Grand Canyon Vacation

Not long after my trip to Baltimore, Paula and I packed up the kids, rented an RV and drove out to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. Paula went as a kid, but I had never seen the Grand Canyon first hand.

We left on April 9th and spent that whole day driving. Gas is so expensive these days, I was determined to use every last drop before stopping at the next gas station. Well, we learned pretty quickly that this is not a wise thing to do in the desert as it could be 40 or more miles between available gas stations. There was one stretch of driving that Paula was doing where we honestly did not think we were going to make it. The gauge sat on Empty for an hour, but we never broke down. We were praying like mad and knew that God had carried us through once again!

We stayed at the Railside RV Ranch just outside of Williams and were pleasantly surprised by how great it was. The people there are so very nice and wanted to help us with every detail. The park even has wireless Internet access! I would recommend staying here to anyone, it is a great place.

Our first full day in Williams started off with a brisk walk to the train station to catch the Grand Canyon Railroad. We were having a bit of an issue with the keys of the RV, so I took the kids and headed out while Paula remained to try and get the keys out of the ignition. After much patience and praying, she was finally able to get the keys out and get to the station just minutes before the train left. What a start to the day!

The train trip was a nice leisurely ride through Arizona and up into the mountain areas. It was interesting to see the terrain change. We were glad that we brought jackets because standing at the rim of the canyon is quite nippy. It was so amazing to look out across the canyon and see God's creation. It is quite majestic.

Emily was not feeling well the entire train trip and even threw up on the bus that took us around the rim. I felt so bad for her. She wanted so much to participate and be excited about seeing everything, but she just did not feel that great. I think by the time we headed back on the train, she was doing much better.

The ride back was fun, although it was quite a long day. The kids were excited about getting "robbed" by some bandits and they handed over all of the pocket change that we had. Our "hostess" was pretty great and she told us some stories about life in Williams, Arizona.

The next day was spent exploring Williams and we met up with my grandpa Lou to have lunch. We ended up pulling the RV out that night and heading over to grandpa's place to stay the night. He took us on a tour of my dad's newly purchased property in Arizona. We are all excited to watch as the house is built up over the next few years. It will be a fun vacation spot to visit.

The drive was long on the way home, but we had some great adventures in Arizona! We are looking forward to our next trip together as a family...

Check out pictures of our trip and drop us a line some time.