Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam

Okay try to imagine getting on a vintage train during the days of Gunsmoke and Marshall Dillon, Fetus, Doc & Miss Kitty. We arrived at the depot at 9:00 am for the Wild West show before boarding complete with the bad guys, horses, the sheriff and gunshots. You will see some of the authentic cowboys in the photos. They are all members of the Cataract Creek Gang and you can see them throughout the town of Williams…we even had breakfast with someone that looked like Wild Bill Hickcok. The sheriff gets the horse thieves and then of course they get shot resisting arrest in front of the saloon. The train travels through scenic landscapes leading to one of the world’s greatest natural wonders…the Grand Canyon National Park. Coming back on the train you look out the window and see cowboys riding alongside the train with masks on and then they board and rob us and of course the sheriff gets these guys as well. Lots of fun and laughs as they are all quite the comedians. We even had an accordion/harmonica singing cowboy….!!! They also have a Polar Express complete with Santa for the kids during the winter season which is very popular. The train ride didn’t seem to take that long even if it was about 65 miles in 2 ½ hours and the whole time we were envisioning what it must have been like coming across the plains and high desert in a wagon train!! Especially for women in all those long dresses etc. Even though it didn’t seem like we were climbing we arrived at the canyon at over seven thousand feet. The walk up the steps to our accommodations literally took our breath away and we found we had to stop ever so often to catch our breath. Our friends and we got settled in our rooms and then had our first glimpse of the canyon which was steps away from our room. I cannot even begin to tell you the feeling at walking to the edge, looking over and seeing this beautiful rugged scenic canyon that goes on for miles and miles; a total of 277 miles of walls varying in distance from less than a half mile to more than 18 miles apart, and through depths of reaching nearly 8,000 feet. At the Canyon floor, the Colorado River endlessly carves and shapes the Canyon deeper and deeper averaging 300 ft in width and 100 ft in depth and flows at an average speed of 4 miles per hour. There is two billion years of geological history of the earth’s past exposed in the walls of the canyon. I just don’t have the words to describe my feelings and amazement at what I (we) were viewing. I am sure that all the millions of visitors from all over the world must have felt the same way. We heard all different languages as we rode the shuttle from place to place. I can only hope that that once again some of our photos can give you a glimpse at the beauty…even though the photos just don’t do it justice since they are only frames of a small portion of what we were seeing.
On our departure Sunday from Williams to Las Vegas, we passed by the Hoover Dam and took some photos from the RV windows which were through the screens so they may not look quite so good but you can at least get a view of it and Lake Meade. We had to go through a security check before driving through…they are on high alert for a terrorist attack there. We had fully intended to do a tour later in the week but after viewing the 10 mile traffic backup coming from Las Vegas we decided we saw as much as we wanted. They have almost completed the bridge across and away from the dam which is quite awesome in itself. Next blog will be about Las Vegas!!!