Half day off ---- Tusayan town trip .

I went to tusayan town by free shuttle bus yesterday hoping to try the air tour. As Xanterra's employee , we are entitled for a 40 minutes air-plane tour around grand canyon for 16 dollar--- on seats avaibility basis. The bad thing is , we are only allow to reserve the seats 15 minutes before the flight ... I went there at 9 oclock , 12 oclock , 2 oclock but i couldn't get a seat. I think i might just pay the full price and try out the 99 dollar helicopter 25 minutes' trip someday .. hmm

That aside , i explore around the small tusayan town while waiting to check the air tour availability. I went to the IMAX theathe for a 40 minutes super big screen "Grand canyon and the secrets within" show . The IMAX is in National geography's complex in tusayan. Normal people would have to pay 12 dollar for the movie but i do get it for free because of my employee status. It was a nice show that truely captures the beauty of grandcanyon. I think the same movie is screening in IMAX singapore and IMAX malaysia too. YOu should try it if you got the chance.

I went to the local famous " We Cook Pizza and Pasta" restaurant to try out their famous pizza and their " World famous hot wings" . It is a nice little restaurant with heavy wild west feel . I get 20% discount and all soda free ( and free refill ) for being an employee .. again ~ .

The famous hot wings. It cost 6.99 before tax . It is considered super hot(spicy) to americans ... but for asians .. hmm hmm .. it is just not hot enough. It is super delicous tho. We ordered one more plate after this and we did ask the cook to do extra hot for us.

The famous pizza. half of it is "we cook" special toppings , and the other half was" shrimp with garlic" . This medium pizza cost 22 dollars. Well .. it is worth the prize because of its taste and its size .

the buliding in the tiny tusayan town.

the other side of the town. there's a steakhouse in front of us .. but one entree is like .. 28 dollars . We can't afford that yet.

I also went to a small gift shop in tusayan. They used to call giftshop trading post in the past. There are some interesting local indians ( yin di an ren ) 's handicrafts and other unique grand canyon souviniers.

A small vase made by the indians.

His name is "joe" . He's a Navajo ( the clan's name ).

a horse made by indians . there are detailed carvings on the horse. 199 dollar

Since i have no fate in trying air plane tour , I went for a train tour instead. I tried the "Coconino train " tour that has just launched for the 2nd day. It was supposed to be 35 dollar for guest but i paid 18 dollar including tax for being an employee ~. The tour is basically a 1.5 hours round trip tour , that brings us into coconino canyon thru a big pine forest. The train is more than 100 yaers old and they tried their best to preserve the hhistorical feeling of the train . The railway was built hundres years ago for mining purposes in grand canyon. It is just a pity that the train was powered by diesel that day .. if i were to join the tour one day later , it would be powered by steam enjine , just like the old time.

the train .

this train station was built together with the railway .. it is one of the historical buildings that can be found in grand canyon.

THe white colour one is the head of the train. It is detachable ... that's runned by diesel .

this is the cabin ... there is a bar selling drinks like sodas , wines and beers.

the views from the train. In grand canyon , it is normal to see sunset on one direction and moon rise in the other direction.

For this picture , we were getting scold by the train coordinator ... coz no body parts are supposed to be outside of the window .. hehe. ANyway , to satisfy us , the coordinator did bring us to the back of the train and open the door for us and let us take photo on the small platform behind the train . It was very cool to see the scenary from there.

Overall the train trip was great. The experience of taking train .. the scenery ( although we didn't see the wild mountain lion that the captain promised ) , the fun time we spend on the train .. it is all worth it .

Oh well , that's all for tonight. I gotta sleep .... tomorrow 5.45 am have to wake up and work... nowadays my boss is giving me lots and lots of pressure ........ damn he's such an obnoxious boss. See ya later !!

p/s : the most challenging 20-30 miles ( greater than 40 km ) North rim to south rim hikes is in planning now !

p/s 2 : 3 days 2 nights las vegas tour is also in planning now !!