Bao and I have had some great rides, but last weekend's excursion on the Grand Canyon Railway topped them all.

Even if you've seen the Grand Canyon (and we have) the vintage train trip from Williams to the Grand Canyon is definitely worth doing. We made a whole weekend of it, staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams (famous for being the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the Interstate highway) and enjoying sumptuous, all you can eat breakfast and dinner buffets.

Before you board the train, there's a Wild West show, staged by three very authentic looking and sounding cowboys on a Wild West set that provides a vicarious experience of life in the back blocks of Arizona 100 years ago. (As you can see, Bao and one of the cowboys really hit it off)The show is good fun, and witty. Disneyland for grownups.

They serve pastries and muffins and coffee (and champagne) on the morning train. Coming back in the afternoon, there was a cheese platter, and raw vegetables and dip (and more champagne) Plus a surprise encore when the three cowboys stopped the train in the middle of nowhere and staged a "train robbery".

You get to spend several hours at the Grand Canyon, too. But the real fun was the train.