Day 17 -- Grand Canyon

This has been such a long day filled with so many little moments that I'm positive I'll never be able to remember it all as I blog... Nevertheless, I have to try to fill you all in!

We rose early, ate breakfast at the Depot Cafe, and ran to catch the pre-train ride show. It was very funny. Just before it started ALL Patrick was saying was "where's the train?" over and over and over and over. So the guys acting in the show thought it was funny and one said "Son - the train will be here soon." Everyone chuckled. Just as Don got there Patrick yells loud enough for the whole audience to hear "Daddy - the train will be here soon!" Everyone got a good laugh.

We FINALLY got on the train. We had great seats and great car companions. I wasn't as thrilled with the girl who was responsible for our car. She wasn't the friendliest person we met today. However, the guy playing guitar & singing was very funny and very good with the boys. We saw two bald eagles as we rode through the Arizona countryside on our way to the Grand Canyon. We also saw a herd of what looked like antelope.

We arrived in the national park around noon and immediately were ushered onto a bus for a rim tour. We were able to get out and take pictures at a few overlooks. I am not even going to TRY to explain how magnificent the views of the Grand Canyon were. If you have never seen it yourself - you MUST - at least once in your lifetime. It is unbelievable.

The boys were a little tired and both fell asleep at some point during the bus ride. We got back to the Maswick Lodge in the park where we're spending the night and checked in. Then we grabbed a bite to eat in the Lodge lobby and headed over to our room. We grabbed our coats and headed back out the door. We took the park shuttle to the visitor's center. It was neat. There were areas for the boys to sit and play while we shopped. Then we walked along the rim trail and took more photos just as the sun started sinking.

We got back on the shuttle and went to dinner at El Tovar. That was the BEST meal I'd had in a month!!!!! If you EVER do go to the Grand Canyon - eat at El Tovar!! It's worth the wait and the price.

After dinner we had to wait in a very dark bus stop for the shuttle to come and get us. While we waited we were looking at the millions of stars and realized it was clouding up. The millions of stars turned into about 50. The shuttle finally arrived and carted us back off to the Maswick Lodge. We went in to the shop for a minute and then headed to our room.

I no sooner got Daniel's PJs on him that he was sound asleep. Patrick followed very quickly. We're sorting our stuff for the return train ride tomorrow to Williams. We stay one more night in Williams and then it's off to Santa Fe as we begin our journey home.