Thursday, July 19, 2007

Train Ride to the Grand Canyon/Fatalities


Yesterday, we surprised the kids with a train ride on the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon, They knew we were going to the GC, just not how. They were so excited. The train ride was awesome, complete with entertainment and train robbers.
It was very scenic and allowed us about 4 hours in the park to check it out. Below are some pics from the park time. Today, we are going back a little later to finish seeing the sights and end the day with a sunset over the GC. One of the most interesting things I saw is that the rim trail runs right along the rim (hence the name) with NO GUARD RAILS. You can walk right out to the edge. In a society that is fixated on liability, this was very weird. I saw people who were not used to having this kind of freedom, making questionable decisions about how close to the rim to get. I can't imagine somebody lacking in their judgment to that level.
It seems that their tendency to rely on rules to keep you safe found them without judgment when rules were removed. As we were walking, I thought that it must not be much of an issue or they would put up rails. When we returned to the gift shop, Melissa found a book about fatal accidents at the canyon – that was about the size of a phone book. Maybe my original observations were right.
THis picture has an interesting significance. When I was 12 years old (26 years ago) my family took a similar picture in a tree at the Grand Canyon - the traditions continues.

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