Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 20, 2020

Temperature 84 Degrees

Route 66 in Williams Today

Just a few more days and we’ll be back on the road again.  Honestly, we’ve got mixed emotions.  Oh, not because we’re overly attached to this park instead it’s because we’re going from relatively comfortable days and nights back to day time temperatures in the 100’s.  Ouch.

Time to get a glimpse of Route 66 in The Town of Williams today.

This is the first thing you notice no matter what end of town you enter from.

The arches are constructed utilizing four 100-year old Santa Fe Railway cantilever signal structures that BNSF donated to the museum.  These structures held signal lights that regulated train movements in Arizona and New Mexico.

This is Route 66 in Williams today.  It has more of a modern feel to it than other towns we’ve been to on Route 66.  Indeed, Williams is alive and well today and thrives year round on tourism.

A re-purposed gas station.  Today it is a pizza shop.

There are a few – but not many – wall murals along the way.

Amen.

Carved wooden statues outside the general store.

I hope the drinks are not to go!

Metal art outside a store being rebuilt.

How about that, an old box car being used today as a foot bridge.

That is about it.  Not much to see.  Truthfully, the draw here in Williams is not Route 66 but rather the train ride to the Grand Canyon.  Day after day we’ve watched rigs roll into the park late in the afternoon, their occupants are off to the train the next day, and then the third day they are gone again.  Which is exactly what we will be doing next year when we return.

Today we worked again on our route for 2021.  Unfortunately, I’ve waited way too long to book state and private parks and now we’re having a hard time finding places to stay.  We’ll keep working on it.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  The last few days we’ve been getting a preview of the hot days to come.  The temperature is slowing creeping up close to the 90’s each day.  Moreover, it no longer drops as much at night.  We’ve been through it before so it is no big deal.

Thanks for joining us again today. We always appreciate having you with us and we especially enjoy your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 19, 2020

Temperature 78 Degrees

Route 66 in Williams

Ah, what another beautiful day to awake to this morning.  God has surely been good to us these past months and especially these past few days.  The nights in terms of temperature have been perfect for sleeping.  The days, likewise, have been picture perfect.  We’re not looking forward to going back to triple digit temperatures once we leave here.  But, onward we shall go.

Since our stay in Kingman we’ve become Route 66 junkies.  Once we discovered that The Town of Williams was part of the historic route we knew we had to come here to investigate.

Route 66 was commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration on November 11, 1926.

It stretched 2, 451 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica and passed through seven states and numerous town including The Town of Williams.

Two things we’ve noticed wherever we’ve traveled on Route 66 and that was that there were no lack of either gas stations or motels.

The last link of Interstate 40 opened at Williams on October 13, 1984.  For all practical purposed this was – or should have been – the demise of Route 66.

Yet, as we all know one man saved the road for all of us today to enjoy.  That one man was Angel Delgadillo who today is fondly referred to as The Father of the Mother Road, The Guardian Angel of Route 66 and Mayor of the Mother Road.

He rallied local residents to petition the State of Arizona to designate Route 66 as a Historic Highway.  It didn’t happen over night but finally in 1987, Angel’s home town of Seligman became known as the Birthplace of Historic Route 66 and the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona was formed, inspiring other Route 66 towns to follow the example of Seligman.  A full-throttle Route 66 revival was born.

Time to spend some time cruising Route 66 in Williams.

We started our journey at the Museum and Gift Shop.

Oh, if I could only find diesel today for 13 cents per gallon!

It runs and is used in various parades today in Williams.

This, though, is how it once looked.  It took over four years of intense labor and untold dollars to restore it to its current condition.  Amazing.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it the Museum and Gift Shop was more Gift Shop than anything else.

There were so many beautiful and exquisite items on display in this alcove.

Items such as this would never make it in a motorhome.  The first bump in the road and that would be it.  Unless, you took the time before each road trip to patiently wrap such items in bubble wrap or something similar.  Oh, but they are so beautiful.

The craftsmanship is fantastic.

Time to call it a night.  Tomorrow we’ll take a trip down Route 66 in Williams and get a glimpse at what it looks like today.

