More Trains on Travel Tuesday

 

 

 After leaving Page, we headed back to Williams (aka the land of trains), for another 3 days of Arizona fun before heading home. 

 

 

While in Williams, we enjoyed the trains, the Route 66 vibes and a trip to the Grand Squirrel Canyon.  We're covering all this fun in the next few days starting today with a look at the Grand Canyon Railway Train.

 

 

 

The original Grand Canyon Railway train ran its first train from Williams to the Grand Canyon on September 17th in 1901.

 

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway help to establish,  the 68 mile track and train to carry tourists out to the Grand Canyon and helped make the Grand Canyon the tourist destination it is today. 

 

Unfortunately, because of the rising popularity of automobiles, the original Grand Canyon Railway train shut down in 1968.

 

Hey Rosy!! 

I haven't traveled back in time, have I? 

What? It's just Mama using her history imagination(and the Sepia filter)? 

 

Whew, for a second I thought I had transported back in time before Greenies were invented!
 

 

As I was saying before Sunny interrupted, after the railway closure in 1968 the train tracks were neglected and started eroding. That's when the present day Grand Canyon Railway stepped in. They repaired the tracks, restored the train depots and in 1989 train service to the Grand Canyon resumed!

 

 

 

 Unfortunately, the train is not dog friendly. Since it's an all day adventure to take the train, Mama and Daddy were content to just look around the train station and watch the train return from its trip to the Grand Canyon.

 

As you may have guessed, Mama made a little movie of the train:

 

(As always, feel free to visit our YouTube Channel HERE)

 

 

The train trip sounds like it might be fun, but I bet it's nothing compared to the Squirrel Hunting to be had at Squirrel Canyon! 

 

Stay tuned tomorrow for some more on those sneaky Squirrels! 

  

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

 

Sunny Smile Aaaws

 

 

 Sunny smiles make everything better....even Mondays!

 

 

 

We're joining Comedy Plus for the

Awww Monday Blog Hop!

Canyon Controversy on NF/FFF

 

Welcome to the wonderful Friday each month where Nature Friday comes together with YAM Aunty's FFF!!  Make sure to visit YAM Aunty HERE to get the Rulez and join the FFF fun!!

Canyon Controversy

by Rosy

We went to a park, and what did I see?

Tons of beady eyes looking at me!

Mama said to "Look at the beauty, the canyon, the skies" 

All I could see, were those beady little eyes!

 

Daddy said, "It's about the pretty rocks, the beautiful canyon swirls" 

"No Daddy" I exclaimed...."It's all about the SQUIRRELS!!"

Daddy held my leash tight, the squirrels were so swift...

and Daddy was afraid I would chase them off of a cliff!

 

What the pawrents thought should be a relaxing walk around the Canyon rim

Turned into a test of will between me and "them"

 "They" won in the end because we didn't go far...

as the pawrents decided we should go back to the car! 

 

From Mama...If you ever have a chance to visit the Grand Canyon with your pup, please beware, squirrels really are everywhere~More on the Grand Canyon next Friday.

  

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

 

 

 

Thankful for Cece Family Time

 

 Although outdoor adventures are fun, today we are also thankful inside adventures! When we were in Williams, can you guess what our favorite adventure was???

 

 

 

TRAIN WATCHING!!!

It was soooo cool, we could see the trains right out the window! Can you spot the train towards the top of the window?

 

 

We would bark for Daddy every time we heard a train, and he would come sit on the couch so we could all train watch together! 

 

Best indoor activity EVER!!! 

(OK....maybe next to bunny and squirrel watching BOL)

 

Thank you Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

 

 

 

 

Not so Wordless Wednesday

While we were in Page...

Ummm, Rosy??

Just a second Sunny, I want to tell everyone about the beautiful place we stayed while we were in Page!

But Rosy....LOOK!!!!

It's a big old Coyote!!!

BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!!!!!

Please Stand By....

BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!!!

OK, I think I'm done now. 

Did you see how scared he was of me Rosy?!!

Yeah Sunny, he looked more annoyed at the sound of your bark, silly girl.

As I was saying, Roam America in Horseshoe Bend(the RV Park where we stayed in Page) was beautiful!

It has a nice pool where Mama and Daddy went swimming one evening and lots of wide open space!

(and don't worry, we only saw one coyote and that was WAY early in the morning). 

The park wasn't very crowded, making it perfect for peaceful morning and evening walks.

The views were beautiful, with lots of red rock formations!

Making it perfect for our annual vacation Ussie!

 

We are joining  Comedy Plus for the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop! Thanks to Sandee for hosting!

Travel Tuesday Around Page

Rosy here on Travel Tuesday to tell you this and that about attractions in and around Page, AZ.

Page was originally established in 1958 as a camp for those working on the Glen Canyon Dam and is named after John C. Page, a Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner. 

Built in 1959, the Glenn Canyon Dam Bridge is one of the highest bridges in the United Stated at 700 feet about the Upper Colorado River.

The Glen Canyon Dam was finished in 1966 , creating Lake Powell. Lake Powell not only contributes water to the lower Colorado Valley(this includes ur home state of New Mexico) but it is also  attracts tourists to the area.

