G-r-r-e-a-t Grand Canyon Trip

As promised, I’m sharing our recent trip to the Grand Canyon by train. A package is available through the Auto Club that includes either 3 days and 2 nights with meals at the historic Grand Canyon Hotel, or there is an RV package so you can spend your nights in your own bed in your RV parked in a park next to the hotel.

I would have preferred my own bed. If you’ve ever slept on a lumpy rock, then you know what the 2 nights were like on the hotel’s mattresses. So okay, I’ve never slept on a rock, but now I don’t need to. The mattress memory will stick with me!

The trip was wonderful. We met four friends (two couples) from California who don’t own RVs, so that’s why we stayed in the hotel. Included in our package were 2 buffet dinners and 2 breakfasts, the train ride to the Grand Canyon and a buffet lunch at the GC plus snacks onboard the train. We took the first class car, so snacks were conveniently located inside our car, as well as nice restrooms.

Following our lunch at the GC after arriving, we boarded a bus for a tour of the South rim. What a wonderful time, and the views were amazing! Our driver took us to some overlooks that had fewer
tourists, so we had mostly unobstructed views to die for.

After leaving the hotel the next day, our friends came to Cottonwood to spend the night, so we decided to have dinner at the Grand Hotel up in Jerome. It’s perched high on the mountainside above Jerome, which is roughly 3000 feet above the valley floor (elevation approximately 6000 feet). The Asylum is a gourmet restaurant that has a limited number of tables inside, so we ate out on their porch. The view was magnificent and the weather was perfect for eating outdoors. It’s a steep climb from the parking lot up to the restaurant, but if you have reservations, you can enter the hotel lobby and have someone take you up on the elevator. That’s an experience not to be missed! The elevator has definitely been around for many, many decades!

The next morning we all met to eat breakfast at a Cottonwood restaurant before our friends left for home. This trip was like all others with our friends in one way—our time together seems to revolve around food. However, this time no one had to cook!

If you already travel by RV, it’s still great to get away from your usual life for a few days, even if your most serious challenge consists of pursuing leisurely escapes on the road. Getting together with old friends is always a great change from the everyday sameness that even RVers sometimes settle into.

So whether you decide to take your RV or take the Grand Canyon hotel package, or create your own with a stay at a more modern Williams motel while sampling local eateries, the train trip is a wonderful, relaxing way to enjoy the view and spend the day. No matter how you get there, the Grand Canyon should not be missed when you travel to Arizona.