Tag Archives: Grand Canyon National Park

Camping, Destination Tips, Destinations, Get Out and Explore!, Hiking, National Parks, Teardrop Travels, Travel Log

Get Yer Kicks in Williams, AZ: Gateway to Grand Canyon’s South Rim

February 13, 2016 Sue J 11 Comments

Need a ROUTE 66 fix? Need a GRAND CANYON fix? Need a CAMPING fix? Need a FOOD fix or a MUSIC fix? Get Yer Kicks in Williams, AZ, just one hour from the GRAND CANYON.

Twice in the past year, we made a stop in Williams, AZ, with our teardrop trailer. We had a great time both times, enough to say that from now on, Williams will remain on our must-do list when heading up from our current home in Phoenix, AZ, to Grand Canyon National Park.

The town of Williams, AZ is a really great place to visit on your way to or from the south entrance of the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed it’s cozy, eclectic, old-town feel . . .

it’s restaurants (Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe) . . .

it’s music (Vincent Z performing at Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe) . . .

it’s plentiful gift shops . . .

and even the shoot-em-up cowboy showdown that erupted in the streets (promptly at scheduled show times throughout the day) . . .

We were even entertained by our friend, Dave, while we waited for our food to arrive at Cruiser’s Restaurant . . .

One more great thing in Williams, AZ, is you can wander over to the Grand Canyon Railway railroad station and treat yourself to a comfortable, scenic ride to the Grand Canyon by train. They have all kinds of events going on, including the popular Christmastime “Polar Express” ride (something I think I’ll make a point of doing sometime!). Check out the Grand Canyon Railway event page for more info.

We were in Williams, AZ, on the polar opposite of Christmastime . . . on July 4th, 2015, when we met up with other teardrop trailer and vintage trailer owners at a camping meetup at Kaibab Lake Campground. Kaibab Lake Campground is part of the Kaibab National Forest, which has a rather large footprint at the foothills of the Grand Canyon and beyond.

This campground is quite large and can accommodate anything from tents to large RVs. If you check out my previous blog post about the 4th of July trip, the photos of cool vintage and teardrop trailers give you a feel for the site layouts and terrain at the campground.

You can fish and kayak on Lake Kaibab, but in July, the lake was significantly lower than usual due to a dry summer. There is a boat ramp and a fishing pier, although the fishing pier at Kaibab Lake Campground led you out to a grassy area instead of to actual water. Remember to bring your bicycles, so if the fishing scene is a bust, you can at least enjoy tooling around plenty of roadway within the campground itself.

Downtown Williams held a great, old-fashioned 4th of July parade when we were there (plenty of pictures on my last blog post), exactly the kind of thing we were into with our vintage-inspired trailer.

In October 2015, we were back in Williams again when our friends from England came for a visit. This time, we camped an hour away in Grand Canyon National Park for a night, at Mather Campground at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Honestly, we didn’t care for the campsite itself (#147) at Mather Campground. We were stuck in a parking pad that was really just a slight bulge in the roadway, a pullover really, with a few large rocks around it. Muddy. Muddy. Muddy.

Grand Canyon Nationa Park, South Rim, Mather Campground

We did, however, score a great view of a family of elk passing through the site across the way from us, and also scored some close-up pictures while hiding behind trees and bushes.

And we even saw this . . .

Again in October, we took in the splendor of Grand Canyon National Park, snapping photos, and looking down upon hiking trails in her belly that we planned to tackle some day.

Overall, Williams, AZ, is a great place to situate yourself for a week while you check out some of what you’ve seen here and plenty more–like Flagstaff, AZ, (40 minutes away by car) or Sedona, AZ, (1 hour, 20 minutes away by car) both easy day trips from Williams.

All you have to do now is get out and enjoy it all!

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Cabin Fever Cure: January 18, Free Entrance Day in National Parks

January 10, 2016 Sue J 2 Comments

Got cabin fever? Beat the winter doldrums with the perfect cure: FREE entrance days in the National Parks!

It begins this year with January 18, 2016, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And we’re ready to take advantage of it. Watch out, Joshua Tree National Park. We’re coming to see you again! (Check out our last trip to Joshua Tree here.)

