It’s now day 8 of our summer adventure. Our family has had a blast spending each day together traveling, exploring, and lightly relaxing. The weekend is approaching fast, and the trip is starting to come to a close. We do have a lot still on our agenda before heading home though. Our next stop is Williams, Arizona to see Bearizona. We have heard amazing things about this place but have never been. The kids were super excited to head out of Vegas and enter the forest yet again where the temperatures seem to drop drastically. The drive we had ahead of us was a reasonable amount of time, and the rain seemed to slow us down but nothing like our first stop out of Las Vegas which was Hoover Dam. Every time we have been here in the past, you are obligated to go over the dam to head back into Arizona. Not now – it is changed. It is drastically out of the way. We made this mistake so the kids could get their first view of it. Now looking back, it is what it is… but goodness!
We did run into some heavy rain along the way out of town too. Enough that we had to pull over to the side of the road because you couldn’t see at all. That part was super scary for us all. The rain itself was beautiful and a nice change of scenery for us all. As we got closer to Williams, we all started to get scared that it might be raining there and we wouldn’t be able to visit Bearizona. Come to find out, it was only sprinkling lightly there, which made for a beautiful day. Our drive took longer than expected and we had planned to hit Bearizona and the Grand Canyon in one day, but that wasn’t going to happen. We then on a whim decided to book a hotel that we all had stayed at before when we did the Polar Express when they were small. The hotel was called Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. We loved it in the past and yet again on this trip.
Bearizona was one of the most remarkable places to see while in Williams. The entrance alone was so cute – that you could tell this place was going to be amazing! We never expected it to be as big as it was along with offering so much. We had a small rack on the back of the truck that held most of our camping gear for the trip, so we were not able to take the truck on the self-guided trails. We were definitely bummed, but they offered a bus that took you around and also was able to get up and personal with each type of animal in its cage. After going on the bus tour, we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. They had all different types of areas including reindeer, bison, bears, wolves, deer, goats, donkeys and elk. The bus took you around for about an hour and gave you all sorts of information on each animal. That has to be my favorite part of riding the bus.
Bearizona also offers a vast area for you to walk around and see animals you usually don’t see in a zoo. We loved seeing the cute little fox up close along with baby bears. The baby bears were so adorable, and you could see them! I feel like at the zoo you get lucky if you can look at the animals as you walk around. This place was much better and less crowded. We enjoyed spending time walking around and stopping by the petting zoo. We spent a good 2-3 hours at this place, and it was beginning to get late quick. We decided to eat dinner here which turned out to be fantastic food. Every single one of us had a great time outdoors enjoying the great weather, the amazing food, and the scenery all around. I do highly recommend taking some time to make a trip up there especially if you have kids. Take some time to check out all the pictures I took, and these are just the ones I posted on the blog. We have so many more, and there is honestly so much to see.
After spending time at the park along with eating dinner, we decided to check into our hotel. The kids wanted to sit around and relax. Travis and I took a little walk down to the small shops on Route 66 and checked it out. The area was pretty packed but was so neat to see. The entire little area was lit up with the neon lights and decorated like back in the day. Honestly, it reminded me of the movie Cars. We ended up getting some ice cream and enjoying our hour walk up and down the streets. Williams is somewhere we would love to come back to on a date night weekend away. The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel also offers train rides to guests up to the Grand Canyon, and it looks like that would be such a neat experience! The hotel is super cute and super glad we had a chance to stay here yet again in this small town. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Williams and Bearizona… GO you will not regret it.
Our vacation is coming to an end tomorrow, but we have so much still to do! We need our rest as we head out early to hit the Grand Canyon right when the gates open. I seem to be the only one excited to see it as an adult as I was a junior in high school the last time we went. It was a different experience altogether. Until tomorrow – stay tuned! We have enjoyed you being apart of our adventures, and I thank you all for your support.
