"HANGIN" IN WILLIAMS

We left the Canyon Wed morning, and made the 65 mile run south on Hwy 64 to Williams, followed by Nancy in her motor home. When we checked into the Grand Canyon RR RV Park, Bill & 'D' Hall were already here, parked a couple of spaces away. We hadn't seen Bill & 'D' since January, at the Indio FMCA RV Rally, & it was good to catch up with them.

The Grand Canyon RR Depot & RV park are a block or so from the main drag, which just happens to be the original Route 66. Many of the businesses have embraced the renewed interest in the "Mother Road", and there's lots of Route 66 merchandise in most of the downtown stores. Shortly after we got parked, Ed & Anita Price, and Ron & Ann Slavicek pulled into the RV park, with Bob Tucker arriving yesterday. We all had dinner at Cruisers, which is a converted gas station, with excellent BBQ items on the menu.

Yesterday, (Thursday), we spent a leisurely morning at the motor home, and most of the mid day walking the downtown area, where we found a cowhide rug that just had to go home with us. With all tile floors in the new Tucson house, I don't think we'll have a problem finding someplace to put it. The above picture was taken of Patty & Nancy, as we had lunch back at Cruisers, and the BBQ was still outstanding.

Ed & Anita had arranged for Al Richmond, Chairman & CEO of the AZ State RR Museum Foundation to give us an update on the progress of the museum, to eventually be built here in Williams. At 4pm, Al came by the RV park, giving us lots of information about the planned museum, and all of the hurdles that still have to be stepped over. As with any large project, funding is one of the biggest challenges, and the 25 million museum has yet to break ground, even though a lot of progress has been made. It was an interesting talk, with lots of questions answered, and all of us walked away with a much better understanding about this ambitious project.

Later that evening, Bill & 'D' fixed one of their specialties for dinner, called Mexican Pizza. It was a combination of meat, cheese, onions, & peppers, rolled into a flour tortilla, and warmed on a grill. When they were sliced into smaller portions, the end result was a mouthwatering treat that everybody loved. Bill even fixed a not so hot version for me, but when that was gone, I couldn't resist the temptation to eat a few more of the spicier samples. Thanks Bill & 'D'.

Today, we're in no hurry to do much of anything (it's sure nice to be retired again). At noon, we're all carpooling to Bearizona, which is a drive through wildlife park, just east of Williams. Patty and I have heard great things about this relatively new attraction, and being animal lovers, we're looking forward to the experience. Tomorrow is the steam train ride back to the Canyon.

Yesterday afternoon, we discovered this small dam, and lake just south of Williams.

The Winchester Steak House across the street from the RV park has these longhorns in a small pen in front of the restaurant. Sami was only mildly interested.