Williams, Arizona

From Holbrook, we travelled west on I-40 with the San Francisco Peaks drawing us toward them.

It was an easy drive across the state, through Flagstaff, and before long we were driving into Williams,

and arriving at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park.

The RV Park belongs to Passport America, and it’s quite a deal at $19.50 for full hookup. 

The sites are paved, and although narrow, we’ve had worse ones.

There is a Community Building with laundry and bathrooms (which were really nice and clean), and a community gas firepit that gets lit every night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They even had several gas grills available for use, and since we were right across the street, they were really convenient for us to use to cook our dinners!

The resort also has a hotel, with an indoor pool, that we were able to use . . . so we took advantage of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Canyon Railway makes a daily trip to the Grand Canyon, and also offers “Polar Express” train rides on the weekends from now until Christmas.  The grounds are fully decorated for Christmas, and Nicolas loved walking through the lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to being the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon”, Williams, Arizona is also known as the last Route 66 town bypassed by I-40, and it was our last stop on our trip along Route 66.

There were plenty of Route 66 sites to see around Williams, including old motels,

gas stations,

old cars,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and even an old Dairy Queen (too bad it was already closed for the winter . . . what?! Are we back in Michigan?)

Williams is definitely the most active of all the Route 66 towns we’ve visited on this trip, with plenty of restored businesses and new businesses, too.  There were hardly any empty storefronts . . . except for one that used to be a Quilt Shop . . . what a bummer!

We walked through the gift shops – there was no shortage of Route 66 paraphernalia – T-shirts, magnets, mugs, signs . . . anything you could possibly want to buy.

 

Most of the shops stayed open in the evening, too, and several looked even better after dark.

We even saw the “largest Route 66 shield”!

There was no shortage of restaurants, either.  The Cruiser Café looked pretty cool . . .

The menu looked good, too, and the smells coming from the outdoor BBQ grill were heavenly . . . . but we opted for pizza on the one night we ate out.

So, even now as we are entering the “off-season” for this area, it’s still pretty active and most places were open. 

We really enjoyed Williams;  it’s a cute little town and definitely convenient to the Grand Canyon – whether you want to take the train (we didn’t), or just drive yourselves, and the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park is a definite gem.