These images were captured using our Canon PowerShot S30 digital camera set at M2 (1024x768) resolution and typically using the Auto or Landscape setting. These were downloaded to a PC where I used CorelDRAW PhotoPaint 8 to resample the images from 28.4 x 21.3 inches to 10 x 7 inches to creat the images that you see when you click for larger view. The images were resampled again at 4 x 3 inches to create the thumbnail images you see here. The whole collection of both thumbnails and large images chewed up about 10 megabytes of total disk space.
We flew to Albuquerque, then hopped in a rented car and drove to Santa Fe. We had several hours to spend before we met the train folks at Santa Fe, so we took the scenic route by heading North off of Interstate 25 to take Hwy 550 to Hwy 4 and then East to Los Alamos to Hwy 84 into Santa Fe. We wanted to stop at Los Alamos, but we did not have time.
Soda Dam is a small rock formation (it looked like lava to me, but I'm no geologist), and we just stopped to get out and walk around.
A collection of ancient Indian cliff dwellings have been preserved here, and oddly enough, the Bandolier National Monument is named after the Swiss explorer who discovered them instead of the Pueblo Indians who built them.
We stayed at the Eldorado Hotel ("Eldorado" is Spanish for "very expensive") Saturday and Sunday night before we boarded the train. Every town has it's icon - Chicago had its cows - and Santa Fe has horses. These were decorated by local artists and some of them were beautiful.
Saturday evening was a banquet for everyone who was riding the train. There were 96 passengers, plus the three guides who accompanied us on all the side tours.
On Sunday, we had the option of driving out to Bandolier National Monument (which we saw on the way in), or of taking a walking tour of Santa Fe. The tour was great and the tour guide was a local historian with a good sense of humor.
The train itself is quite a spectacle. The cabins were quite small, but we spent very little time in our cabins except to sleep. My favorite places were the Vista Dome Car and the Bar Car.
Seeing the Grand Canyon is very overwhelming. The scale is very difficult to appreciate. I felt like an idiot taking pictures because it was almost sacreligious to render this beauty into a 2-dimensional photo. But that did not stop me from trying. I'm so glad I did, because it really helps me to remember the details of the moment as I stood looking out across this vast ditch.
The weather had turned cold and was even snowing when we arrived at Bryce Canyon, but the distinctive reddish color was still prominent.
Of all the parks, this was our favorite. I think it was because we were not on top looking down, but right there in the canyon looking up. Anyway, some of these photos will attest to the fact that it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
