grab some shots of the foliage around the canyon edge. These are just a couple of the MANY shots I took; if anyone is interested, I'll be happy to share more once I'm home and have a chance to go through them all.
We had to book it back at 3:30, but the kids were troupers (in Foxy's case, with the help of Brian's shoulders). The train pulled out on time, and we were soon on our way back to Williams-Sonoma, as Foxy kept calling it. The ride home included some pretty spectacular lightning shows outside our windows, which did make me nervous since we were riding in what amounted to a giant tin can. But we remained safe and sound... The same can't be said, unfortunately, for a group of German tourists who were at the South Rim just 24 hours after we were. Apparently, lightning struck very near to where they were standing, and one poor woman actually passed away. It sounds like the lightning didn't actually strike her -- she likely died from a heart attack caused by the fright -- but YIKES. So glad that we were only witnesses to the beauty of the storms and not their destruction.
On a lighter note, we returned to our campsite at the Williams KOA and whipped up a yummy dinner of kielbasa tossed with pasta and pesto and served with sauteed squash. We showered and got ready for bed and all remarked on how tired our legs were feeling. It was well worth it, though; that experience was not one to be missed.
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