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Grand Canyon Railway
We have started to lay out our travel plans for 2018 and beyond. Our starting point will be Pelican Lake in Naples in mid February of 2018 and from there we will take the winding roads out West. Our current plans are to eventually arrive on the West coast and to stay there for a year or longer.
We have made our first reservation, for April 2018, which includes a day trip on the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams, AZ (30 miles West of Flagstaff) to the South Rim. A 2 hours 15 minutes ride each way. (Www.thetrain.com)
We have made a 2 weeks reservation at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park. Appears to be a decent place and reasonably priced at +/- $42/night, too.
Has anyone been there, done that?
It is a long ride from Naples, FL to AZ and we will fill in the blanks before and after.
Advice and suggestions will be gladly received!
Cheers,
Ronald -
21 Replies
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Ronald, perfect place to stage for the Canyon…take the train. Prosit to you and Gabby. We’re jealous as we’re stuck in Milwaukee all summer. Geo.
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Hello Ronald and Gabi!
Yes, we have done the ‘Grand Canyon Train’ staying at the RV park in Williams, AZ, and it is very nice. Keep in mind that the train will be ambushed by bandits on horses commiting a train robbery (on the return trip). Have a little cash for tips. It’s a fun adventure.
You might want to book seats in the “Parlor Car” as we thought that was the best place to be and has a small porch on the back.
The old El Tovar Hotel on the rim is a nice place to have lunch.
Mark
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Ronald –
We stayed at the Grand Canyon Resort last year and loved it! Great accomodations and definitely take the train to the Grand Canyon. You can go in the morning and come back in the evening, or you can stay overnight at one of their hotels if you make reservations beforehand and spend another day as you have a return trip ticket on the train. We took one of the bubble-top cars (Kokopelli, of course) and sat in the top. You get to see the terrain and wildlife. We did see lots of deer, elk, and a few coyotes. There is entertainment on the train. We had banjo playing and a train robbery. We also took the bus tour in the park and the views were breath taking and refreshments. If you don’t take the bus tour, there is a park shuttle bus that will take you around. I would not take a vehicle into the park as parking is very limited!
Have your cameras/phones charged up as you will see not only gorgeous views of the canyon, you will see crows doing aerial acrobatics and you may see condors. You have to make reservations two years in advance for the mule trip to the bottom of the canyon or to ride the rapids! Of course, you could walk the 6 miles down into the canyon and 6 miles back up… Do not get too close to the edge as it is a mile down to the bottom…
There is a micro brewery across the street from the RV park and a Safeway a block away. It was nice that the Resort has a kennel on-site as we boarded the dogs there while we took the train trip. Depending how long you will be there, Williams seemed like a nice little western town to explore with old buildings and shops!
June
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Ronald,
We were there last year also and echo the other remarks. Clean, easy in and out and well maintained. The train is great and offers several choices of cars. The town is small but has a few good restaurants and shops. We enjoyed it. If your an Eagles fan make sure to stop in Winslow Arizona and get a picture at he “Standing On The Corner” park.w
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We were there last year, too. Middle of September. Train was a nice way to go to the Canyon. As Mark said, eat at the El Tovar. It was very nice. RV park in Williams is very nice. If you are into the 50’s, Williams is a hoot. I think that is was the last, or near the last town, by-passed by I-40. And we were robbed, too.
On the way on I-40, go to the Crater and the Painted Desert. We drove through the Painted Desert in the coach with the toad, but had to be careful not to take some of the side road stops. Lots of parking for us at the Crater.
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Jean looked pretty happy to have a gun slinger setting with her instead you.
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Duh!
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Touching on what June and Chris said:
We took the mule ride down into the Grand Canyon and let me tell you, you will be sore! I really didn’t/don’t have experience with mules or horses and I squeezed my legs to stay on the mule. After 7 hours on that thing, I had no leg muscles left. I fell off of the mule when we reach the rim! (oh my, the memories).
It took 3 hours to get down to a plateau level following a twisty, dusty, path shared with people walking. It took 4 hours to get back up to the rim. The mules like to eat the grass along the way FACING THE CANYON! (hold on tight!) LOL! There were about 10-12 mules in our group. Craig was the last ass…. (he doesn’t read here…hee hee). My mule was name ‘Macintosh’ and Craig’s was ‘Madonna’. Since Craig had experience riding horses, the leader wanted him to be the last mule to keep the group together.
During this trip (before we started motorhoming) we stayed at the El Tovar. That night after the mule ride, we had reservations to a wine gourmet seated dinner in the restaurant. We didn’t know if we could make it but we clicked in and the dinner was very good.
Regarding Winslow, AZ, eating or staying at the La Posada Hotel (a renovated Harvey Hotel) is a must. Anytime we are in the area in the coach or driving through by car, we will eat at the Turquoise Room which is excellent!
Mark
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Hey, they had the drop on me. They kept saying they were there to collect dues for some battery salesman.
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Ronald,
On that long way from FL to Az, there is a 50 amp plug waiting on you at Exit 800 on I-10. I know where the locals go to eat and would always enjoy your visit.
My phone is 7 one 3 8 one 8 3234 or email is jrlegett at gmail.com if this will help.
Have fun and safe travels.
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and, thank you, Rudy, for the invitation. We have made one adjustment to our schedule by pushing out by one month our train and RV park reservations to May 2018 because it will be a lot warmer by then.
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We have stayed there several times and rode the train once. It is a very nice park as others have indicated. The train is a nice way to get to the park and back. I think you will enjoy it.
If anyone is going this year, watch I-40 between Flagstaff and Williams. It is rougher than hell. It has been that way for a long, long time and they don’t seen too interested in fixing it. It is not any better west of Williams either.
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X2 on La Posada in Winslow. The town is not much, but the hotel is beautiful and the food and drinks good. It’s a great place to hang out for a day/night if you’ve been on the road for a while. By the way, Amtrak stops right at the hotel. We sometimes take the train there for a couple of days of R&R without any driving.
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Been to Laposada a couple of times to eat while on the road. Great place.
“Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine site to see. There’s a girl my lord in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me”. Performed that song many many times. And don’t forget the ‘girl in a flat bed Ford’ mural at the main corner in town.
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We request a YouTube of you playing that song Doug, c’mon….
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