Joshua Tree National Park Split Rock Loop Trail — Sue hiking on Split Rock Trail

The National Park Service has rolled out the list of fee-free dates for 2016:

January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
April 16 through 24: National Park Week
August 25 through 28: National Park Service Birthday
September 24: National Public Lands Day
November 11: Veterans Day

With 409 National parks to choose from, 127 of them normally charging an entrance fee, this is a great opportunity to cure yourself of the winter blues and simultaneously show all the folks who help preserve these incredible national treasures that you really do care about their efforts. What better way to prove it than to show up on one of the fee-free days and enjoy our National Parks! You’ll be so glad you did!

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Happy trails! Happy New Year!

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Camping, Destinations, Get Out and Explore!, Teardrop Trailer Events

There’s No Such Thing as Too Many Teardrops

November 6, 2015 Sue J 10 Comments

There can never be too many teardrops in a person’s life.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Teardrop trailers, that is.

And there can never be too many teardrop trailer gatherings.

This past July 4th–our first ever spent in our new home state of Arizona–we joined up with a teardrop trailer group known as Arizona Roundup for a holiday weekend camping event. The gathering required participants own either teardrop trailers or vintage trailers dated pre-1980. Let me tell ya’, the cozy, classic, and funky factors of the trailers were way off the charts (and we’ve seen some pretty interesting trailers in the past!).

Teardrop Adventures, vintage trailers, Abraham Lincoln Log Cabin, thematic teardrop trailers

The event took place at the Kaibab Lake Campground near a town called Williams in northern Arizona. The campground is part of Kaibab National Forest and is only about 60 miles away from the southern entrance of Grand Canyon National Park.

Unfortunately, the weekend started with a communication snafu, resulting in the campground setting aside only half of the campsites we needed for the event. But ya’ know what . . . teardrop and vintage trailer folks are a friendly lot, so attendees salvaged the situation by agreeing to the only option available: doubling up at each campsite.

We were one of the last trailers to arrive at the event, so had few choices on where to crash. Bent on staying near the center of the action rather than on the fringes, we were happy to take up the campground office’s compensatory one-time offer to allow trailers to park on the turnaround road in our dedicated loop area. We made camp at one end of the turnaround road . . .

while another teardrop trailer made camp at the other end . . .

Though we technically camped on a paved road, we were happy about our setup. Tons of space around us to spread out. Plenty of room for the dog run. And exceptional real estate for putting up our over-sized American flag . . .

We had some rainy weather to deal with, which served to remind us why we love our teardrop trailer so much more than tent camping. Rain? No problem. Time to curl up inside on the queen-size bed and read a good book or take a little nap.

Knowing the event included a Saturday afternoon picnic, Mark made his Dutch Oven Sweet Potato Curry Chicken recipe to share with 30 or so folks who gathered at one of the covered (thank goodness!) picnic areas. Thanks to everyone else bringing equally great appetizers, entrees, and desserts, we probably ate better than our forefathers did on Independence Day 1776!

After the community food fest, we headed over to downtown Williams, AZ, for a good old-fashioned 4th of July parade down their main street–a vibrant stretch of historic Route 66.

Williams, AZ is a super-fab place to visit on your way to or from the south entrance of the Grand Canyon. It’s chock full of restaurants, music, and gift shops . . . and even the occasional play-acted cowboy, shoot-em-up showdown in the streets.

But especially on this Independence Day weekend, there was no shortage of patriotic spirit in Williams . . .

and no shortage of teardrops, since a half dozen or so of our teardrop trailer-event folks joined in on the parade, too . . .

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On Sunday, Mark and I spent the afternoon at Grand Canyon National Park. The weather was still snotty, but we enjoyed the park just the same. If anything, cloud cover adds interest to the canyon.

When we were exiting Grand Canyon National Park, we were treated with an elk sighting that perfectly wrapped up a great day and an awesome weekend. Check her out . . . isn’t she purty?

Check out the Williams area if you ever get a chance. And if you’re interested in future camping events in the Arizona area open to vintage trailer owners and teardrop trailer owners (both vintage AND new), check out the Arizona Roundup web page .

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