April 13, 2013

Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, AZ

Grand Canyon Day 1

I set the alarm for 7am but woke up a few minutes after 6.  It was chilly.  We had debated over whether we should set up the electric heater before we went to bed.  We finally decided to set it up and I woke up when it kicked on at around 4am.

We drove north on 64 to scout out a boondocking spot in the Kaibab National Forest just outside of the south rim entrance to the Grand Canyon. 

We stopped at the Kaibab Forest Ranger Office but it was closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there were maps available showing where the forest roads were. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found three different sites that we thought would accommodate our rig and entered the locations in the GPS. 

 

 

 

We also stopped at the only private campground in the little town before the entrance to the park to inquire about dumping our tanks when we were ready to move on.  They only charge $6.00 so we will probably take advantage of the camp to dump. 

We continued on to the entrance of the Grand Canyon and presented our America the Beautiful pass (A $25 savings) and drove to the Mather Visitor Center. 

 After stamping my passport, we watched a very informative video.

  Monte and I had visited the Grand Canyon seven years ago but were still in awe when we went to the point and viewed the canyon. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very windy but we found a somewhat sheltered place to eat lunch.

 

We took the shuttle and got off at the Market Plaza.  After browsing in the General Store, we re-boarded a shuttle and stayed on it until it made all its stops and brought us back to where we were parked.  We hadn’t gotten off at any of the stops after the Market Plaza because we plan on spending the entire next week at the canyon and will do further exploring then. 

 

 

After getting a little lost trying to find the exit we ended up at the railroad crossing when the gates closed and a steam engine passed us.

We made one detour on the way home to stop at the Grand Canyon National Airport to watch the helicopters land.

 Back home we stopped at Safeway, the only supermarket in town, and bought a few groceries.  After changing into our bathing suits we drove over to the hotel and took advantage of the pool and hot tub.  No one was there so we had the premises to ourselves for over an hour.

            Our plans to move on to a boondocking spot in the Kaibab National Forest just outside of the Grand Canyon may change because there is storm approached with a threat of snow.