Day 2: September 30, 2015--Grand Canyon GALLERY

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The pictures of Day 2 of our rail journey across America fall naturally into three groups, two of which can be further divided thus:

• Williams, Arizona: Morning and Evening
• The Grand Canyon Railway: Northbound and Southbound
• The Grand Canyon

Let's take Williams first.

Williams, Arizona

Lila had not known of Smokey--or his song--until now. It was love at first sight.

The Pine Country Restaurant, home of good eats and nice people.
(The rising sun off-camera to the right has washed out the upper floor.)

Another satisfied customer. (Note how she's bundled
up--Williams is at 6,766 ft [2,062 m] above sea level)

Maybe the very first group selfie of the trip. The steam locomotive
behind us was a humbug: we traveled behind a diesel to the Grand Canyon.

A beard buddy from the Wild West Show
(photo by Lila)

Lila posed with a couple more of the show's stars. The one on
the left had fewer lines, and is thinking about calling his agent.

More tomfoolery to keep the customers satisfied--and from sleeping in
the lobby, disrupting the guests, and making the employees nervous.

Meanwhile, that evening at the Grand Canyon Hotel, "Arizona's Oldest..."

The iron bedstead, quilting, fan: acceptable. But the bear? Too much.

Lila relaxes amongst the kitsch after the first day of hard campaigning.

On the Railroad

The Grand Canyon Railway, that is...

Yet another selfie, this one giving a sense of the vintage car's interior

This guy seems to be having a little too much fun
(and so does the pilgrim behind him).

Nevertheless, Lila later succumbed to the exhaustion caused by our early-morning arrival.

And on the return trip...

Trouble seems to be brewing off the starboard stern. (Photo by Lila)

Just as I suspected: a bandanna-wearing old guy with nothing to do all day.

I think Williams needs a senior center--for the pseudo-bandits and most of the passengers.
(That's who you'll see after school starts and before the bad weather sets in, though!)

Another teasing loco, this one up at the Canyon.

And this is the one that actually dragged us. Not actually shiny new either. (Photo by Lila)

The Canyon was Truly Grand

I will spare you the eight million or so inadequate shots we took of the Canyon itself, and concentrate on what was happening along our part of the South Rim.

I bought a belt in this gorgeous vintage building--for $56! I had bought a new pair of jeans at
Target before we left home. They fit fine--at first. Then, as they relaxed, they started
dropping without warning. I think the folks around me would agree that $56 was a pretty
small price to pay to spare them that! (Maybe I should have taken up a collection for The Cause...)

Dances were held among the more easterly shops.

I won't usually post food pics, but Lila remembers the lunch at Bright Angel Lodge
as one of the best of the trip--if not in her life! I guess her first experience
of Southwest cooking was a success. The wrap was hers, the quesadilla mine.

To the west, a photography studio operated by brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb from 1904 to 1976.
(Photo by Lila)

Art for sale inside the Kolb Studio. (What else? Photo by Lila)

Lookout Studio was built in 1914 by the Santa Fe Railway to compete with the Kolb brothers.

And now the obligatory photos of someone standing in front of a landmark:

Fashion statement? Or protection from the
brutal sun at high altitudes? Why not both?

Attempting to look blase while standing close to the edge

"What's that you say? There's a one-mile
drop behind me? No big whoop!"

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