May 22, 2017
Trailer Village RV Park
Grand Canyon, AZ

Today we broke camp, topped off the diesel tank, filled the propane tank, and drove 60 miles north on Hwy 64 to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We arrived at noon and were told that check in is at 3pm....We told them the website said check in was at noon and the lady said yeah we know but check in is really at 3pm. (National Parks, gotta love 'em :>)). They went ahead and found us a spot.

This RV Park is very nice with paved roads and sites, they even have concrete site edging.

Here is a quick shot through the windshield of the Grand Canyon sign.

Our site... J63

Up the street....

Down the street....

All sites have a picnic table and grill....

Plenty of room for vehicles...

And there are Elk everywhere. This shot was a few sites away from us....they are all very tame, unlike Bubbles the Bison in Yellowstone.

The temps are in the upper 70s which is nice. We are at 7190 feet in elevation. There is a Lodge with a café and restaurant, a nice store with a grocery and even a Post Office just a 1/4 mile down the road.

The park doesn't have Wi-Fi and the Cell service is spotty. Using my iPhone it took about an hour and a half just to upload these 8 pictures, so we may not be doing a lot of blog posts while we're here. We will be here for 2 weeks before heading on to Lake Powell......

May 12, 2017
Sedona, AZ

Today we took a short drive east on I-40 to see the towns of Flagstaff and Sedona. Flagstaff is about 35 miles east and Sedona is another 30 or 40 miles south of Flagstaff.

We drove down the main street (Historic Route 66) thru Flagstaff. It is a nice college town with access to skiing and mountains. We really didn't see anything out of the ordinary so we headed south to Sedona.

The trip to Sedona takes you through some beautiful mountain country and you come down a steep road with beautiful scenery and sharp switch backs, down into the Sedona valley. Sedona has amazing red rocks and mountains, high bluffs, and just the most beautiful setting we've seen...

Looking down the main drag in Sedona...

We had a really nice lunch with great views of the valley....

Sedona has many beautiful shops, galleries, and restaurants.... truly a tourist town...

After spending a few hours touring Sedona we headed south on I-17 about 10 miles to see Montezuma's Castle National Monument.

It's an amazing structure built by early native americans....

This trip was a lot of fun and we now consider Sedona the most beautiful town we've seen so far....

May 11, 2017
Grand Canyon National Park

Today we rode the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams over to the Grand Canyon. Before you board the train, they put on an old west show.

 

Good guy wins...bad guys lose...

Then everybody boards the train...

We had a nice first place seat.....some cars had domed windows....

Looking up into the Dome car

They served juice, coffee, rolls, and muffins on the way there and they had pop, lemonade, cheese, crackers, and veggies on the way back. They also served mixed drinks and beer.

They also had live music....

From the Grand Canyon Depot it's a short walk over to the canyon, hotels, Visitor Center,  and restaurants...

Of course the view was amazing.....

After a 3 hour layover, we board the train for the 2 1/2 hour return trip....

Just before reaching Williams, the train is stopped by the resurrected bad guys from this mornings wild west show....

They board the train...

and rob the passengers of their money (tips).....

then everybody has a laugh, the bad guys tell bad jokes and we head in to the Depot...

It was a fantastic trip and a really fun experience......

May 8, 2017
Grand Canyon Railway RV Resort
Williams, AZ

Today we said goodbye to the Kingman dust bowl and headed east on I-40 about 111 miles. We climbed 3,400 feet in elevation and are definitely in the mountains. This location reminds us of the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. We are at 6,750 feet in elevation and the weather is much cooler.  We got to the park around 12:30 pm and got set up on our site just ahead of the rain.

Nice paved roads and sites with lava rock and picnic tables

Right by the railroad tracks........ Isn't the train cool, next week it will be isn't the train quaint, the week after that it will be those @#$%$ trains..... ;>)

Nice pavilion....

Beautiful office and store...

Nice views of the surrounding mountains everywhere you look...

by the train depot they have a daily old west show...

The RV Resort is one part of the complex. They have a Hotel, several restaurants, gift shops and they even provide shuttle service around the complex.... pretty cool place.

This town is all about trains....

Even the main hotel entrance has a train exhibit....

Here is a shot going down the main street in Williams. Very old west, route 66 flavor.

As expected they have many different train ride packages going over to the Grand Canyon. This train is the Polar Express.......

 Here is the Train Depot and Café.....

This is a very cool place and we can't wait to see all the sites and take the train over to the canyon. We'll be here for 2 weeks so there should be plenty of time to see everything.