The Grand Canyon...

As I wrote in my last post, we pulled out of the parking lot before 5 am, headed for Williams, Arizona. It was a three-hour drive to to get to the Grand Canyon Railway Depot. Many of the kids and adults brought pillows and blankets on the bus. In my fog, I forgot both. There was little or no conversation as we hit the road. Using my coat as a pillow, I passed out and woke up as the sun came up, with snowy mountains in the distance as I gazed out the bus window. We arrived in Williams with enough time to find our train cars...and no time to visit the restroom, I might add. It was a bit of a madhouse at the train station. Several other schools were traveling to the Grand Canyon...translation...charter buses and throngs of teenagers everywhere! I was still a little groggy from my nap, so I was a little overwhelmed. We finally found our seats on the "J" car, and settled in. I had a fairly lousy view out the train window...the archaic period window shade was stuck in its tracks. I was appeased by the serving of an ice cold Coke, though, and I ended up being mostly thankful because it was so bright and sunny outside.

Another blurry bus shot...

first thing I saw when I woke up...

A view from the train...

Although we were only 65 miles from the Canyon rim, the train trip took almost three hours. We talked for a bit, the kids played cards for a bit, I tried not to fall back to sleep for a bit...it was a long trip. We finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and walked off the train to see the band kids from Winter Park, Florida, having an all-out snowball fight! Turns out that most of them had never seen snow, and it was far more appealing than the Grand Canyon! Can't blame them...I heard they walked over to the Canyon rim, took some pictures and soaked in the view and then headed back to the snow! Funny...

The Florida kids were fascinated by the snow...

The "ice fight"...

Mindy breaking it up...

We posed for a group picture...that I don't have a copy of yet...and then were released to either shop, eat or take a hike...literally. As tempting as some warm food and a little retail therapy was, my group opted for a little trail hiking. It was cold, probably mid-30s, and not too uncomfortable with a brisk pace. The ice covering most of the trails, however, was stressful and exhausting. I nearly wiped out about a dozen times! At one point, I reached out and grabbed the arm of some stranger...a band dad from Florida...to keep from falling on my behind. I thanked him profusely for saving me!

Apparently, the snow was pretty tempting for some of our kids, as well. We haven't, after all, had much of any of it this winter. Next thing I know I'm in the middle of a raucous snowball fight! We walked well over a mile to a scenic overlook...and may I say that a mile is a lot longer and a lot less enjoyable when you are walking on ice trying not to fly off the edge of the Grand Canyon...and much of that walk was spent dodging snowballs. I told them all up front that if I encountered even a shred of shrapnel from their snow missiles, they would be doing push-ups. For the most part, they avoided me pretty well. I was hit in the line of fire a few times. A few passersby...none too amused...were struck, as well...that cost them some push-ups, too.

Pretty sure Chris...the one cowering...started it...

He's going to pay for that...

Now, Alex is all about a snowball fight...

And Mindy gives as good as she gets...

Snow down the shirt?

She makes a momma proud...

We finally made it to a beautifully scenic overlook. I turned my back for a minute to ask someone a question, and when I turned back around, they were all ON THE EDGE of what appeared to be a cliff. And this on the heels of a lecture from a Park Ranger about the dangers of falling and how most deaths at the Grand Canyon are from falls...by men...under the age of 30. Shocking. What frightened me most was that Mindy went right along with them!!!! So I did what any good mother would do...I yelled at them to freeze, took their picture and then yelled at them to get away from the edge! I take that back...I'm a great mom!

It was a fast and furious walk back to the train depot. We had been told that the train would leave without us. And we were banking on taking a tram back. Which, of course, we couldn't find. Because we apparently didn't walk FAR enough! We made it back in time to grab a couple of post cards and head to the train. And then they served our boxed lunch. Have you noticed a theme yet? Two boxed lunches yesterday. A boxed breakfast...which consisted of a three-inch pastry, a granola bar and a cup of orange juice. And now another boxed lunch. Even I, advocate of orphans and reminder of starving children in Africa, felt a little grumbly about it. Then we all got headaches. Mindy had a backache from falling on the ice. I passed out Tylenol and ibuprofen and took some myself. It didn't help. By the time we rattled our way back to Williams, my neck was on fire with pain and my head was throbbing. Thankfully, the bus was dark and quiet, once again, and I slept most of the way back to Scottsdale. We stopped just outside the city at yet another mall to get some supper, and Mindy and I practically ran to the mexican restaurant! We got tacos and quesadillas and some yummy chips and salsa...and COKES, of course...and inhaled it all. It was wonderful. Some of the boys ordered pizza, and they, too, said it was really good, although they had to wait a while for it.

Here we go again!

I've got proof, Alex...

The bus ride back home...

By the time we got back to the resort, the kids had about an hour-and-a-half of free time...pretty much the first free time they'd had the whole trip. A few silly teenagers braved the pool. I played cards with a few of the kids poolside until curfew. After I did a bed check, I crawled to my room and curled up in bed with my book and the TV. Deb was out before me, and we slept, once again, like babies.

More photos from this day on flick'r...click here...

It's worth it the snowball fight narrative alone...