Day 16: Bearizona

Monday June 27 

We enjoy a lazy morning at the campground.  I do some cleaning and the girls pull out some crafts.  Isabella makes a ton of fuse bead things that all need to be ironed together and she hopes to mail these to her friends.  Scott made some phone calls and arranged for parts to be shipped to the campground here.  We’ve had a propane leak so he is constantly turning the propane on and off as we need it, so the range needs a new regulator.  Also on our trip into Arizona we broke a shock for the hitch and they are going to overnight the part.  It is perfectly ok to drive without the shock, but better to fix it the right way -- we'll have a smoother ride with the shock.   Many thanks to the kind staff at the Grand Canyon KOA for helping us out by receiving these two packages!!

We leave around 1 pm and stop at the campground store where they help us make reservations for the Grand Canyon Railway for tomorrow.  We head toWillams and  the Grand Canyon Brewing Company for lunch only to discover they only brew there but Cruiser's diner is right beside them with their beer on tap.  This diner is right out of the Route 66 legacy, complete with gas pumps and signs.  Even the ladies bathroom stalls are made out of old chevy car doors with a cloth curtain!  [If you haven't guessed, Williams is on the Mother Road.]

Alexandria, Isabella, and Scott at Bearizona

We decide to head to Bearizona- a drive through wildlife park.  We totally enjoy the ride through the park and love seeing the animals.  We see mules, bison (white and brown), Dall sheep, bighorn sheep, bear and wolves on the car drive through.  A bison came very close to the truck but let us proceed on.  We all liked watching the bear and a few of them got up and crossed the road and walked around for awhile, which really let us see them.  We caught the tail end of a large bird show and saw a falcon, owl, barn owl all do tricks with their trainers.  The larger owl swooped low enough in passing over the audience that I felt it on my head.  It was very interesting.

We walked through the remainder of the park and saw more bear, goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, ducks and bobcats.  The girls and Scott really enjoyed the petting area where Isabella loved the bunnies the most.  Scott and Lexi liked the pigs the most.  We left the park and headed to the grocery store – a must do for today.  I was shocked at the prices of things.  I got a member card and we saved over $30 but I really think the bill was about $50 more than it would have been at home!!!  

Isabella and Cutie-Pie

We get back to the campground and we cook up dinner and put away groceries.  The campground offers Pony Rides (actually 1 pony, 1 horse), and Scott takes Isabella for a horse ride around the campground. She chooses Cutie-Pie, the larger of the two and loves it.  Early bedtime tonight since we have to catch the train at 8:30am.  Seems like we have to set an alarm a lot more on vacation than normally.

Quote of the Day:  “Holy crap, that’s a big poop!”  [Can you guess who said it, and why?  Post your guess in the comments section.]