Roving Cooks

March 28: Page, AZ – Williams, AZ. 168 miles, 2 hours 45 min

March 28-April 4: Williams, AZ and Grand Canyon (South Rim)

We had a smooth drive to Williams, settled in our new campground and headed to nearby Bearizona for an afternoon activity. Kudos to whoever came up with the excellent park name. This turned out to be a great activity; we saw a number of black and grizzly bears (including a black bear climbing a tree), wolves, deer, bison, and a porcupine to name a few.

Monday, the kids and I scouted out the Grand Canyon. The kids were absolute troopers. I was a bit embarrassed about my lack of planning…or I would be if I thought the kids realized the difference. Anyway, get there early is the main advice. What was projected to be a 1 hour drive was closer to 2 hours as we joined hundreds of others at the sole entrance. Grayson and Madelyn both now identify Google Maps’s red line as “oh no, a traffic jam!” Once we found some parking and an active shuttle bus (and waited in line for the bus), we all enjoyed the ride. They both seemed relieved that I didn’t make them hike. We agreed that we had earned an afternoon ice cream and a next day at the playground. Overall, it was a long day at a huge park with a lot more people than I’ve gotten accustomed to being around (as it is a popular park and was spring break time). There were COVID precautions in place – most buildings closed, limited numbers of people in open buildings and on buses, masks required in common areas (even outdoors) – but it was just busier than other parks we’ve been at off-season the last couple months. Mental (and logistical) adjustment needed.

Tuesday we checked out the promised city playground and in the afternoon went to a nearby Deer Farm. This was more our “5 and under” speed. The kids had an awesome time petting deer, looking at peacocks, and giggling at the instructions to “not kiss the camel”.

On our second Mama/kid trip to the Grand Canyon, we left first thing after breakfast and avoided the traffic jam, thus securing a parking spot near the Visitor’s Center/Bookstore. We purchased an excellent book – Who Pooped in the Park? – and then proceeded to wait in a long line for the orange bus line (going the opposite direction along the South Rim from the red bus we took earlier in the week). We stopped at Yaki point for a snack and some pictures. It is a beautiful view, though I’m not sure the kids saw it. More exciting, there were a couple kids to play tag and hide-and-seek with, so we hung out for a bit before catching a return shuttle.

Getting the swing of things, on our third trip (Saturday, with Daddy), we left around 7am, arrived with no traffic, and got a super awesome parking spot in the Visitor lot. We checked out the nearby Mather point (unsurprisingly, kids were most interested in petting dogs and collecting rocks), stopped in the bookstore for stamps and pins, and then headed east along the Desert View scenic drive. We stopped a couple times before reaching the watchtower (“the castle”) where we had lunch. Disappointed that the inside of the castle was closed and continuing to be unimpressed by the multi-million years-in-the-making hole in the ground, our kids begged to just go home.

Grayson and Madelyn’s conclusion: petting deer and eating ice cream are way better than looking at the Grand Canyon.

Mama’s conclusion: The Grand Canyon is impressive, worth seeing, and better suited to a well-planned trip with older kids (who can do more of the hikes and activities) and parents of older kids (who may have less anxiety about their kids falling off a ledge into a very large canyon).