May 10, 2018

So as planned, we drove the jeep up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. What a great day. We started off with a visit to the National Park Visitors Center. This was one of those times we did not get much guidance on where to start.

The last time we visited the Grand Canyon was in 2014 when we went to the north rim. Prior to that was in the mid 70's for both Chris and I.

We decided to hike the rim trail for a few hours and take some photos. Nice hike and spectacular views.

After the hike we drove AZ64 to the Desert View Watch Tower. We stopped at all of the pull outs to get some more pictures.

Tomorrow we take the train back up.

Lunch Time View

May 9, 2018

So we made it to Railway RV Park in Williams, AZ yesterday on the 8th. It is really nice to have a week or so to stay put. Our plan here is to do a bit of hiking, visit the Grand Canyon, take the train up to the Canyon, go out to Meteor Crater, and just chill a bit.

Our first day we toured the old Route 66 in Williams which was one of the last towns bypassed by when I40 was constructed. What a cute town. I love the diners and cafes.

Our first morning, we went up and hiked the Keynote Sink. During rainy season it is supposed to be a nice waterfall and pond. As we are here in dry season, it was definitely dry.

However, the good news is you can hike up to some petroglyphs because the pond was dry.

After the hike, we walked the town and ate lunch at the Cruisers 66 Cafe. It was awesome as they had live music and good food.

After that, we went to pick up our train tickets for Thursday morning. However, they messed up the reservation and only had two tickets for our observation car. We had to cancel that and reschedule for Friday morning. Not a big deal. We will drive the jeep up tomorrow and leave Mallory with the Pet Resort here at the campground.

We plan on leaving here on the 15th or 16th and start our trek north.

 Start of our hike up to Keynote Sink

 Keynote Sink with no water

 Just a tiny bit of water at the bottom

 Petroglyphs

 More Petroglyphs

 Some more Petroglyphs

 I hiked to the top to take this picture of Chris and Mallory

 Heather as usual following me up to the top.

 Route 66 Williams, AZ

 Our new favorite cafe

We noticed along this trip how all of the old gas stations closed along the old route. Some people decided to turn some of them into museums

 On the railway.

 Don't worry she really didn't get run over by this train

 This pic is out of order. It was at the campground in Amarillo, TX

I guess she shouldn't have been trespassing on the railway.

May 6, 2018

So we had an easy run to Amarillo, Texas. Thank goodness. We were scheduled to stay at the Overnite RV Park, but looked at the directions and felt it was not far enough and too difficult to get to. So we found the Oasis RV resort just past Amarillo which also had a Limo that would take us back  to The Famous Big Texan Steak Ranch. What an awesome stop.

We scheduled the limo and had a great time going back to Amarillo and The Big Texan Steak Ranch.

 Our Limo Driver with the Long Horns

 I convince him to stop at Cadillac Ranch for a picture

 Arrival at Big Texan Steak Ranch

 72 ounces in one hour and it is free.

 The timers if you are man enough

 Here is mine. Not quite 72 ounces and I could not finish it.

May 3, 2018

Just a quick update. Day two and I am pretty exhausted already.  We have done almost 900 miles in two days to catch up the two day delay for Heather’s birthday. I should be nominated father of the year.

 We are still going to run 4 more solid days until we get to the Grand Canyon but they will be shorter days.

Once we get to the Grand Canyon, we will be caught up. I really hate making reservations, but sometimes it is necessary.

Last night we stayed at Twin Oaks near Perry, Georgia. Tonight we are at Barnes Crossing Tupelo, Mississippi. Both are nice campgrounds.