The Glen Canyon Dam, Bridge and Lake Powell are very cool...but Page also has beautiful

geological formations(that's fancy speak for pretty rocks and canyons). The pawrents really wanted to visit a slot canyon like Antelope Canyon while we were visiting, but there just wasn't time(not to mention it was REALLY hot outside).  Instead, they took a little drive along scenic Route 89 a little north of Page.

The rock formations were amazing!

Here is a short video Mama put together:

As always, feel free to visit our YouTube Channel HERE

As usual, there is so much to see in and around Page, Arizona....and there was so little time!

  

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

Aaaw Mama!!!

 

Once upon time there was a Dog Mama who, more than anything, wanted to see Monument Valley...

 

.....especially the spot in Monument Valley where they had filmed Forest Gump when he decided to stop running.

When we arrived in the Navajo Tribal Park, Mama was pawsitive the Forest Gump spot was on the road you see in the above picture....

 

The DIRT road where signs warned that only 4 wheel drives should proceed AND where, because of recent rains, there were additional warning signs of deep ruts and holes. We had our 4 wheel JeeJee and Mama was determined. Daddy was nice enough to go along, but he tried to warn her that it was going to be REALLY rough.

Mama didn't take any video, but the video below gives you an idea of how bumpy the road was....

Halfway down the hill to the road, Mama realized she may have made a mistake...

This was about the time that both Rosy and I were throwing up in the backseat. Rosy's tummy calmed down but those bumps were horrible, and I was REALLY carsick!

Mama felt soooooo bad, and had Daddy turn around as soon as he could and we went back up the hill.

That's where Mama took these pictures

(and cleaned up the mess in the back seat)

Believe it or not,  that's not all...

Mama then looked on her phone for Forrest Gump in Monument Valley and found out it was on another road all together!!!

Daddy was such a good sport and took Mama over to see the spot, and some the great views of Monument Valley you saw Friday!

Mama's...gotta love them, right???

We are thankful this adventure made for a good story, even if it was a little too adventurous!!

 

 

 

 

We're joining Comedy Plus for the

Awww Monday Blog Hop!

 

 

Monument Valley on Nature Friday

Welcome to Nature Friday, where we get to meet new friends and maybe share a picture or two of what nature looks like around Blogville.  On the afternoon of Day 4 of our vacation, Mama, Daddy, Sunny and I all piled in the car for a scenic ride to Monument Valley. 

 

I, Rosy, am here today to tell you a few fun facts about the scenic views. Sunny will be here on Monday to share a shorter, "Awwww, Mama!!!",  part of the drive. For now, let's just say Mama made a poor road choice.

Monument Valley also known as Tse Bi Ndzisgaii(Valley of the Rocks) is part of the Navajo Nation and is a Navajo Tribal Park located in the area of the border Northeast Arizona and Southeast Utah.

The monuments are made up of "Buttes"(the smaller and narrower formations) and "Mesas"(the larger "table" like formations)

Erosion from rain, wind and ice has worn away the softer layers of earth leaving the harder "caprock"

Before the mid 1930s, no one but the Navajo and Paiute tribes(along with a few explorers) had seen the beauty of the Valley. That changed as a local trader, Mike Goulding, was about put Monument Valley on the map.

 Goulding opened a trading post on the Utah side of the valley and became close to the Navajo. When the depression, a drought and federal policies started taking a toll on the Navajo, Goulding decided to take photos of the beautiful Valley and bring them to Hollywood.

Goulding's actions paid off. In 1939, John Ford's western, Stagecoach(starring John Wayne) opened in theaters, featuring  Monument Valley as the backdrop.  

Stagecoach was the first of many movies to use Monument Valley as their setting. From westerns like Fort Apache to comedies like National Lampoon's Vacation were filmed here. The famous movie that includes the scene above was, as Angel Tigger's Person guessed correctly, from the movie Forest Gump. They even have a scenic point showing exactly where they filmed the scene! 

Needless to say,  tourists now flock to Monument Valley. All the tourist dollars have brought the Navajo Nation a steady income stream. In addition to the entrance fee, there is a hotel, RV Park, campground and a shopping complex. They are all done very tastefully, and don't interfere with the views of the Monuments.

One more little fact about Monument Valley has to do with the color of the rocks and landscape. Some of the rocks are red because of the iron oxide or rust found in the siltstone. 

Some of the rocks/landscape might have grey or blue tinge. This is the result of the maganese oxide that is present in the soil. How cool is that?!

(Nobby, do you or Gail have any idea how these compounds actually get into the soil??)

Monument Valley was on the pawrents bucket list, and they are SO happy to have been able to check it off. 

As you might have guessed, Mama made a Monument Valley video.

(As always, feel free to visit our YouTube Channel HERE.)

Welllll, Sunny and I thought Monument Valley was pretty and it was nice spending time with the pawrents BUT if we visit again, we hope it's cooler outside AND well, Sunny will fill you in on the AND on Monday. 

We hope you all get to get our and enjoy some nature this weekend!

  

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.