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The Grand Canyon: 11 November 2014
The day after our train ride to the Grand Canyon, we made the drive back up to the canyon to do a bit more exploring. When we arrived at the canyon, we headed east from the main visitor area and stopped at a few overlooks.
The Grand Canyon was still grand.
One more bit of proof that I really was there:
(The “State So Nice” shirt I’m wearing is available here.)
The views at the next overlook were even better.
Our final stop was at the Desert View Watchtower near the east entrance of the park.
That concluded our visit to the Grand Canyon.
If you haven’t yet been to the Grand Canyon…go. It’s worth the trip.
The Grand Canyon: 10 November 2014
In November, I took a trip out west to visit family in Las Vegas. Since the Grand Canyon isn’t that far from Vegas (relatively speaking, since nothing out west is actually close to anything else), it made sense to make a trip there.
Our journey to the Grand Canyon began with the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, AZ. We boarded the train and settled down to enjoy the two-hour ride to the canyon.
The ride provided views of the Arizona landscape…
…but for those who weren’t into desert landscapes, there was a bit of onboard entertainment, too.
As we neared the canyon, the landscape changed.
We arrived at the park on a clear beautiful day.
After a quick lunch, we headed out to see the sights. I decided to wander around on my own.
There are only a few sights that have been so awe-inspiring that they’ve made me abruptly stop and stare when I first saw them. When I got my first real look at the Grand Canyon, I stopped and stared.
There are no photos that can do the Grand Canyon justice. I took photos because I enjoy taking photos, but none of my photos do it justice. There are plenty of gorgeous photos others have taken, but none of them can communicate the majesty and the grandeur (and the size) of the Grand Canyon. It’s something you have to experience for yourself.
The Grand Canyon is beautiful both in color and in black and white.
A friendly fellow tourist offered to take my picture. I try to stay out of pictures taken by my own camera, but come on. IT’S THE GRAND CANYON. It’s worth an exception.
As I walked along the path to the next overlook, I noticed a few foolish brave highly determined people venturing off the path to an unofficial overlook.
The view from there is probably pretty spectacular, but the fall from there would be even more spectacular. I stayed on the official path and watched those people take selfies. (Seriously, that was selfie central.)
The path offered its own marvelous views.
As I walked along the path, I learned that some people look at the astonishing beauty of the Grand Canyon and think, “Do you know what this view needs? MY NAME ON THE NEAREST TREE. Yeah, that’ll make this place better.”
I mean, the Grand Canyon is fine, but it’s Johnny’s and Elsa’s names on a tree that REALLY make the place great. Without that, it would probably just be the Okay Canyon.
That path took me by one of the many shuttle stops. When I boarded the next bus, the train departure time was drawing uncomfortably close, and the shuttles were neither arriving nor moving fast enough to keep me from worrying about missing the train. When the shuttle (FINALLY) pulled up to the stop next to the train, I hurried off the bus and down to the train, where I saw the conductor standing on the tracks behind the back end of the train.
“Are you Burrill?” he called out. When I said yes, he said I could board the train at the end and walk through to my car. It seems my family had let the staff know that I wasn’t there yet, and they were all keeping an eye out for me as the departure time approached. As I walked through the train to my seat (in car B, so I had to walk through most of the train), one staff member exclaimed “He made it!” and had the passengers in her car give me a round of applause.
Once my heart rate settled back to normal, the ride back to Williams was every bit as enjoyable as the ride to the park had been.
The Grand Canyon is remarkable and well worth the trip, and the Grand Canyon Railway is a great way to make the trip to the park itself. It is worth noting that making the round trip on the same day will give you just under four hours at the park, so if you want to take the train but you want more time to explore (there’s a good chance you will), it would be worth either staying the night at the park and returning to Williams the next day or driving to the park the next day to explore more on your own schedule (which is what we did).
Oh, and the GCR didn’t pay me to say nice things about them. I just thoroughly enjoyed my experience, and I think a lot of you would enjoy it too.
And again: the Grand Canyon is stunning. You want to go to there.
The Demolition of the Livery: 16 October 2014
When I arrived at the livery on Thursday, I found…no livery. In fact, I arrived just as the crew was leaving.
This was the livery when they started demolition:
And this was the livery eight days later:
The crew left a few of the old blocks.
Aside from those blocks, the livery was gone.
The loading dock platform is still there, but the ramp was filled in to make the site level.
With the site open and quiet, I took a peek into the Mack.
(The garage doors opening onto Jackson Street are just to the right of the frame.)
