I Went to the Grand Canyon?

Well my aunties took my cousins and myself to the Grand Canyon this weekend and it was vonderful. Let me break it down for ya. My Auntie Lara picked my cousins and myself up from my uncle's house Friday afternoon and we met up with my Auntie Lana at their house. Then we ate and spent three hours or so driving to Williams, Arizona. It's basically an old run-down "quaint" but hick-like small town. Cowboys are seen as cooler than Batman and Superman in Williams. Cowboys are pretty much the ideal profession in Williams. It was a cute little place. Our hotel was conveniently located right next to the train depot where we would journey to the Grand Canyon the next morning via train. Friday night, we walked around downtown Williams, which was probably about the size of your neighborhood, if that. Something that was pretty cool about that little town was that Route 66 ran right through it. So we did as the tourists do and took pictures in front of the Route 66 sign. Then we ate at Max & Thelma's restaurant, the dining/gift shop place located next to our hotel (which was also owned or founded by Max & Thelma whoever they were). Before we ate dinner, we stopped by the gift shop and my Auntie Lara bought me a pocket knife key chain with my name engraved into it. It is BAD @$$ mann. Keeping that thing in my pocket makes me feel invincible. I mean sure, a ten year old kid could strangle me before I could pop the little blade out of the thing but whatever. It's still cool and it is officially my first real weapon! And it was only $4.99 pluse tax. A dinner buffet at Max & Thelma's was part of the Triple A package my Auntie Lara paid for. The buffet was satisfying to say the least. Mac & cheese, potatoes, steamed vegetables, string beans, broccoli, two different kinds of pastas, honey barbequed roasted chicken, clam chowder, salad, and prime rib. Then the desserts included chocolate puddiing, banana pudding, red jello, yellow jello, carrot cake, strawberry shortcake (ghetto version), chocolate cake, nasty looking cake, a different nasty looking cake, and whip cream for your dispensing pleasure. Sounds good, huh? It was definately good. The buffet made the trip worth while and this was before we even saw the Grand Canyon.

Let's fast forward to Saturday morning. I had trouble sleeping. Well for one, we all went to bed at 11:30 which is super early for me. I kept waking up and the bed or the pillow or something was just not working for me. Oh well, it happens.... at bad hotels. Haha I'm just kidding. Well I woke up at 6:50 AM and we left for a buffet breakfast that was at the same restaurant we ate dinner at the night before. The food included pancakes, potatoes, french toast, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy (that looked like fish fat), four kinds of cereal, and an oatmeal bar (definately a highlight). We ate for an hour or so and watched a staged cowboy shoot out. It was funny, grody at times, and cheesy, but entertaining nonetheless. Then we walked 200 yards or so to our train car. Our train attendant (?) was named Kathy and was very nice. The train ride was two hours and 15 minutes long but seemed longer. We arrived at the canyon and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was so huge and so stunning in its natural beauty that pictures don't do it justice. Everything about it is just so amazing that it makes you realize how big this world is. For the first time in my life, I wanted to be an eagle soaring over Arizona. Okay the last four sentences were bs but I'm sure some people felt that way. Don't get me wrong, the Grand Canyon was indeed much bigger than I thought it would be. I thought it would be more orange but what are you going to do? It was pretty crazy to look down and out and see nothing but rock. It was uncanny how big the Grand Canyon is and how far it stretches. It's 7,000 feet above sea level. What a drop! And apparently at least two people a year experience that drop and a not-so-sudden stop. Which got me thinking how stupid some people can be. There is like a three foot rock-built barrier around the rim and people still manage to fall off and "sugar we're going down swinging." Thinking about that fatal drop gave me the idea to throw rocks down into the canyon. That was fun! I couldn't see where my rocks finally landed but just knowing that they fell 3,000 feet or so was enough to make me throw more and more rocks. We ate at El Tovar or something like that. Rachel Ray ate at the restaurant we decided to eat lunch at on one of her food network shows. My aunties and I ordered the same thing Rachel Ray did just because Rachel Ray ordered it and that seemed like a good enough reason at the time. It was the Novajo Taco, which was Indian fry bread on the bottom of a plate topped with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and cheese. It was mediocre at best. We blame Rachel Ray. As long as I don't end up looking like her after eating that thing, I'm fine.

[to be continued...]