We’re on the Grand Canyon Railway headed to the South Rim—the very same train line which opened in 1901 and began taking tourists to the Divine Abyss—sitting in a very cozy parlor car where the bar service begins at 9:30 am. (Jack, our very animated bartender/porter offers five reasons to start drinking immediately—“you’re on vacation and it’s not a vacation until you’ve had a cocktail by 9:45; you can’t say you’ve been drinking all day if you don’t start in the morning; you’re probably never going to see these people again; your chances of seeing wildlife will double; and nobody makes a better bartender than a recovering alcoholic, I live vicariously through you folks, don’t let me down”) The train crawls across the Colorado Plateau and the forest like a caterpillar (not my image, John Muir made the analogy over 100 years ago.) It is a very civilized way to visit the canyon—we’ve only ever gone up by car—and we just had our picture taken on the rear car of the train. It’s the closest we’ll get to whistlestop touring, since regular trains don’t have cabooses any more. (damn)

This article is copyright © 2024