First I would like to tell you a little about the town of Williams, Az where we spent two nights.  Williams was first settled in 1874 and was named after William (Bill) Shirley Williams, the early mountain man who guided traping parties and expeditions through the wilderness.  The Williams area was first settled in 1874. Elevation is 6,770 feet with a population of nearly 3000. Downtown Williams is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and most of the buildings were constructed in the early 1900's.  Cruisers Route 66 Cafe is a popular diner in Williams.  The owners of the cafe also own The Grand Canyon Brewery which has been brewing beer locally since 2007. 


 Primarily a resort town, Williams marks the beginning of the major entrance route to the Grand Canyon National Park.  The entrance to the park is about a 45 minute drive from Williams leading you down a two lane road through the Kailib National Forest.  This quaint little historic town is a must see for anyone traveling to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  When we left Williams on Sunday morning heading for Santa Rosa, New Mexico there was frost on the windows of the car.  Overnight the temps got down to 36 degrees and it was a cold start to an otherwise sunny day.

These are pictures I took while riding through the Mojave Desert on the way to Williams, AZ.  The top photo is just sage brush that grows seems to be everywhere you look.  When Chris and I stopped at a rest stop in Arizona we decided to have our picture taken with a cactus.  There is not a lot of development on I-40 no houses or businesses until you come into a town.  The towns are several miles apart and in between there is nothing but sage brush, cacti, and desert.  We did see a few trains on our way to Williams, AZ and I managed to get a picture of this one.

I saw an unusual sphere shaped object in the middle of the desert and took a photo.  Not sure what it is but it appeared to be a house.  There was a car parked beneath the sphere with steps leading up to a door.  Looked like somebodies house to me but that is just a guess.  


 My next blog will be about the Grand Canyon which we visited today.  The views are spectacular and the canyon almost took my breath away literally. The canyon is so photogenic and I will need to decide which photos to post. I will probably backtrack and tell you more about the town of Williams.

I took this picture of the famous LA skyline as we were driving down Hwy 10 on our way out of LA.  We drove 450 miles from LA to Williams, AZ in 9 hours (that includes stopping to eat and potty breaks).  When we got to Barstow, CA we picked up I-40 and passed the sign indicating that Wilmington, NC was 2,554 miles.  Sorry but Chris was driving too fast for me to take a picture of the  sign. When you reach Barstow you are in the Mojave Desert for the next 140 miles.  

Well the bags are packed and now I'm just waiting for Julie and the grandkids to pick me up.  We are going out to eat before they drop me off at the airport at 5:30pm.  My flight leaves at 7:40pm (EST) and arrives in LA at 10:23 (PCT).  The flight to LA is 5 1/2 hours long.  I've never flown by myself nor have I ever flown at night so this will be interesting to say the least.  Julie doesn't understand my anxiety of doing this on my own.  She says "as many times as we've flown to LA you should not have any problems finding your way around the airport."  I tell her that I always follow her lead when we are manuevering our way through the airports.  However, thinking back now, I do remember one time when she took us to the wrong departure gate at the Atlanta airport. I guess I am finally growing up now that I will be flying all by myself for the first time.  Wish me luck!  One last note: Chris is worried about the weather forecast of snow for Williams, Arizona.  I told him to get use to it after all he is moving to New York.  To be continued.........

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! SNOW!  Yes snow is in the forecast for Williams, Arizona where we will be staying Friday and Saturday night.  Of course it will be in the higher elevations (9000 feet) but the Mojave Desert and parts of the Grand Canyon are 4000+ feet.  To be continued............

It took me awhile but I finally figured out how to scan and add this photo of my National Park Passport to my blog. Included with your Passport to Your Natl Parks is a National Park System Map and Guide.  This guide can help you plan your visit to any of the natural, historical and recreational areas in the National Park System. You can find out about the Passport program by calling 1-877-628-7275 or visit www.eParks.com .

Five days to go.....

While packing, I came across my Passport to the National Parks that I had forgotten that I had purchased several years ago.  This is a neat pocket sized booklet that gives info about all the National Parks in the United States.  Inside the booklet there are spaces available for you to affix passport stamps (issued by the national parks) as well as a space provided for the parks to validate that you visited with a special ink stamp giving the name of the park and the date of your visit.  I've only used this once and that was at the Outer Banks when I visited the Wright Bros Natl Memorial and Fort Raleigh Natl Historic Site in 2002. Anyone that travels should purchase one of these Passport booklets.  With this Passport you have a guide to the national treasures in America---the national parks. You can purchase your passport to the National Parks at any national park visitor center.



Well the countdown is on.  In 10 days I will be leaving on a jet plane for Los Angeles, California.  I'm busy trying to figure out what to pack and plan an itinerary to follow from Los Angeles to home.