June 24: Grand Canyon

Dear Friends,

Alexandra is teaching me so much about taking my daily narratives to Facebook and immediately adding photos, so that the process is much more streamlined snd immediate.  I completely left my camera at home and am taking all my pictures by phone, learning to crop and light in the process and ruthlessly excising any photo with which I am not entirely pleased.  Alexandra has been a great tutor, and I am learning a lot.  I will continue publishing the same daily entries I do on my blogsite, but will also place the same narrative on FB, accompanied by photos.  I invite you to feel free to check either site from now on.  Photos, however, will be published on a daily basis on FB, accompanying the narrative.  

Today’s events.  Alexandra and I got an early start today by having breakfast at Creekside, where I had my first avocado toast and Alexandra had peanut butter toast with banana and honey.  She had a cappuccino with almond milk, and I had a Dirty Chai, which is a chai latte with a shot of espresso—a real eye-opener.  From there we took the Oak Creek Canyon Scenic road through the Coconino National Forest—a windy but beautiful road.  We arrived at Williams, Arizona (30 minutes west of Flagstaff), at 9:15, with a departure on the Grand Canyon Railway at 9:30 a.m.  

The train ride to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is 66 miles long and takes 2 hours, 15 minutes.  The return trip to Williams departs at 3:30 from the South Rim, reaching Williams at 5:45 p.m.  We splurged with First Class oversized, reclining seats, plenty of legroom, and grand picture windows that enhance the journey.  There are amenities of fresh fruit, pastries, coffee and juice in the mornings, and snacks and soft drinks and lemonade on the return trip.  Ours was the Anasazi car, and since I had been to the Grand Canyon before (river rafting in 2005), I gave Alexandra the window seat.  

Grand Canyon country is located on the Colorado Plateau in N Arizona.  Most of the plateau is set at an elevation of 5,000 ft.  However, the plateau also includes Williams and the Grand Canyon, both at an elevation of about 7,000 ft.  As a result, the journey through Grand Canyon country has a variety of different landscapes, from the Ponderosa pine forest surrounding Williams, to a drop in elevation down to the prairie, before climbing back up to the Pinyon pine forests as the train approaches Grand Canyon National Park.  Many Native American reservations are in and around Grand Canyon National Park and N Arizona.  They include the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, and Paiute.  

On the train, we were entertained with cowboy songs on both departure and return, as well as a fake train robbery by characters who dressed as cowboys but were apprehended by the local marshal as we ended our trip.  Once we arrived at the South Rim, we were in the Historic District, which took shape in the 19th c. as stagecoaches loaded with passengers began arriving to view the Grand Canyon.  The arrival of the Grand Canyon Railroad in 1901 provided a comfortable and affordable alternative to the stage coach, and quickly became the preferred mode of travel to the South Rim.  The stagecoach companies were not happy with the development, but the guests arrived rested and refreshed.  

Our first order of business after departing the train was to take a Motorcoach Rim Tour by bus.  It is a 1.5 hour guided motorcoach tour which works in conjunction with the train’s schedule during the layover.  Two stops were made, and we had a chance to view the stunning and awesome landscape of the South Rim and discuss our questions and observations with park rangers who were at hand.  Last time I had been at the Canyon, I had seen it from the vantage point of the Colorado River—from the bottom up.  The experience this time was totally different, but just as dramatic and all-encompassing.  Alexandra, too, was blown away.  

Upon returning to the Historic District, Alexandra and I had lunch at one of the great lodge hotels of the park, the El Tovar Hotel, patronized by such luminaries as Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Albert Einstein.  Alexandra had blackened salmon over saffron rice, with a cilantro-lime creme fraiche sauce and broccolini, and I had  beef stroganoff and broccolini as well.  We also visited  the Hopi House and Lookout Studio, both designed by Mary Colter, one of the first American architects to appreciate the beauty and utility of Native American design.  Hopi House now sells Native American arts and crafts, and the Lookout Studio now sells photographic prints and books on the Grand Canyon.  Our last stop before returning to our train was the Kolb Brothers Studio, the home of early Grand Canyon photographers, the Kolb brothers, and now a museum describing their lives and times.  

We arrived back in Williams at about 5:45 p.m., and then drove to Camp Verde under a whim of mine to have a soft vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate.  Alexandra had a chocolate ice cream.  Both of them sufficed us for dinner, and now we are back home for our last night’s sojourn here in Sedona.  Tomorrow off to Route 66 and Las Vegas.  Another great day!!!!