This was a pretty awesome trip for the both of us. First off i had a few install's to do in Lake Havasu City and Kingman, then we made our way east towards Flagstaff to a town called Williams. Now Williams is a 2 light town and they make the most of their towns income off of the railway that you can take into the Grand Canyon. Robin and i made it into Williams about 6ish i believe, Robin went in to confirm our reservations and get the key to the room and told me that the room was around the back of the hotel, so we drove around back and parked........WRONG!!! who gave her the map LoL. I swear we walked half that hotel looking or our room, but she insisted that it was "this way". Eventually we found it, threw our bags into the room and took off to go eat. There werent to many places to eat and we both had mexican cravings so we went into a place called Pancho McGillicuddys, thats right people mexican/irish mexican food!!! and boy did it taste like a drunken irish was in the kitchen, HAHAHAHA But hey when you are hungry anything sounds good. Afterwards we walked across the street to a country cooking restuarant that a lady in kingman told me had really good pies. ohhh man they all looked so good, big, fluffy and homemade. We decided we were going to order one for the dinner at my moms house Sunday evening, we both agreed on a peach/cherry/apple pie, ordered it and told them we'd be back the following evening to pick it up and bounced. We then walked around the small town to see just exactly what its about and to no suprise no really anything going on there. Since the hotel didnt have a formal breakfast we decided to find a grocery store or something to get for the morning, thank goodness we found and albertson's, I KNOW, a real live grocery store, who knew. The night ended with us cuddling and watching a bit of some t.v., we had a fun filled day ahead of us and we needed our energy, and energy drink's! LoL
The morning came faster than i wanted it to and we both wanted to sleep just a wee bit longer, but the canyon was calling our names or was that just my gas from the previous nights dinner and salsa?? LoL. We knelt and said our prayers before we headed out for the day and then gathered our things and took off across the street to the train depot. I wanted to get us a couple of hot coco's for our train ride but both gift shops didnt have any, now i was going to have a grumpy girlfriend for the morning, not a good start to our day. LoL There was about 10 mins before we needed to board the train so we took some photos and one polite gentleman took one of us together, thank you kind squire.!
ALLLLLLL ABBBOOAARRDDDDD! ok time to get the show on the road or rail in our case, and we were both excited about the ride into the grand canyon. The ride was to take about an hour and a half and the woman that was our "train guide" did a very good job and make it a relaxable and enjoyable ride, pointing out various land features and objects and homes from the turn of the century. And if you saw any animals you were to yell out what it is you see and on what side of the train they were on so everyone could view them as well. Neither one of us had been to the Grand Canyon before and i hadnt been on a train before either, so it was a very cool experience and i am glad that i was able to do it with my beautiful and awesome girlfriend. The ride was at a casual pace, no more than 45 miles an hour. The landscape of the high desert tends to be alil bland, so it was exciting to get up into the pines and there was a good amount of snow on the ground. Robin was in heaven, and the beauty of the area melts my spirit. We were both getting ansy to get off the train and see the beauty of the canyon. I had arranged us a bus tour (with a lunch)that would shuttle us around to certain areas of the park, with area's that we could get out and take photos and just take in the splendor and magnificence of depth, height, and sheer freaking size and color variation that makes up the grand canyon. It was a tad bit cold there and i was amazed at how much snow they had received, it was awesome. As you can tell from the photos that we did enjoy one another and taking photos of one another knowing that robin would eventually want to put them on the blog here. LoL.
The bus ride itself wasnt anything special, couldn't understand what the driver was saying half the time and the seats were small and cramped but getting out and seeing the different areas of the park were cool. At the end of the bus tour we were taken to the cafeteria for our gourmet lunch and ooohhhh boy how gourmet it was!!!
