Shake Down Trip, Part One

June 2016

We decided to go to the Grand Canyon for our first trip since neither one of us has ever been there.  We like to research anything we 'think' we want to do first before actually trying it.  This can be good and bad.  Since we have no experience RVing and know nothing of RV campgrounds except for YouTube and Google we of course Googled campgrounds at the Grand Canyon.  We decided to stay two nights at Trailer Village at the South Rim.  We went shopping for all our grocery necessities, packed the RV and off we went.

We have two little dogs, a chihuahua and a chihuahua/terrier mix.  We were a little apprehensive on how well they would do in the RV with all it's squeaks & rattles but they did fine.  The older one, Bailey who is the chihuahua, slept on the couch, her bed on the floor and my lap.  She really felt at home.  Ellie, the chihuahua/terrier mix, didn't like the RV as much as Bailey.  She spent the whole trip riding on my husbands lap or mine.  We're hoping she settles in the more we travel.

The ride to the Grand Canyon was exciting for us newbies.  One thing I want to mention is the park pass we purchased; America the Beautiful; Senior Pass.  Now, you can ask any of my friends or family members about me and Senior Discounts. I always said the day I'm eligible for senior discounts you bet I'm taking advantage.  No way am I hiding that I'm now 55 and eligible for all those discount goodies!  This is one of those times, not for me though as I don't yet qualify but my husband does :-)  This pass is a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime pass for U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over. The pass provides access to, and use of, Federal recreation sites that charge an Entrance or Standard Amenity. All for the one time price of $10!  It came in handy at the Grand Canyon as the entrance fee is $30 per vehicle.  You can check out more about the various park passes here: https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/fees.htm.  I highly recommend buying a pass if you qualify.

My husband is super with navigation which came in handy when we were driving around trying to find Trailer Village.  If it were left to me we would still be driving around lost.  We arrived at Trailer Village where we checked in and received our site number.  The site was very nice as is the rest of Trailer Village although not a lot of shade.  They are the only RV park located inside the Grand Canyon with full RV hook-ups. The first thing to do was hook up all the necessities; electricity, sewer and water.  However, my husband thought that since we had a big enough black water tank he wouldn't hook up the sewer hose until the last day.  While we were setting up we had a surprise visitor, an Elk!  She just strolled into camp taking a look at us while munching on the grass as she nonchalantly walked by.  The dogs really didn't take notice, which I was thankful for because I didn't want them to start barking and disrupt our neighbors.

Once settled we decided to to take the shuttle to the Market Plaza where the Yavapai Lodge, general store, gift shop, Chase bank and connections to other shuttle buses will take you around the Grand Canyon.  We looked around and headed back to camp where we made dinner and sat outside for awhile.  It's nice to sit outside in the peaceful surroundings of nature and not be inundated with technology. We didn't have WiFi or cell phone reception and we didn't miss it!


More to follow.  Until next time.


"Adventure is out there"