We awoke to a fresh snowfall of several inches, providing a lovely winter landscape for a normally brown desert scene. We had to be at the local Williams, AZ train station for an 8:30 AM departure of the Grand Canyon Railroad. The rail line was built in 1901 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to transport people to the Grand Canyon. It thrived until the advent of the automobile caused its demise. In 1988 private investors bought the line and assets and made it the success it is today.  Approximately 250,000 people/year ride this train to/from the south rim of Grand Canyon. The rail depot here in Williams was built in 1908 and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The depot and adjacent hotel was one of the early locations for the a Fred Harvey Hotel & Restaurant chain, with their famous “Harvey Girls” waitresses. There was even a famous 1930 movie (The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland) about them.

I was surprised at how many people boarded the train, but it is the holiday season. We were only riding it one way while most people would be making a round trip, returning late in the day after spending 3-4 hours at the canyon. Our seats were reserved and there was an on-going dialogue provided by a person in our car. In addition, the “sheriff”, dressed in 1800s garb( hilarious as he was really from the Netherlands) , passed through as well as a cowboy singer who entertained us with a few modern day songs.

The gentle falling snowfall provided a magical winter scene for our two plus hour trip. The time passed quickly and we soon reached the south rim of the canyon where our bus met us to begin our exploration of the area. The snow had stopped but unfortunately the area was covered by low lying clouds. We drove to a nearby popular canyon view spot called Mather Point only to be met with clouds. There was no canyon; not even a partial view! It was not a good start to our Grand Canyon adventure!

Not to worry, said our tour director. We will move on to Plan B or Plan C if we have to. But first let’s go have lunch. Because of the holidays many local restaurants were not open and choices were limited and we ended up in another locally owned Mexican restaurant. We did not mind in the least, but we’re again dismayed that the quality of the food was not like “back home”.

The restaurant was located in the small (population 558) town of Tusayan, AZ located about 6 miles from national park. The rest of the town consists of motels, souvenir shops, eateries, and local tour companies. A unique offering was an IMAX theater which shows a marvelous movie about the Grand Canyon. The plan B suggestion was that we would be taken to see the movie, again compliments of the owner.

After that we asked to stop at the local chocolate candy shop for “essentials” followed by a visit to the local gas station to buy powerball lottery tickets (we had several avid buyers on the trip) with a promise that we would equally share our winnings! The last stop was at a local grocery store for those who wanted to pick up some last minute goodies or refreshments for their New Year eve celebration.

It was now time to check in at our hotel. Originally our group was to have stayed at the Yavapai Lodge in the park. Prior to leaving we learned that much of the facility was going to be closed when we were scheduled to be there, so an option was offered to stay at a large, modern motel in Tusayan. Six of the 10 people chose that option, including us. In hindsight we made the right choice, as the Yavapai rooms had previously been used a dormitories and one had to walk to get to the main lodge for food/beverage, whereas our rooms were large and modern and the facilities (including a bowling alley of all things) was nearby.

I had made early (only time available) New Year Eve dinner reservations at the famous El Tovar dining room  in the park but because of our late arrival I had to cancel them and we simply joined our fellow travelers for dinner at our hotel. Because of staff shortages the normal dinner menu was truncated but they offered a special prime rib dinner that night that turned out to be quite good and drinks were a bargain at $8!

No late night reverie for us any more. We need our rest for the touring that is to come, as the weather prediction for January 1 was spectacular- clear, blue skies and moderate (30s) temperatures.