Our Big Vacation Part 1

Since we had a family wedding reception to go to this month, we took advantage of the opportunity to take a two-week vacation. As Tevye started planning the trip, we realized that we could fit a lot of stuff into this trip, figuring that we won't be having another vacation for a very long time. We had a great time and were able to visit or drive through seven states.

Our first stop was Williams, Arizona to ride the Grand Canyon Railway 65 miles north to the Grand Canyon. It was cold, and it actually snowed on us while at the canyon! Luckily, we were a little bit prepared for the cold weather since we new our travels would be taking us up to Wyoming where it is still cold this time of year. We had a great time in Williams that included a comfortable hotel, a great buffet dinner (breakfast not so great), a funny Wild West show, and an entertaining train ride.

Our time at the Grand Canyon was limited to about 3 1/2 hours, but really, once you look at it for about ten minutes you have a really good idea about what it will look like in another ten minutes. We ate lunch at a restaurant there and looked around in the gift shop. That's when it started to snow large flakes. The weather wasn't cold enough for any of it to stick to the ground, so the boys walked around trying to catch enough in their mittened hands to make a snowball.

On the train ride back to Williams, Tevye decided he wanted to take the boys to the cafe car for a little treat. When Vance asked him where he was taking them, Tev replied that they were going to jump off the train. I didn't expect Vance to believe that his dad would have him jump off the train, nevertheless, the fear washed over Vance's face, and he refused to go. After a couple of minutes, Tevye managed to get the boys to come with him. A while later, back they came, happily carrying their icecream treats. "Mom," Vance excitedly proclaimed, "we got icecream and didn't even have to jump off the train! What do you know?!"

About halfway back to Williams, the "train robbers" borded the train. Caden was sitting by me when it happened. Even though he was trying to act brave, I knew he was scared because his body was pressing so tightly against my arm. "Don't worry," I assured him, "it's just pretend." Immediately, I felt his body relax, and he said, "I know."