Another day has come to a close on The Road of Retirement.  We had a lazy day just sitting around and relaxing.  But we kept busy.  We spent the day working together on putting our route for 2021 together.  Can you believe some state parks and RV parks are already filled or just about filled to capacity.  Perhaps it really is true, the whole world is going RV’ing.  Lucky us!  One more thing.  I believe I finally figured out why the driver’s side lights on the car would not work when hooked to Elvira.  Today I took the back light off the car and wonder of wonders I found a wire that had worked loose and become disconnected.  Could it be as simple as connecting it again?  I’ll know when we hook up the next time.  Stay tuned and I’ll let you know.

In closing.

Thanks for joining us again today. We always appreciate having you with us and we especially enjoy your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 18, 2020

Temperature 77 degrees

The Grand Canyon

This morning was a real eye opener – 43 degrees when I got up at 6 am.  Great sleeping weather that’s for sure.  Yet sleeping past 6 am – at least for me – was not to be.  We had a few trains come through with engineers really leaning on the horn.  Funny, though, Barbara said later when she finally got up that she never heard a thing.  Interesting.

In yesterday’s blog I alluded to the fact that we had hoped to ride the Grand Canyon Train to the Grand Canyon this year.  Then we were going to take a bus tour.  Well, that was not to be because of Covid 19.  The bus tour was cancelled.  And about the train, neither of us wanted to be packed into a train with total strangers who were not required to wear masks.

Time for a different plan.  Let’s drive to the Grand Canyon!  That’s one of the reasons we came here to Williams.  It is only a one hour ride from our new home.  We were also told that there were a number of pull offs and overlooks on Desert View Drive which runs for 23 miles along the South Rim.

We had our plan and it was time to go.  Come on, we’re going on a road trip.

The ride was just about an hour.

The sign that told us we had arrived.

We were now at the entrance gate to the Grand Canyon and expected to pay the one day fee of $35 dollars.  Surprise, surprise when it was our turn to pay we were asked Are both of you over the age of 62?  We replied yes and were then told Well, today you get in for free.  We sure weren’t about to argue!

We next went past this magnificent sculpture.

Past the Visitor Center.  By now I’m beginning to wonder So where is the Grand Canyon?

All I saw so far were a bunch of stores

and a road lined with so many trees I was beginning to wonder if I was back in Maine at Schoodic Point.

Then, just like that we were at the first pull out and oh my goodness there it was.

 

The view absolutely took my breath away.  I had been told that neither words nor pictures could ever do it justice.  I was told You have to see it for yourself.  How very true.  It is absolutely amazing and mesmerizing.  It is so grand and so awesome.  My first view of the Grand Canyon was one I will always definitely remember.

So, for those who have been there and for those who have not been there as inadequate as they may be let me present some pictures that will, hopefully,  either bring back fond memories or inspire you to see it for yourself.

 

This is called Duck Rock  Come on now, use your imagination.  The duck’s bill slants to the right.

My sweetheart has such a beautiful smile.

Me, on the other hand, well not as great.  Yet, in the years to come we’ll be able to look back and say We were there.

Enjoy.  The views.  The colors.  The various rock layers.  The overall landscape.  Look and marvel at how these massive rocks have been sculptured and shaped by water and wind over millions of years.

Up here at the rim grow huge Douglas-fir trees.  As you move down toward the canyon floor you’ll find cottonwood trees.

Our first glimpse, there in the background, of the mighty Colorado River.   The river is the reason for the Canyon.  More about this later.

Near here in the late summer of 1540 soldiers from a Spanish expedition became the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon.  They spent three days trying to reach the bottom of the canyon with no success.   It sure is a long, long way down!

I ask you, Doesn’t that look like a hotel or home or something like that out there?  I wonder, how in the world was it ever formed without human intervention.  Amazing.

This is the beautiful blue sky that blessed us overhead today.

 

The Colorado River.  The river is the sculptor of the canyon.  During the course of five million years it cut through more than 4,000 feet of rock to form what we know as the Grand Canyon.  Geologists tell us it will go no deeper for it is now at the very foundation of our continent.  Wind and rain did their part as well in shaping the walls of the canyon.

This was the end of our journey today.  The road to the East Rim was closed since it passed through the Navajo Nation which is on lock down because of Covid-19.  We would have to turn around and retrace our route.

This was as close to the Desert View Watchtower that we could get.  Maybe next year when we come back everything will once again be opened up.

Once finished here we turned around like everyone else and retraced our route back to where we had all started.

