This past Sunday I caught the train in La Plata, Missouri, and headed southwest to Flagstaff, Arizona. My brother was with me but I'm still going to call it DaveTour 2010.

We plan to spend a few days in the Grand Canyon area -- where I am now -- then head to Los Angeles to see our niece. We'll then leave LA and fly to Kalispell, Montana, and spend the week in Whitefish, just outside of Glacier National Park. After that we'll catch the train to Chicago, spend a day there, then take the train back to La Plata.

Taking Amtrak is remarkable for me. I've never taken an overnight train ride in the U.S., though I've thought about it from time to time and my brother has done it 10 times or so. The Southwest Chief runs between Chicago and Los Angeles and stops daily each way at La Plata, Missouri, just south of Kirksville.

It's not really a very big station:

But I suspect most off you guessed that. It was an enjoyable experience and I think I understand some of the reasons my brother enjoys taking the train rather than the car.

We got to Flagstaff, Arizona, on Monday evening after 27 hours on the train. On Tuesday we drove over to Meteor Crater

and then headed to Winslow to stand on a corner and stuff.

We shifted our motel room to Williams which is closer to Grand Canyon National Park. I'm sure all of you will be surprised we were able to find a local brew pub almost immediately.

Wednesday and Thursday (today) we hiked around the Rim Trail at various places at the canyon.