The final leg of our Desert RV Trip took us to Williams and the Grand Canyon.
The drive from Sedona to Williams is very pretty, with pine trees on each side and the mountains in the distance.
It’s only a short drive to Williams, the gateway to the Grand Canyon, and the last town on historic Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40.
We enjoyed the stores and restaurants with a Route 66 theme. It must have been quite a road trip before the Interstates.
It was also good to have eating options, as there are several good restaurants in Williams. We liked the Historic Barrel+Bottle House.
We stayed in Williams because we wanted to take the train to the Grand Canyon. Williams would not be on the map without the Grand Canyon Railway, which was carrying passengers to the Grand Canyon even before roads were built there.
The hotel and park were good, but Lucy really missed having real grass in the RV Park.
It’s a short walk from the park to downtown, and we enjoyed a walk around town each night we were there.
Steam trains are run only during Christmas, but it was fun to see one on display.
We enjoyed the music on the train, which they provided in each direction.
Our first stop was the El Tovar for lunch. We enjoyed arriving in style on the train and then eating at the Grand Hotel. Here’s the El Tovar perched on the edge of the canyon.
The weather was cloudy and we even had a few downpours with thunder and lightening. This only added to the experience and also improved our photos! During one downpour we took refuge on the porch of the El Tovar.
Here’s several photos we took of the canyon. I’ve never seen a photo do it justice, so I think everyone should experience the canyon at least once. It is hard to appreciate the vast scale of the Grand Canyon, even in person. Note the trail in the photo below that just seems to disappear at the edge of the canyon. In fact in most areas, you cannot see the bottom.
I like the little tunnel on Bright Angel Trail pictured on the left side of the photo. A good place to hike to even if you’re not a hiker.
Bus service is great in the park. We took the line that runs from Bright Angel to Hermit’s Rest. There are several stops along the way, and you can get off at one stop and hike to the next, which gives you a very different perspective and vistas like the one below.
The Colorado River as seen from Mojave Point. Using binoculars, I could spot six rafts in the river.
Going the other direction from El Tovar, here’s a beautiful vista between Verkamp’s Visitor Center and Yavapai Point.
A “Scenic Locator” placed there in 1922. Very handy!
Further east is the Desert View Watchtower. This is one of ten buildings at the Grand Canyon that Architect Mary Colter designed in the early 1900’s. This one was made to look as if it was an Indian ruin.
The Colorado River as seen from Desert View.
We loved our time at the Grand Canyon and Williams. The mix of Route 66, Historic Railway and the National Park worked well together. We were also blessed to have such great weather during the stay.
However, it was time to head home, and we traveled on I-40 over the Colorado River to Needles for the night, at the Desert View RV Resort. The sites were clean and private.
and then through the Mojave Desert and Tehachapi mountains to Bakersfield and the River Run RV Park. A beautiful park (with lots of grass for Lucy) that is convenient and close to Costco Gas.
After three days of traveling homeward, it was good to be back, and get the RV spruced up and ready for our next RV trip!
We hope you enjoyed traveling along with us to:
Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park,
and finally Williams and the Grand Canyon.
Al & Deb
MobileMosers.com 
Wonderful pictures! Hoping to get there next year.
Thank you!
We are hoping to visit National Parks next summer so this was very informative. Thank you! We are first timers and have a Winnie 2401rg. We have a little dog that will be traveling with us. Do you have a blogs regarding travels with pets. Concerned about leaving her too long in the RV while we are out exploring.
Suzanne
Suzanne, thank you for your comment. RVing is a great way to see the National Parks and I think you will love it! We also have a small dog named Lucy who is a terrier mix. While we try to bring her along on outings, it’s not always possible. National Parks, especially, restrict pets to main walkways and roads. Because of that we need to leave her behind sometimes. To make this easier on her, she has been crate trained since she was a puppy. We also leave her with a Kong filled with peanut butter and soft music playing…she is a pampered dog, for sure! If weather might require an AC, we have to either be plugged in or running the generator. In both cases, we monitor the temperature fo the RV while away using the Canary security system. It allows us to see and hear her in addition to monitoring the temperature. Canary will try to sell you a subscription, which we have, but you can do all of that in their free mode. The Canary requires an internet connection to work, even though it has low data requirements. However, that means we also needed a hot spot. We added a line to our AT&T plan for this and it has worked out great. The “grandfathered” line we have has unlimited internet, but plans vary greatly. I hope this info is helpful, and we wish you the best in your RV adventures!
Al & Deb