July 9, 2008 • Uncategorized •

Road Trip Diary, days 8-10: Grand Canyon, Route 66, and home again

This is the last of four posts recounting the story of our 2008 family vacation – the others are here, here, and here.

Day 8: Williams, Arizona and the Grand Canyon

The kids and I were going to be seeing the Grand Canyon for the very first time, and Tall Paul had arranged for us to go there via the Grand Canyon Railway. It’s not the fastest way there, since it takes 2.25 hours to travel about 60 miles from Williams, but it’s picturesque, comfortable, and entertaining. However, I should note that it’s more comfortable if your seats are in one of the more modern, air-conditioned train cars – ours weren’t. We traveled in one of the old Harriman coach cars, which were built by the Pullman Co. in the early 20th century, and they’re only used during the summer; kind of ironic, considering the temperatures, but I’d like to spin it as a more “authentic” experience. It’s fun, though, and I’d recommend it. The train operators keep you entertained with strolling singing cowboys and knowledgeable hosts in every car.

We knew we’d only have a few hours in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim, which would give us time for lunch and not too much exploring, but we figured it would probably be enough. Neither Tall Paul nor Mom-in-law tolerates heat well, and as I mentioned earlier, she’s having issues with altitude too, so a short visit was probably best anyway.

As for the canyon itself – “grand” is absolutely the proper word. I have never seen anything like it, and even though there’s plenty of it we didn’t see, I’m glad to have experienced what we did. I’m also glad we allocated time the way we did – a half-day at the Canyon vs. three days at Yellowstone. I also don’t feel much need to return to the Canyon, but I’d be happy to go back to Yellowstone again.

I have some fear of heights; I’m OK if there’s a barrier of some kind, but some sections of the South Rim are completely open, and I couldn’t get too close to them without feeling sick and panicky. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t watch anyone else in my group get too close to the edge either without feeling the same way, so I’m afraid I may have put a little crimp in things with that. However, I think that the fact we actually got to watch a few rare California condors pretty close up may have made up for it.

After a warm day at the Canyon, the train ride home wasn’t really much cooler, and it was a bit more subdued. We had the singing cowboys again, and an additional diversion as we got closer to Williams – we were boarded by train robbers! No one was hurt, though, and a good time was had by all. I refused to give one of them my wedding rings, though, and he threatened to take Tall Girl’s “silver teeth” – a.k.a. her braces – instead. She would have gladly handed them over.

We were warm, dusty, and tired when we headed back to Flagstaff, and it was dinner and an early night for us all. With no schedule for our last full day in Flagstaff, at least a couple of members of our group looked forward to sleeping in the next morning!

BTW, NPR recently featured a series on national parks during Morning Edition – here’s the Grand Canyon installment.

Days 9 and 10: Relaxing in Flagstaff before the drive home
Sunday in Flagstaff was, as intended, a day of rest. Tall Paul, Mom-in-law, and the kids all went to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda; it was nice to find out that movie tickets are cheaper in Flagstaff (but concessions are overpriced everywhere). I stayed at the hotel, camped out with my laptop, and caught up on this trip diary. When everyone else returned to the hotel, Mom-in-law relaxed while The Boy spent some quality time with Pokemon on his Nintendo DS, and Tall Paul, Tall Girl, and I visited the Barnes and Noble across the street; after that, my husband and I spent some time wandering in the historic downtown area while the kids and Grandma spent some time at every kid’s favorite place in a hotel – the swimming pool.

As I mentioned earlier, Flagstaff was one of the more prominent towns on historic Route 66. You know the song, of course:

It winds from Chicago to LA
More than three thousand miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66
It goes through St. Louis
Joplin, Missouri
Oklahoma City is might pretty
You’ll see Amarillo
Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona
Don’t forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino…
(Between you and me, let’s go ahead and forget Barstow. Anyway…)

We peeked back into the mid-20th-century when road trips were a big deal with dinner at the Galaxy Diner, which had that fun 50’s vibe and surprisingly good, reasonably-priced food. The rest of the evening was taken up with getting ready for an early start on the drive home the next morning.

We got on the road at 6:30 Monday morning, which turned out to be early enough that we were able to beat the afternoon traffic rush as we approached Los Angeles. We made it back early enough to bring Gypsy home from the boarding kennel that night, instead of having to wait till Tuesday morning, and were glad that we still had Tuesday ahead to unwind before returning to the office for a shortened work week on Wednesday (the first of two such weeks, thanks to the Fourth of July holiday – it was nice to be able to ease back into the daily grind).

Thanks for traveling along with us! Pictures from the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff are on Picasa, and I should mention that it is impossible for the Grand Canyon to photograph badly, even when I’m the one working the camera.

But before you check out the pictures, here’s a totally suitable Blogthings quiz:
The Road Trip of Your Life

You see life as precious and special. Heritage and family are very important to you.

You live life at a fairly leisurely pace. You take time to enjoy the sweeter parts of life, even when you’re busy.

You’re willing to take a few risks in life. You may not take the road no one travels, but you’re happy to take the road less traveled.

You are able to find a fairly healthy balance between work and play. You work when you need to, but you never let yourself burn out.

You could have owned an indie bookstore or boutique in another life.

<—–Look! Up in the sky! It's a

California condor!

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9 comments

  3. Those are nice pictures. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but I’ve flown over it many times. 🙂

    You didn’t make it to the meteor crater I see. I was hoping for some pictures.

  4. Mike – No, we didn’t. Paul wasn’t sure how interested the kids would be in Meteor Crater, and we were all kind of tired after the day at the Grand Canyon, so we just vegged on Sunday and prepared for our last long day on the road.

    Tall Paul and I do want to go back to Flagstaff, though, so maybe on that trip we’ll see the crater.

    You should see the Grand Canyon – once. I wouldn’t have said that before I saw it myself, though :-).

  5. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. The Grand Canyon is quite impressive. I would like to see it once in my life. 🙂

  6. Tanabata – I don’t know that I would go back to see it again, but yes, I now think seeing the Grand Canyon once belongs on everyone’s “bucket list.”

    I’m glad you enjoyed our road-trip saga!

  7. Thank you for taking us with you on your trip! At least by way of a travelogue. 🙂 My parents took me camping in the Grand Canyon when I was still in diapers and just learning to walk. I have no memories of our visit, but I’ve seen the photos. Back then, there was less restriction about where people could go.

    The photos are gorgeous, by the way!

  8. Literary Feline (and everyone else that has mentioned the pictures) – Have you checked out the albums I linked to on Picasa, or just seen the pictures here? In any case, I’m glad you enjoyed them! They’re a mix of ones taken by both Paul and me, and at this point I’m not sure whose are whose (unless he’s in them – then they’re mine).

    I really enjoyed putting together this series of posts and sharing it here, so I’m really glad people have liked it!