Dinner at Dallan and Helen's

It was another laid back day, I took a few bird pictures this morning and this House Sparrow was the best one.

I got some good pictures of Bentley while he was napping.

This is the view of the yard from where I was sitting when I took the pictures of Bentley.

 This evening Barry, Mona, Vera and I went to dinner at Dallan and Helen's in their new home.  This model ship is the first thing you see coming in the front door.  Someone did a nice job of building it. 

We discovered that Helen is quite a talented painter, we already knew she was a great cook.  The barbecued ribs were delicious and so tender the meat just fell off.  She had done some experimenting on the scalped potatoes and they turned out great, I know because I had three helpings.  It was a nice relaxing evening and they have a beautiful new home.

A day of Rest!

Today was a sit around and enjoying the sun day as we got rested up from our little trip.  I took some good hummingbird pictures today and there was a beautiful sunset.  The picture above is my favorite for today.

I happened to get the Curved Billed Thrasher landing in the nest.

Here he is in the nest, I am amazed that they can land in there without getting hurt.

This hummingbird was pretty active all day.  He was either eating or guarding the feeder.

The bees like the feeders also and the hummingbirds will back away sometimes when they are there.

I have seen many more than this on the feeders.

Pretty but I imagine it could be painful.

I never noticed the spider until I was cropping the picture today.

This is the sunset I mentioned but you have to be quick because they can change really fast.

Heading back to Casa Grande

We got on  I40 about nine this morning heading towards Flagstaff.  When we got to Flagstaff we turned South on I17 towards Montezuma's Castle that Barry had told us about.

We stopped at this scenic viewpoint near Munds Park for a short break about ten thirty.  Our next stop was going to be Montezuma's Castle but when we turned off to go there the road was under repair with "No RV's or Trucks allowed".  I didn't feel like disconnecting the car so we decided to save it for another time.  We turned off at Cordes Lakes to get something to eat but could not find the type of sit down meal we wanted so we got back on I17 and headed for Casa Grande.  Vera went back and started making a salad for lunch while I drove.

We stopped at the Sunset Point rest stop to eat.  It turned out to be a really nice rest stop with a great view.

There was this huge sundial at one of the viewpoints there.  We took a nice long break before getting back on the road.  We made it through Phoniex without any problem and got to Barry and Mona's around three.  Well my tap the unlock button to reset the system in the Smart Car after the battery has been disconnected did not work today but it finally came to life and I don't know why.  After getting setup in their back yard I had a nice session at the fire pit with them.

When I went in for the night I took one picture of the sunset through the motor home window.

The Train Robbery

When they said the train would leave at three thirty they were not kidding.  I was watching the time on my phone and when it changed to three thirty the train started moving.  I had heard the conductor tell the people on the East side of the train to look for the Bobcats because they aren't normally in this area,  I couldn't see them from our side.  The train had turned around so they were on our side now.  He said the same thing on the way back and there they were, I was kind of expecting animals but it was two Bobcat loaders.

He had told us about the fire they had recently, this is how it looks were it went through.

This is how it should look, under brush and no darkened tree trunks.

Our entertainment on the way back was a guitar player, he was much better than the fiddle player.

The train robbery took place a little later, the train stopped and they came onboard.

The first robber came through telling everyone to stay calm and things would be fine.

The other two robbers came through collecting what ever money the first one missed.

The marshal came through next wanting to know which way they went and how many there were.  One guy answered two and a half which cracked up the marshal.  We got back to Williams a little before six, we debated going into town for dinner but finally decided to make it in the motor home.  It was a fun relaxing day, the Grand Canyon is awesome!

The Grand Canyon

We rode the train to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon this morning, it was sure enjoyable being able to take in the sights and not have to drive.  Battleship Rock was the first thing we saw as we walked up to the trailhead.

Vera is at the Bright Angel Trailhead Marker.

After seeing the sign about Crampons we had no desire to take the Bright Angel Trail, the paved Rim Trail is more our speed.

You can see where the Bright Angel trail goes along the hillside and through the tunnel.

There were already hikers coming back up the trail, maybe they spent the night down in the canyon.

Every direction we looked was a great view.

Many areas had no railings and we saw people sitting on the edge with their feet dangling over the edge.

The paved trail ends up by the flag and that is where we stopped.

Buckey's Cabin is the only building left from the original settlement.

The trail goes way down into the canyon.

This Rock Squirrel is the only animal I saw today.

We had lunch at the Bright Angel Restaurant, this is my dessert. 

The view changes when you move to a new viewpoint.

This picture is taken of the area where the trail started.

Sighting stations like this are located along the paved trail so you can identify different features. 

This is another view of the trail down into the canyon.

I liked this view of Grand Canyon.

I was sure surprised when I noticed buildings along the trail.

There is a person walking in the left building's yard.  I took a bunch of pictures of what looked like houses only to discover they were big rocks when I got them on the computer.

The weather was great, 53 degrees with not much wind.  We got back to the depot a little before the return trip departed and sat on the rock wall enjoying the sunshine.

The Train Ride

At nine this morning there was a short skit in the little village by the train depot.  They invited the kids to come up and meet the horses before the skit started.

The cowboys are getting in position for the skit to begin.

This is a pretty tough looking group.

They got a volunteer out of the audience to rob. 

Then the marshal showed up and they tried to blame the volunteer for robbing them.

The marshal didn't go for it and the short guy was the first to go.

After more words the shootout took place and of course the marshal won.

This is the train depot where I picked up our tickets last night.  I had booked them online several days ago.  I choose the Coach class because it had entertainment, big windows and you always face forward.  The train pulled out at exactly nine thirty.  The conductor also made a point of repeating several times that it leaves the Grand Canyon at exactly three thirty and if you were not onboard you would be spending the night up there.

There was quite a few empty seats, the conductor said that next month there would be twice as many people onboard.

We were in the second car back from the engines and I never noticed any noise or even the whistle.

Our entertainment on the way up was a fiddler.  He commented that the Australians in the first car had really kept him busy.  Every time one came through on the way to the cafe car he would break into their music and they would be dancing down the aisle.

This is the Polar Express stop, at Christmas time they have special runs that stop here and the kids can see Santa.

Our conductor mentioned that there was always someone at this place waving and pointed them out.  I didn't see them and they did not show in this picture.

We have arrived.

Vera is all set to explore the South rim.