Williams, Arizona
What? You've never heard of the famous Williams, Arizona?
Yeah, me neither. But, that is where we ended up for almost a week. This time it wasn't due to system issues with the trailer, more like system issues with Glenn. Some sort of head cold: congestion, sore throat, coughing. Not an ideal condition for hiking on dry, dusty trails.
In the meantime, there were actually a few things to do and see in the area. Williams, Arizona bills itself as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. Of course there are plenty of other routes you can use that don't go through Williams, but they do have a few things going for them. There is a nice road that goes straight north out of Williams to the southern entrance of the park. It is about sixty miles away. They also have a nice train that runs from Williams to the Canyon and back every day. And Williams also happens to be on historical Route 66. Add all those together and you have yourself a tourist haven! We mainly went into town for groceries, laundry, and the occasional movie rental, but it looked like a fun place to visit if you ride a motorcycle or are out exploring with the family.
On Highway 64 going north you will pass the Red Lake Texaco about 8 miles north of I-40. That is where we holed up. Nice, cheap RV sites out back. LOTS of tour buses stop here.
The rest of the road to the park is populated only by the occasional tourist trap, which typically consist of a gas station, Navajos selling jewelry and pottery, and one or two other services thrown in. We got a kick out of Bedrock City in Valle, AZ. It is an RV park, restaurant, gift shop, and some kind of amusement park all themed on, yes, the Flintstones. It looks like it was built in the 60's and then left to rot. But they will still charge you $5 to go in and see the dinosaur slide, the graffiti-filled buildings, the decaying rides and attractions that used to work...
Fortunately I had already read about this place online, so we just pulled up out front, got a few pictures, and saved ourselves $10.
Thursday we packed up, drove into Flagstaff, picked up our new WiFi Hotspot device and drove north through the desolate (yet pretty) landscape that is Arizona to the Kaibab CampeRVillage up on the plateau. Today's agenda includes a 40-mile drive down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to see what we can see. More pics soon!
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