That was our day today on The Road of Retirement.  OK, we never did get our train ride but we got something far better.  The opportunity to together see the Grand Canyon up close and personal.  Though there were others enjoying the canyon with us today the numbers were moderate.  No large crowds.  Hardly any traffic.  We could not have asked for a better day.  Along the way we met and talked briefly with travelers from Kentucky, Alabama, and Oklahoma.  Each here for the first time like us and equally awed by what they saw.

In closing we hope you enjoyed the pictures.  For those who have been here before we hope they brought back fond memories.  For those who have never been here we hope the Grand Canyon is now on your bucket list.  We are definitely looking forward to returning again next year for another visit.

Thanks for joining us today. We always appreciate having you with us and we especially enjoy your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 17, 2020

Temperature 71

What A Difference 3,400 feet Makes

Historic Williams, Arizona

We Have Our Train

We’ve gone from temperatures during the day around 95 degrees and night time temperatures of 75 degrees to a refreshing daily temperature in the low to mid 70’s and night time temperatures in the mid 40’s.  That’s the difference that 3,400 hundred feet higher up makes.  The winds, though, wow are they strong.  We have the jacks down and still at times Elvira rocks when hit with a strong gust.  All in all it suits us just fine.

Time to go exploring.

We wanted to learn more about our new home’s history so we made a stop at the Visitor Information Center.

 

Even before we learned a thing about Williams itself we learned that the Visitor Center was once a passenger train depot.  In 1902 a new brick freight warehouse was built next to it.

In 1914 the two buildings were joined together then abandoned in the early 1970’s.  The City of Williams bought the two structures and in 1994 restored the buildings into a Visitor’s Center.

Traces of the buildings past are everywhere you look.  There is the original freight scale and the old wooden loading dock doors.  If you look closely you’ll also find notes on the walls regarding various transactions.

We move on now to the history of the town of Williams itself.

We leaned that the City of Williams is located in the heart of the Kaibab National Forest.

Founded in 1881, Williams was named for the famous trapper, scout and mountain man Old Bill Williams.

This is his statue which stands in Memorial Park on the west side of town.

The picture above this one is of Bill Williams Mountain.

Today the City of Williams is also known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon.  In 1901 service started from the Town of Williams to the Grand Canyon.  However, by 1968 automobiles made the service unprofitable.  From 1968 to 1984 the line was used for the storage of railroad cars.  In 1989 under new ownership the line began regular service again and the rest, as they say, is history.

This is one of the Grand Canyon trains.  We had a trip scheduled this year on the train but decided that now was not the time to be packed into a train car with a bunch of strangers.  Especially, a train packed with people who for the most part seemingly don’t believe there is a virus running loose in our country.  How do I know?  I watched them board and no one wears a mask.  The train staff asks you to wear one, but leaves it to you to decide if you will.  Maybe next year we’ll come back and make the trip.

Speaking of trains, the tracks for the freight train are about 100 feet from our bedroom window.  The crossing is there as well.  You know what they blow when coming to a crossing?  Yup, the horn.  Now, some engineers are polite and give just a little toot; but, others really want you to know they’re coming – if you know what I mean.  They lean into that horn as if their very life depended upon it.  It’s OK, though, since we really would not feel at home without a train nearby.

This is Monument Park that is at the western entrance into town.

 

Time for lunch.

This is what several locals recommended.

Barbara was hungry so she wasn’t waiting around for me to take pictures!

The wall mural you pass on the way in.

The back of the menu gave a brief history of the restaurant.  It was at one time a filling station and then a pizza restaurant.

They had outside seating with tables spaced well apart from one another.

There was live entertainment.  This gentleman was playing songs from the 50’s and 60’s and he was terrific.  We’re so glad we were able to listen to his music during our lunch.

This was Amber our waitress.  She was terrific.  A wonderful smile, first class service.  Unfortunately, the food was not what I would call first class.  It was good, but nothing that would make you say that was terrific. Maybe the cook was having an off day.  Maybe we’ll give them another try before we leave.  Time will tell.

A couple of pictures from inside.

More to come but for now we’ll call it a night.  Oh, one special picture for a very special person in my life.

Love you Sis.

That’s it for today on The Road of Retirement.  We had an absolutely fantastic day doing what we love best, discovering new things together.  Oh yea, hand in hand we’re making our way around this great country of ours and loving every minute of doing it as a couple.  We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thanks for joining us today. We always appreciate having you with us and we especially enjoy your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!