Grand Canyon - Getting There

Since we were at our daughter's for a good two months, and since the parents of our new grandchild needed time to themselves, a couple of side trips were planned.  Our first was to Sedona, which has already been posted here.  The no-brainer choice for another excursion was the Grand Canyon for a longer stay of four nights and five days.  How could we not do that?  But first we had to GET THERE.  Since I didn't relish the prospect of driving and the potential of running into overcrowding on the road, we first drove to Williams, AZ, then hopped on the train you see above.  Williams acts as a sort of "Park & Ride" for those seeking an alternate way into the park, with a bonus of entertainment on the way.

While there wasn't much to see outside during the ride - mostly just high desert scrubland - each car had a guide of sorts that kept us informed of what we were looking at, and the history of various sites along the way.  Then a guy with a guitar was moving from car to car, picking and singing old cowboy songs.  It really was a nice alternative to driving.

We reversed course on the way back from the Canyon, this time springing for one of the bi-level super luxury cars with windows on top for better views.  We were very disappointed, however, because alcohol was served and flowed freely; they were treating the ride as a big party with whooping, hollering, etc.  Since we're not drinkers, and are averse to whooping and hollering in public, we retreated downstairs, which was decked out as a quiet lounge with big, soft couches.  This was a great reprieve from the party going on upstairs, and as a bonus the train conductor also used this as his mid-trip lounge, and we learned a lot from him regarding the history and ownership of the train itself.  He broke away to park our ride, and when it stopped at the hotel we spent the night before driving back to Chandler the next day.

So this is how we traveled to and from the Grand Canyon.  As for our time there, these posts will be divided based on where we went and what we did.