Grand Canyon - Day 3!!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to get packed up and head out of Williams on the Grand Canyon Train to the Grand Canyon!  We got our luggage sorted and headed out to breakfast at The Grand Depot Cafe...well of course Tate just had hot chocolate as he ate breakfast in the room upon waking...at 6am :)  After breakfast Tate, Scotty and I headed over to Route 66 to take in the historic road and the sights for a few moments.  My mom and Lindsey had ventured over the night before and told us how cool it was!

 Then it was time for our Wild West Shoot Out complete with cowboys and sheriffs!  Tate was really worried and sat about on top of me.  The guns and shooting were not to his liking at all.  Sweet boy!

You can see how uneasy Tate was in the photo...he made his
cousin switch places with him!

We boarded our train after the shoot-out and began the gorgeous 2 hour and 15 minute ride to the Grand Canyon!  We were seated in the dome of the car, so our views were amazing.  They had yummy snacks and live music!

Our singer was fabulous and did an excellent
Elvis impersonation!

As we pulled into Grand Canyon National Park we saw an elk on the side of the tracks just hanging out!  Then we were there...we caught our first glimpse of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!

Once we arrived we immediately hopped on a bus for our 90 minute guided tour of the canyon!  Our first stop was Mojave Point and there was absolutely noone there.  When we stepped off the bus and walked over to the Canyon it was exquisitely quiet.  Absolutely quiet.  I will never as long as I live forget that brief moment of God's perfection...I could almost feel Him there with me as I looked at His majestic creation.  I can still feel and hear it right now.

We made a couple of stops, but we were all getting so tired and we were starving as it was almost 2pm!  And we'd had breakfast at 7:30!  Our bus dropped us back off at the train depot and we headed to lunch at El Tovar Restaurant.  As always dining for Tate was a challenge, and it was a real challenge the entire time we were in the Grand Canyon...they are most definitely not prepared for food allergies, their staff seemingly oblivious to caring for people with food allergies and they really seemed not to care.  I was very disheartened.  We finally settled on something for Tate to eat and we all gobbled down our food though all of it left alot to be desired.  But we were fed and we were in the Grand Canyon!!!!!

We checked into our rooms and oh my goodness Tate, Lindsey and I had the most fabulous 'suite' in the canyon!!  We were staying at The Buckey O'Neill Cabin!  It was amazing...you walk out the door onto the Canyon...the rim was no more than 15 feet outside our door!!  This is the view from the door.  These are views from the inside...

We lounged around a bit;  I let Tate watch some tv and I just snoozed on the bed!  Bliss!

My parents and Scotty came by, and we decided to go venture out again to see the gorgeous views!  By now we had a grumpy cousin and a tired Papa, but we persevered!

Tate, my mom and I ate dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant while the others piddled about...again not so good food.  And the staff was very reluctant to try to accommodate Tate's allergies...and strangely enough the kids' menu is the same at all the restaurants!  But weirdly not made the same!  So frustrating!  I don't even remember what he had, but I think it was grilled cheese.  Long wait but meh...we had food.  More than alot of people in this world can say!

We headed back to my room, and my mom hung out with Lindsey while I got Tate into bed.  He was thrilled to have his own rollaway bed and went straight to sleep after a warm bath! As soon as I had him under the covers I ducked outside to watch the gorgeous sunset!!!