GTW Hop 23: Sun City, AZ, to Williams, AZ

170 miles via I-17 and I-40. Cumulative distance: 3,929 miles.

GTW Hop 23: Sun City AZ to Williams AZ

I knew that this hop would involve some climbing as there is no way to explain a 20-degree change in temperature in less than 200 miles without some serious altitude adjustment. But I didn’t expect the climb we got: we topped out at over 7,000 feet (starting from about 1,200′ in Sun City). The truck had to do some heavy lifting on this hop. There were signs warning about engine overheating. If you did this in the summer, with temperatures above 100 degrees, then there is no doubt that you would have to give your engine some rest along the way. Our temperatures were mostly in the 70s and the engine still heated to more than 250 degrees – a good 30 degrees higher than it has been at any other point on this GTW.

We stopped along the way to eat lunch at a rest area that, like every other rest area we have seen in Arizona, was beautifully landscaped and white-glove clean.

The rig taking a well-deserved rest

Rest area landscaping, with Patience in the background

Rest area garden

Jett didn’t enjoy the climb. Already convinced that we are going to die a horrible death, the steep downhills and dire warnings about overheating engines and failed brakes just fed her fears. She was too busy praying to get many shots of the rugged mountains, but she was entranced by the earlier, flatter landscapes north of Phoenix. Lots of cacti there.

Field of cacti

Despite Jett’s fears, we made it to Williams without incident. We are staying three nights in the RV park behind the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel – a very nice hotel at which we are considered guests.

Grand Canyon Railway Hotel

Hotel pool

Most of the guests in the RV park are traveling in either top-of-the-line motorhomes or very nice fifth wheels. However, there is one guest who is reminiscent of the Beverly Hillbillies. His tiny trailer was festooned with milk crates, all strapped on with miles of bungees. Never seen anything like it.

The Beverly Hillbillies?

We took a walk around the property at sunset (about 5:30 – Arizona is not on daylight savings time, so it gets dark early here). I always knew that I cast a long shadow, but this one was ridiculous.

Long shadow

There are two reasons that we are in Williams. One is to get a taste of old Route 66 (which doesn’t seem to exist anymore in Williams, having been supplanted by I-40) and the Grand Canyon Railway, which we will ride up to the Grand Canyon on Monday. I will report on both of those more completely later, but I have a couple of photos to offer of the train depot – we watched the train pull in at 5:30pm.

The depot, decorated for Christmas

The arriving Grand Canyon train