2022 Trip

 2022 Trip

October 2-7, 2022

It's been a while since I've posted anything so I have a lot to catch up on.

October 2, 2022

We had tickets to the balloon fiesta for October 2nd in the afternoon so we were able to watch the Buffalo Bills game on our TV in the camper in the morning (11am start in NM).  Unfortunately Tom was not able to watch much of the game because he was working on the back wall of the camper.  He finished in time to head out to the Cottonwood Mall where we would catch the 3 pm shuttle to the Balloon Fiesta.

Photo op with a NM state police officer who's best friend is a Bills fan. The Bills came back from losing 20 to 3 to win the game 23 to 3.  Go Bills!!

It was a lot less crowded when we got there than it had been the day before so we were able to walk the vendor area and visit the shops.  We thought that Harry from Paradise Oaks needed this tiki bar for Mardi Gras this year (made during the chainsaw carving event).

Sky diving at the fiesta. 

With the lighter crowd we were able to find a table to sit at.  The evening glow was canceled because of the stormy weather.  We left early in order to avoid the storms. It was another great day.

October 3, 2022

Today was a travel day through NM into Arizona. We lost an hour coming into Arizona so now we are 3 hours behind our family back east. We arrived at the OK RV Park in Holbrook, AZ in the afternoon.  The weather was a bit stormy and cold so we had an early happy hour and called it a night.

October 4, 2022

We went to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert.  It was a 28 mile ride through the park. 

 We had our picnic lunch at the Painted Desert Inn along the way.

Everywhere we looked all we could say was "Wow!"  Pictures just don't capture it.

 The Painted Dessert.  Just beautiful!

Seeing the petrified wood and the 2000 year old petroglyphs was amazing.

The sunset was amazing after a day of touring.

October 5, 2022

We pulled out of the OK RV Park at around 10 am and headed west toward Williams, AZ.  We knew we would go past Winslow, AZ so we couldn't pass up the opportunity see the town that was mentioned in the Eagles first hit.

The Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center parking lot could accommodate both Lou and Mary's and our RVs

Inside the Visitor Center was this beautiful quilt.

Sights along the beautiful walking path to the corner of 2nd street and N. Kinsley Ave.

The sights we saw while we were  "standing on a corner of Winslow, Arizona..

And such a fine sight to see..

It's a girl, my lord in a flatbed Ford

Slowin' down to take a look at me

.....Take it easy, take it easy

Come on baby, don't say maybe

I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me...

We may lose. and we may win

Though we will never be here again.....

So much fun!!!

Continuing down 2nd street we came up the following sights...

World's smallest church.

La Posada Inn (the resting place), built in 1929.  This resort hotel was designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter and financed by Fred Harvey who developed and ran all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway.

Before continuing on to the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in Williams, AZ, we stopped for lunch at the RelicRoad Brewing Co where we could people watch others standing on the famous corner.  We all tried the snake eggs.....anything's good wrapped in bacon....right?

We arrived at the RV park around 4:30, got set up and went grocery shopping.   We then had a quiet evening in the camper.  

Next post will be the Grand Canyon.

October 6, 2022

We were up and out early on Thursday to walk down to the Railway Station.  We didn't have a long walk as it was across from the lot where we were camping.  The Wild West show started at 9 am and we boarded the train that would take us to the Grand Canyon at 9:30.

The trip up to the Canyon and back took about 2.5 hours and we had about 3 hours to spend at the South Rim.

During the trip up and back we were entertained with some music and some cowboys train robbers who stopped the train and boarded.  The kids on board were very excited when the "robbers" came on board.  It was hilarious when they told their parents to hide their wallets.

I thought I could do the trail but chickened out.  Great view of everyone below.

We decided to try the Bright Angel Trail as it was one of the shorter ones.  I started down with our group but didn't get far when I decided it was not for me.  The others went as far as the little tunnel before turning back.  While they were near the tunnel a group of people on mules passed them on their way back from their overnight trip into the Canyon. Tom wants to do the mule trip one day..... $1300 per person!!!  We won't need to double that for me.

Beautiful views of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon....... but pictures don't capture it's awesomeness.

We arrived back at the train station at dinner time and since no one felt like cooking, we decided to have dinner at the Grand Canyon Brewery and Distillery restaurant.  This also was within walking distance from the station to our campers.  The food and beverages were both good and it was a fun place to go. It was a great day and no one had any trouble sleeping that night even with the trains passing in the night.  Seems like everywhere we camp we get to listen to the train lullabies.

October 7, 2022

We had originally thought about going to Sedona but decided it might be better to stroll through Williams and check out what they have to offer.

Good plan because no one had to drive and Main Street was the old Route 66.  There were so many souvenir shops.  The Western Outfitters shop had some beautiful leather goods and we spent a lot of time in there.  Tom bought his first Stetson hat.  I'm sure there will be pictures of him sporting his new hat in future posts.  🤠💖

We continued down Main Street, stopping in the shops, all the while the skies kept getting darker and darker.  We decided it might be a good idea to seek shelter and there just happened to be the Grand Canyon Winery across the street so we stopped in for some wine and craft beer.  Good choice as it wasn't long after arriving there that the skies opened up to a thunderstorm.  The wine was pretty good and the bartender mentioned that the wine came from Wilcox, AZ which is outside of Tucson where we are heading Saturday.  Since we would be traveling the next day we went back to the camper for dinner and a quiet evening.