The Grand Canyon Bound!

At the end of February, we planned a trip north, first to the Grand Canyon and then to the Scottsdale/Phoenix area.  Jeremy was away all week at Whidbey Island, so on Friday morning, we packed up all of our things and picked him up at the airport in Phoenix.  From there we traveled straight up to Williams.  We stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel , our normal lodging for the Polar Express Train we've tried to hit every year here in AZ.  The railway associated with the hotel has trains that ride into the South Rim of the Canyon, so we thought the kids may enjoy the 2 1/2 hour ride straight into the canyon.  Just like the Polar Express trips, dinner and breakfasts at the hotels restaurant are included.  After breakfast Saturday morning, we went outside for the morning gunslinger show.

These guys were actually pretty funny.  After this one was "shot", he rolled down to the ground, "dying", accidently landing his hat into a big pile of horse... ahem... excrement.  

So he got back up and rolled down in this direction to finish "dying".  :D
I think this was supposed to be the end of his portion of the skit, but he was told to get up halfway through.  He needed to play another part because someone named Joe didn't show up for work that morning!

The Outlaws!

The Marshal!

The Meem's thought they were REALLY funny!

Photo op at the end.
I LOVE how he has his arm resting on Little Ms. Moxie's head.

My girls can find horses everywhere they go...

After the gunslingers, we piled ourselves onto the train.
**A sincere apology to the Amish family sitting behind us.  I didn't see you there when I took the picture or I'd never have made you into a graven image.  (Good grief, they're even glaring at me!  It was an honest mistake.  I hadn't paid any attention to who was sitting behind us.)  When I realized they were back there, I was excited. Probably too excited.  It reminds me of home and good old Lancaster County!  You know I didn't get off that train without making friends with them.  Turns out they are from Wisconsin and were taking a Train Tour of the West Coast.  They are even going down to Mexico (where they say a lot of Amish go!  Who knew?!?)  Talking with them was so refreshing.  Makes me wanna go home and hungry for red beet eggs all at the same time.

I hate to brag, but I do have the most beautiful family ever!

The ride was so relaxing with the warm sun shining in the windows.

The Marshal and the Outlaws continued their show on board the train.

This section of desert shows where the track used to run.  It was moved to higher ground after the train ran off the track due to rain.

A few Country Western entertainers strolled through our car while we were riding.  This young man even had some Christian songs in his collection.

Some old abandoned buildings almost at the Grand Canyon.

The contrast to Yuma is amazing, isn't it?  I love living in a state where you can see such diversity in a days drive.