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Writer's pictureJaela Deming

October 3, 2023: Grand Canyon Railway

DID YOU KNOW? The Grand Canyon is 227 miles long and up to 18 miles wide…that’s

bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island. In fact, fewer people have successfully hiked the

entire length of the Grand Canyon than have stepped foot on the moon. Five of the world’s

seven climates are present in the Canyon.



On October 3, we boarded the Grand Canyon Historic Railway in Williams, Arizona for a two-and-a-half-hour ride to the Grand Canyon. Our train car attendant was a friendly older man with a wealth of information about the ground we covered between Williams and the Canyon. Growing up on a ranch, he had wonderful stories of training horses with his brothers. In addition to the attendant, there were a couple of musicians who moved between cars.







The ride was wonderful with changing scenery and old buildings. The weather was

beautiful, allowing for great views the entire way. Finally, we arrived at the Grand Canyon…



And it was STUNNING! Seeing the Grand Canyon has been on my bucket list for awhile, and it did not disappoint. The sheer size of it, looking from the edge, left me speechless. The colors of the rock layers are gorgeous and blend together to create an awe-inspiring sight.




We spent a few hours at the Grand Canyon, enjoying the sights and exploring the

numerous gift shops (where I picked up a Navajo pan flute that I’ve been having fun messing

around with). We even hiked down into the Canyon a short ways, although not as far as some

of us would have liked. But we had a train to catch!




Fun side note: Y’all have probably noticed the bright yellow shirts the D-Team is sporting

in these pictures. These are the fabulous shirts we picked up at the Ten Commandment Park on

our way out of Glacier National Park. A few of us had already worn them to a Wednesday night church service in Henderson, Nevada, but the Grand Canyon was the first time we all wore them at the same time. Mom was happy that the four big kids wanted the family to wear them on this day, but she was also a little nervous about the attention we would likely garner due to the bright color on a large group. Some of us argued however…”That’s the point Mom, to draw attention to Jesus!” So we did it, and we were definitely noticed! For some, it was just joking comments like “Wow! I can’t see you,” but over 30 people (yes, we kept track) gave us positive feedback and affirmed various statements on the shirts such as “AMEN! It is all about Jesus!” “Love the shirts,” etc.… One gentleman even stopped us and gave us a bundle of ChickTracts to hand out. So wearing thee shirts proved to be a blessing and encouragement to both to us and many people we came across during those few hours at the Grand Canyon.




On the train ride back to Williams, the little boys were excited to hear that on many

days, a small band of cowboys entertain riders by staging an old-fashioned hold-up to rob the

train. Early that morning, before the train left, there was a short western play that ended in a

showdown between the Sheriff and the ‘boys’ and the boys swore they’d be robbing the train

that day. (We unfortunately missed the play…but our train attendant filled us in on it.) The

pistol-packin’ (for real!) Sheriff, who had been wandering the train throughout the day,

conveniently went on a “union-mandated” break at 5:00pm, exactly when the cowboys were

boarding the train. (In fact, those of us in the front car were quite amused by the Sheriff

opening the door for them and helping pull them up into the train when we stopped out in the

middle of nowhere after they rode up on their beautiful horses). If you wanted to be ‘robbed’,

you were instructed ahead of time to take a dollar bill and stick it somewhere the cowboys

would see it. We personally played the “I’m broke” game when we were ‘held up’ by the

cowboy known as Little Sam. It was a fun experience with lots of laughter and definitely put the cherry on top of what had been a wonderful day.


Moments before the 'hold-up'

Waiting as the train approached

Cowbow bandits in action

The moment of entry :0

Little Sam after giving up on us :)


Break's over!

Until next time, God bless!

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Noah Ballard
Noah Ballard
Oct 13, 2023

Ooooh, how fun!!

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Jaela Deming
Jaela Deming
Oct 13, 2023
Replying to

Oh yea, it was an awesome experience!

I forgot to add this in the post, but it was actually several of my siblings first time riding a real train outside of a few short scenic or amusement park trains. So that was also fun for them😄

God bless!

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