In 2017 our major holiday for the year was to the USA, a rail trip West to East, starting in San Francisco and ending in New York spread over 3 weeks. This simple map shows our itinerary, a quite hectic schedule for people of our age!
Naturally there were highlights and lowlights but overall it was an enjoyable trip, tiring though with some good memories. Here’s the first.
We stayed overnight at Flagstaff and the next morning it was a short coach ride to Williams where we would board a train on the Grand Canyon Railway taking us to the south rim of the Canyon.
It was a hazy day and therefore not brilliant for photos of the Canyon. It was a spectacular sight however despite the photos not doing it justice. On the downside, it was a very long day, 2 hours on the train to get there, 4 hours at the South Rim, then 2 hours return. There’s only so long you can look at a canyon and walk around the numerous gift shops!
Categories: Travel
Travel memories #3.2 Europe, Prague 
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Travel memories #2.3 USA Monument Valley 
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The Two Doctors 
That was one hectic journey, I’d never even consider that amount of travelling in 3 weeks. My last 3 weeks there was spent 2 in New Orleans and one in Chicago! I found that quite enough! Mind you we did do a long Amtrak trip one year, stopping off at all the smaller places like Santa Barbara, San Diego etc. for a couple of nights at a time, but once was enough. That to me, was intensive travelling.
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It was very tiring, and eventually annoying! Who wants 3 nights in Las Vegas and only an overnight stop in Chicago! Of course we knew this before booking but the side travel involved to get to Yosemite, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon etc was extra tiring.
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It’s easy to be drawn into doing more than one should when it comes to travelling far afield. The feeling often is, I may not come this way again, but really, it’s going visiting The National Gallery and trying to see everything except the 4 or 5 pictures you’re really interested in. We did Vegas, Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon with an American in-law and it nearly killed me as all he wanted to do was take a picture and then head for the nearest all-day buffet place. I’d love to go back but having brushed the surface it’s impossible to travel for the sole purpose of seeing the Grand Canyon again. Ah well! the world has plenty more places I’ve yet to visit, all I need is the gift of a few more years!
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Well we certainly did bite off more than we could chew on that trip. I’ve never really thought about it but there was more time spent travelling between places than actually seeing them! I’ve made similar mistakes in art galleries too, but that’s what happens if you visit a gallery not in your home town. I’m not so sure we’ll ever make an overseas trip or a cruise again, but there’s still a few gaps in this country starting with Winchester tomorrow. Not too far from you!
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The grand canyon is quite something. Well worth a visit. Travelling across the US by train must have been fun.
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what a wonderful way to see the U.S. We still have not made it out to the Grand Canyon… it’s on our list…
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Thanks Jim. It was our US trip that made us see how many folks don’t know their own country. It propelled us into a Tour of England which we pursued for several years. It begins again tomorrow 👍
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Great trip! We took a flight from Phoenix and flew over and visited the Grand Canyon – truly amazing.
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