Wait, wait, I misspoke earlier. Not all the livery’s blocks had been taken away. A few were left to patch up the Mack’s damaged chimney.
Some of the bricks were left on a nearby windowsill.
The Mack needs plenty of work, but it has plenty of potential.
The Demolition of the Livery: 15 October 2014
The livery demolition had lasted longer than I’d expected. After watching the Wolverine disappear in just a few hours, I thought the livery might be gone in a couple days. When the project extended past the weekend, I stopped wondering every day if THIS might be the day the building would be just a memory.
Then on Wednesday I showed up to find the final wall on the ground and most of the rubble gone.
The cleanup work drew a fascinated spectator.
Chelsea Farmers Supply has always been hidden by the livery. When the livery’s east wall fell, the farmers supply building became a lot more visible.
As the rubble removal progressed, the view north improved.
Come back tomorrow for the final post in the livery demolition series.
The Demolition of the Livery: 13/14 October 2014
I showed up to the livery on Monday to find…a lack of activity. (Apparently I have bad timing.) However, I did notice the Mack’s chimney had sustained some damage.
I came back Tuesday to find…a lack of activity. This time it was because the excavator was having problems.
That didn’t stop Jon and Henry from checking out the scene.
With the back wall mostly down, the church behind the livery got a new view looking north.
It started to rain, so I shot a couple more photos of the rubble and left.
Chelsea Football vs Grosse Ile: 31 October 2014
On a windy cold snowy Halloween, Chelsea football welcomed Grosse Ile to town for the first round of the playoffs.
What’s that? You don’t believe me? Come on, I wouldn’t lie about snow.
I wasn’t kidding about the wind, either. It was strong enough to run through the banner before the team could get to it.
The team didn’t seem to mind.
The game was streamed live on the Fox Sports Detroit website, so there was a tv cameraman roaming the Chelsea sidelines.
The coaches were bundled up for the cold.
The calendar said it was October, but there’s a chance we all made a HUGE mistake and it was actually December. This was the scene just before kickoff:
The wind didn’t end its shenanigans at running through the banner before the team did. It also blew over all the pylons.
(On at least one occasion it blew the football a few yards down the field after the referee spotted it, too, but I didn’t get a photo of that.)
Sky Lantern Ceremony: 24 October 2014
After Friday’s football game, Chelsea students launched sky lanterns in memory of loved ones lost to cancer.
Chelsea Football vs Haslett: 24 October 2014
Chelsea football welcomed Haslett to town to wrap up the regular season.
Chelsea’s week 8 win over Dexter had guaranteed them a playoff berth, but week 9 was important: a win would give Chelsea a good chance at a home playoff game.
(It was also senior night, so the seniors were recognized before the game. I’ll post all those photos in a separate post another day.)
The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie, but in the second quarter the Bulldogs got on the board when Bailey Edwards got behind the defense for a long touchdown.
Later in the second quarter, Edwards caught a short pass, made a move, and…well, you can probably guess the rest.
At the end of the first half, Chelsea led Haslett 14-0.
The band celebrated senior night, too.
One senior band member was wearing a hat that should look familiar if you read this blog over the summer:
That’s the hat worn by the Monitors and the Merries, our wonderful local vintage base ball clubs. Why did she have a vintage base ball hat? Well…
…she’s related to a Monitor. Huzzah!
Haslett tried to put together a fourth-quarter comeback, but the Chelsea defense thwarted those plans.
With the win, the Bulldogs finished the regular season at 7-2 and started looking forward to the playoffs.
After the postgame huddle, Chelsea waited for the Haslett players to leave the field. A win would have made Haslett 5-4 and would have given them a chance at the playoffs, but the loss brought an end to the high school football careers of the senior Vikings. As the last few Vikings slowly began to make their way off the field with tears in their eyes, one of the Bulldogs spotted one of his erstwhile opponents and did what he could to encourage his fellow athlete.
At the beginning of the post, I said a win would give Chelsea a good chance at a home playoff game. Guess what? Chelsea got a home playoff game! The Bulldogs will be hosting Grosse Ile on Friday at 7pm. See you there!
The Demolition of the Livery: 10 October 2014
On Friday the crew worked on bringing down the rest of the back wall. (They cleaned up some of the rubble and had it trucked away, too, but I didn’t take any pictures of that.)
Sometimes the excavator looked a bit precarious on its perch atop the rubble, but the operator kept it upright.
When the walls were down, they started moving debris around to prepare for its removal.
I wasn’t the only one watching the demolition. This spectator didn’t seem to appreciate the noise.
Not much of the building was left standing after Friday’s work.
