South Rim of the Grand Canyon

We moved to Williams, AZ Thursday, September 4 to see all the sights around there which definitely included The South Rim. Helen and I were in Williams in 1985 as part of a fifteen day vacation when I worked at Armstrong Ceiling. We had stayed at a KOA campground then named Circle Pines KOA. We didn't stay there this time but we went out to see if we remembered much. I guess either our memory is very bad or things really changed in twenty-three years. We also had visited the South Rim in 1985 and that place has changed also. We stayed at a campground named Grand Canyon Railway RV Park. We arrived at our campground Thursday and kind of just drove around Williams and got reacquainted with the town. Helen also lived here for a while before we were married. Friday we went to the South Rim and drove along the Scenic Auto Route to Desert Vista and stopped at several overlooks along the way. The actual Grand Canyon looked about the same as in 1985 but after all the places we have seen on our travels we weren't as awed as in 1985.
The North Rim is just as awesome, even more so in some ways. Saturday we took the train to the Grand Canyon. That is a very nice ride that any one should take if they have the opportunity. It is a sixty-five mile train ride and is very relaxing and nice. We spent three and a half hours hiking the Canyon rim on the same trail that we were on in 1985 which is the most awesome view at the canyon. Check out the link to all the National Parks and find the Grand Canyon. You will see some awesome pictures there that other people have posted on that site. We caught the train and headed back to Williams. Along the way the train was robbed by some cowboys on horses. They boarded the train and everyone had a fun time. It was all part of the show of course.
Sunday I ask Helen if she wanted to go for a ride and check out Bill Williams mountain she said yes of course but looking back I'll bet she wouldn't be so anxious. We drove as far up the mountain as we dared until the narrow gravel road got too steep. We turned around at a view point called Finger Rock which was about 9,500 feet above sea level. Then we went on toward Jerome,AZ which was supposed to be mostly on paved roads but as it turned out about 30 miles of it was on gravel mountain narrow roads. Very scary!!!! Sometimes I wonder how I get us into such messes and why Helen would ever trust me again. But she always does. I guess she loves me and knows that I love her more than anything and would never cause her harm deliberately. After we got to Jerome we found a paved road, Hwy. 89A which is a scenic road through Oak Creek Canyon. I was going to move to this campground on this road but changed my mind. The road is very beautiful but there is one seven mile stretch where the elevation changes 3000 feet.
Very steep and very sharp switch-backs. Vehicles over 50 feet long are not allowed on the hill.
We moved Monday to this very beautiful and peaceful campground in Cornville, AZ. We will be here ten days but in this general area for six weeks. This is a very scenic area and we will have some pictures. Jerome, Cottonwood, Sedona, and this whole Verde Valley is a great place to spend some time.
We are all doing fine and Silly is back to his ornery self. There are some cats around this campground so I will watch out for him, don't want the same thing to happen again. Helen really enjoys this life style and so do I. We miss Lascassas, Open Bible, and all our friends and family and look forward to being back in March of 2009.