After lunch we set off on our own, we had about an hour and a half before we needed to board the train back into williams. At one point in the bus tour stops we saw a trail that switched back down on side of the mountain sides so robin and i made our way to that area, passing by all the yahoo's and tourist's and foreigners. I was surprised at how much snow was on the trail, though packed and alot of it shoveled to the sides,it was still pretty slippery and the trail of donkey poop didnt make it any easier. Poor robin had to cuff her pants so that poo wouldnt get on them but i mananged to anyways LoL We hiked down a ways as you can tell from the photos and there were a bunch of hikers coming up with crampons on and man it just made we want to do some mountaineering. We hiked down about a third of the way and after the switchbacks it straightened out onto this mesa and half way out on the mesa were some buildings, perhaps small lodges??, i wonder if you can stay in those for the night??? i hope to find out with robin next time.
hold on tight sucka
Well we were getting short on time and Robin was whining about having to hike up, so it was slow going. Heck i should have brought a sled for my princess!! LoL She did fine and we both enjoyed a nice ice cream cone after that intense uphill battle. Proceeded back to the train and soon after departed. NOW, at first the train ride back was just as exciting as the ride in, UNTIL, we could see 3 dudes on horses running along the side of the train. thats right people we were being ROBBED by desperado's(or 3 dudes who parked their truck n trailer about a 1/4 of a mile down the track) but anyways pack to the action. Now we were instructed by our guide to scream as loud as you can we they came into our car and let me tell you i screamed like a fat kid being dragged to fat camp. And yes, robin had my back or my front because i was hiding behind that big noggin of her's.(love ya) I tell ya, old people are suckers for robbers, they'd hand out dollar after dollar to those thugs. I even thought about getting up and gettin sum of dat cash money from the retiree's. It was funny though i did try to pawn robin off to one of them but they wouldnt take her. LoL Eventually they hit up every car on that train and we made it back into williams. Walked down to the country store to pick up our yummy yummmy pie and split dat place!
Heading into flagstaff we started hitting some rain, then hail, then more rain(now heavier) plus more hail than soft snow flurries and on into a crazy small white out. Man i freaked out, i dont know how to drive in snow, i get real scared real fast. And while we were driving through that lovely weather, we saw 3 cars that had flipped over and one truck that spun out. WHY, might you ask, i guarantee it because those idiots were driving way to fast. Arizona has some of the dummiest drivers ive ever been around. Anyways onward and downward into the land i call hell, we made it back rather late and chilled for a bit then off to bed.
Sunday was the usual, sleep in make my famous french toast then off to church. I do enjoy going to church with my woman. She is so dang awesome, she always has spiritual questions that come to her head. I know she loves God, Christ and the Gospel!. After church we wanted to take a short nap before heading out to my gingers house for dinner with the family, well our short nap turned into a 2 hour one with a phone call from my niece cheyenna asking where we were at LOL. oopppssss So we jumped up and raced over for dinner and of course robin was a hit, especially with my nephew payson who is 4 and apparently he has a crush on her. YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGHT ME FOR HER PUNK!!!
Monday....the day she was leaving, so soon?? i couldnt have been more happier hahahaha kidding. We didnt do much other than go to lunch with her friend christy out on buckeye at red robins. Did alil bit of shopping while we were there and afterward's we just went back to the house to chill. Dinner was dined at her favorite place, CAFE RIO!!!! then off to the airport we went. We arrived early so we found a corner and talked more before she had to go through the check point. We made sure that a prayer was said before she boarded, i like that we do that on every trip we take. I sure do miss her when she's leave's and i cant wait for the day that we dont have to wait every 2-3 weeks to see each other.
I love how close robin and i have become over these months. I have alot of learning to do but i am so thankful to God for blessing me with a wonderful, beautiful and precious woman. I cant wait to see where our relationship road takes us.
robin apparently lost her left foot somewhere and they didnt sell peg legs in the gift shop.
"should i stay or should i goooo now"
Oh the excitement of the Pine Wood Derby! After last years disappointing finish (DEAD LAST! Hey it was out first year!!) Caden was determined to build a better faster car! he went with grandpa to a friends workshop and designed the sleek aerodynamic design so it would slice through the air! He wasn't too concerned with the decorations. This mean machine was built for speed! 
Watching all the heats was nerve racking! There were a total of 36 cars entered.. The first two heats he came in FIRST! Then he had a 2nd place finish.
After the heats were over he had made it into the finals! What a difference from last year! In the end he finished 6th! We are so proud!
