We had talked off and on about buying a RV, but we move frequently.  So it became more of a dream to work towards.  I stumbled upon RVShare.com (not an endorsement, just our experience) and found a rig that was a reasonable rate.  The rig was a 25′ Coleman bunkhouse travel trailer.  We decided to rent it for my summer vacation in 2017.  First, we wanted to go off the beaten path some and hotels weren’t the best option.  Second, we wanted to see if this whole RV thing is what we wanted to do.

I will say that we really enjoyed the RVShare experience.  The owner we worked with was easy to work with and the rig was right for the price.  If we didn’t buy, I’d consider renting again.  I’m sure the experience differs owner to owner, so do your homework.

Now on to the fun stuff.  The first trip!

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The Trip

We plotted a huge 9-day trip revolving around the Grand Canyon, Southern Utah, and ending at Mesa Verde National Park.  The kids love the National Park Service’s Jr Ranger Program, so we wanted to use that love to get out and see a bunch of park units while they’re still young.  On retrospect, it was probably too much in a short time.  We missed out on some trails and activities.  Everyone gets to make some rookie moves, right?

Day 1 – 18 June 2017 – El Paso to Petrified Forest NP to Williams, AZ

We loaded up the trailer in El Paso the night before and set out Northwest towards Arizona.

The goal for today was get to Williams, AZ and set up camp.  We had a stretch goal to stop in Petrified Forest NP.  The drive from El Paso to Silver City, NM is really boring.  Mostly flat, not much scenery, and not much on the side of the road for a potty break, gas, or snacks.  North of Silver City, we got into the Gila and Apache National Forests.  The scenery improved greatly:

We arrived to Petrified Forest NP late morning.  PFNP is separated by the highway (connected by bridge) and you can enter from the North or South.  I did some research and the consensus of my research said to enter from the southern end of the park and exit to the north IF you are doing the park in a day or less.  First reason, the southern part of the part is the actual petrified forest where you’ll want to spend a lot of time and if you run out in the south, you don’t miss the most interesting part of the park.  Second reason, the access to get back on the highway from the northern gate is much easier.  I recommend this technique if you are approaching from the South or the West.  It’d be too many extra miles coming from North/East.  We stopped at the southern Visitor Center and grabbed our Jr Ranger books and a quick lunch before setting out into the park:

We continued our way north through the park.  We stopped to hike 2 or 3 short trails.  Crystal Forest was one of them.  The others escape my memory a year later.  It was worth to stop for one, but there is so much wood, the unbelievable work of nature got a little repetitive despite the impressive sight of it all.  Near the bridge over the highway there is a old roadbed for Rte 66 with a pull off with some markers about the history of the park and how Rte 66 and the automobile made it grow.  Worth a stop for Mother Road junkies.

The northern part of the park is called the Painted Desert.  It’s very picturesque.  Not much to do from the car than a pull off or two.  If you want to get into the heart of it, you have to go on some significant hikes.  Due to time and kids nearing fun expiration dates for the day, we snapped some pictures and moved along.

We stopped in the northern Visitor Center for some Jr Ranger iron and emptied the bladders for the run to Williams.

The drive on 40 to Williams, AZ is nice. We didn’t take anymore pictures for the day, but I remember being impressed with the mountains and forests.  We arrived to Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and RV Park around dinner time.  We set up camp, ate some grub, grabbed some showers, and some sack time to get ready for 2 days in the Grand Canyon.

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Day 2 – 19 June 2017 – Grand Canyon NP – RV Parked in Williams, AZ

We set out in the morning for the big ditch.  Grand Canyon NP is a common destination, won’t make a huge post on these days with bunches of hole pictures.  If you have some specific questions, please ask.

We spent Day 2 at the South Rim Visitor Center and nearby points of interest on the South Rim and, of course, got our Jr Ranger Badges.

We happened to be at Grand Canyon during their star festival.  The star festival was great.  Many amateur astronomers and a smattering of pros with telescopes set up, lectures, and more looking up at the sky.  The only tough part was the kids were pooped.  An adult talking about constellations can only go for so long with a 8 and 5 year old.  We drove back to the camper and recocked for Day 3.

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Day 3 – 20 June 2017 – Grand Canyon NP – RV Parked in Williams, AZ

We got a slower start this day, better prepared knowing we wanted to document the sunset.  I watched the kids play around in the campground’s playground for a bit while Erin went to the store to buy a few essentials that we left on the counter back home.  We got up to the park and spent the afternoon near the Desert Tower on the east side of the park.  We worked our way back to the South Rim Visitor Center in the late afternoon, grabbed a quickie dinner from the cooler, and found our perch for the sunset.  With my kids being 5 and 8, we didn’t want to be so close to the rim.  So our spot was great, but there was some real estate in front of us that a group of about 30 college kids thought would be a great place to set up and be noisy and stand so my kids couldn’t see.  We issued enough passive-aggressive dirty looks until we felt satisfied (I’m sure they were really upset…..) and found another perch just before the light show began.  After the sunset, we boogied back to the camper to get ready for another big day on the road.

This is where I’ll end this post.  We’ll pick back up the next time with us breaking camp in Williams, AZ, exploring an ancient volcano, and entering into Southern Utah.

See you out there,

Jack and Erin