WILLIAMS, ARIZONA, THE GRAND CANYON

Well, we arrived at the Koa campground in Williams, which is an old historic town very close to the Grand Canyon.  The campground has adequate sites and we overlook a mountain, however, hardly any trees or shrubs, water is not plentiful here.  They have to truck their water in so we have to conserve all we have, so hardly any water pressure. 

The Koa has a concierge service and sets up tours, so we decide to first take the canyon railroad train into the canyon.  I get tickets for the luxury observation dome, which has no children in it.  We sit high above the tracks and get to see the prairies and forest on the way into the canyon.  It is a two and a half hour trip each way.  They give us a continental breakfast aboard which consists of pastries, all kinds of beverages and fresh fruits.  On the way back we get cheese and crackers, fruit, vegetables and dip and champagne.  It is an enjoyable ride.  I even went to the back of the train and stood out on the open air platform and took a pic of the tracks.  Lots of fun.  When we got into the canyon we stepped out near the old time depot and walked way up to the El Tovar Hotel which has been there since the 1920's.  There are lots of trails to walk on to see the canyon, and so I took lots of pictures.  We went to lunch at the Arizona Room, at a hotel within walking distance and overlooking the canyon.  There is no bottled water for sale at the canyon but you can fill your water bottles at many sites where fresh spring water is available, cold and delicious.  Before getting on the train there was a shootout at the corral and the actors were great.  Then during the train ride, we had strolling muscians, a banjo player, and a woman accordianist.  Just before we got back into Williams bandits stopped the train and we got held up, all in good fun, just looking for dollar bills from the passengers.
All in all a fun day.

Well, get up bright and early and a van picks us up from the Allstar Grand Canyon tour company.  I arranged that the day before.  We are only 4 people on the tour so that was great.  Our guide took us into many trails to look at the canyon which a lot of people never get to see.  He brings a scope with him, so we can see down into the canyon and a tiny green dot turns out to be colorado river rapids.  We see many beautiful sights, take too many pics, so I will give you the best of the best.  He brings snacks and cold drinks for us for the trip up.  About 1 pm we set up at a picnic table near some pueblo ruins, we look at the ruins and come back to find the picnic table set with tablecloth, cloth napkins, china and silverware.  We have delicious sandwiches, pasta salad, fresh fruits and avocados, and drinks.  The we take the long way home and see the town of Sante Fe, which is beautiful,  all in all a beautiful day, we get home at 5:45 pm and go out to pizza hut for dinner.