Grand Canyon Railway RV Park

My parents would have loved this place! Our RV backed up right by some train tracks and we could feel the vibrations and hear the horns so clearly. Yes, that is a train going by in the picture, and they came by throughout the day and night. In fact, Mom and Frank got to see the same Wild West Show that is presented here every day at 9 AM. Several years ago they took the scenic train trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon that takes off from here. However, we are not the train enthusiasts that they are. Once we left here, Asher said to never get a site that has 'railway' in its name, and I agree. Sleep did not come easily at this site, though the place itself was nice and clean and I could get our 4 large loads of laundry washed. The kids also enjoyed the playground too. The accompanying hotel's pool and hot tub was so much fun on Wednesday, but to get to and from there was quite a maze through all the confusing hallways.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Michael left work early and we went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. No pictures show how pretty and vast it is. It is huge! Pictures are also much safer and this is a vast chasm where 15-20 people die from every year. By the time we arrived in 2021 eleven had already perished, which meant the quota had not been reached yet.

I had never been to the Grand Canyon and did not know what to expect. As always I went to the visitors center and got some tips for what to do and see from a ranger. I also got some Jr. Ranger books for the kids.

We headed out to Mather Point first and I was so relieved to see... handrails! There are a couple of  unspoken rules for my children and husband when we go exploring.

After a picnic of tacos, we went on the Rim Trail.

Michael absolutely loves the edge and is drawn to it. He seems energized and very happy by it and the kids follow after him. He is definitely my opposite.

We stopped here to view the sunset. I wish I could have enjoyed this time but below us (not pictured) was a group of students that seemed like they wanted to be numbered among the lost. When one guy tripped, the far crowd in the picture all gasped in unison and the woman next to me commented that watching them fall would ruin this for her. I agreed and could not wait to leave. Sometimes people make it is so hard to enjoy God's beauty. My fear of heights seems to be doing the same thing.

One of my favorite things to do at a National Park is to listen to a Ranger talk. Many of them have been canceled due to Covid or the timing just doesn't work out. That night we were able to listen to one about bats! Bats are so cool! The bats here have not gotten white-nose syndrome like in previous caves that we have visited. Hurrah! We learned that white-nose syndrome causes bats to get irritated from the white fungus around their face and wake up from hibernation too early. Once they are awake, they go out to eat and since it is still winter and there are no food sources available, they eventually starve to death.

Even if the bats were to get it at Grand Canyon they would never die because they can fly down into the warmer canyon with plenty to eat and thus would not starve to death. Thus the bats in the south will not be affected by this syndrome as much as the devastated varieties in the north. Moreover, I learned that by San Antonio, TX at Bracken Cave you can reserve a spot to see 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats come out of their cave at dusk. I want to see that! 

We came back Thursday early evening to do part of the Bright Angel Trail that goes down into the canyon. The Ranger told me that this trail is wider there and at the 1st tunnel there were petroglyphs. We didn't see them so I was thinking I was wrong and the ranger said that it was at the 2nd tunnel. As we walked there an angel of a ranger stopped us and said that there was not enough time to do that before it would be too dark to see in the canyon and that the petroglyphs were at the 1sr tunnel. Thus, we just went to the overlook area and headed back.

Can you see the mom and baby bighorn sheep? They let us get pretty close to them. The baby was adorable. I think that Michael and the kids are part bighorn sheep. I on the other hand am not.

Caleb was really kind and let me hold his hand for part of the trail. On the other parts, he walked in front of me and I found if I focused on his shoes I could keep taking a step.

Yep, that is a sheer cliff in front of Jordan

We made it back to the 1st tunnel and after looking pretty hard we did see some faint petroglyphs! Right before we got to the upper tunnel, however, there were some people showing us a tarantula that had fallen off the rocks in front of a woman. Yikes!

I had never seen a tarantula in the wild before.

Well, we all made it back home and did not add to the annual Grand Canyon death numbers!

Once we packed up to leave our RV park, we stopped at Petrified Forest National Park. It was fun to try and find pretty colors and patterns in the petrified wood.