Grand Canyon South Rim
Grand Canyon South Rim
Visiting the south rim of the Grand Canyon with an infant was very easy. The rim trail is mostly a handicap accessible trail, with lots of shady benches (logs) and views right from the concrete path. We have an Uppababy Vista stroller with good wheels that also helped with some of the rougher parts of the path, but certainly wasn’t necessary. Some of the viewpoints required walking down a short set of stairs, so we ended up trading off watching our daughter while the other took photos. The Yavapi Observation building is an air conditioned building right on the rim trail, with beautiful views of the canyon and explanations of the geological history of the canyon. There’s also bottled water for sale, and restrooms in the parking lot nearby (but no change table, oddly enough). We also drove the East Rim Drive, and checked out many of the views from the pullouts – for some of them we didn’t even need to get out of the car.
While the Grand Canyon is beautiful, and very impressive, it certainly didn’t awe us as much as other places in the world have. We couldn’t quite put our finger on – but for us it just doesn’t rank among the most beautiful natural places in the world.
Pizza Factory, Williams, AZ
Pizza Factory, Williams, AZ
That evening we ate at the Pizza Factory. It’s across the street from Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe. The restaurant is very casual – you order at the counter and seat yourself. Most of the tables are picnic tables with plastic table cloths. They do bring your food to your table. Ian had the Route 66 special pizza and I had the vegetarian – we would recommend both. There was lots of choice in toppings, and the pizza was very good. There is also a salad bar which seemed to have a decent number of choices.
Hi, We will be driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon with a seven months old infant n a 7yrs old boy in mid June 2011. It’s so great to hear that you did it before. We are from Asia, this is the first time we being to USA. It will be great if you can advise what are things we need to take note along the drive n clothes to prep our baby n boy. Do we need to prepare snacks or there will be plenty of resting n restaurant along the way? We seldom bring our baby out for long drive so will it be possible /safe at all to drive without putting our baby on the car seat? Just want to in case she starts becoming cranky due to the long drive. Appreciate your advice.
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Wendy replied on May 29th, 2011 5:38 am:
Hello! What an exciting trip! We would definitely recommend bringing snacks (including drinks) along with you. The distances between places to stop are too far for a hungry child. (Besides, snacks can be a great distraction!) When driving, your child must be restrained properly in a car seat at all times. This is taken very seriously here. The good news is that there will be plenty of places to pull off the road should either of your children need a break from the car. The desert is hot during the day, but can get cool at night. We would recommend bringing jackets and at least one pair of long pants (trousers). These could also come in handy on the plane as sometimes it can get very cold on flights. The US is a perfect place to take a road trip. The road’s are in good repair, destinations are signed clearly, and there are plenty of wide open spaces to explore. We hope this answer is helpful! Have a wonderful trip!
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