Meadview RV Park – Meadview, AZ

Our trip to Meadview came with a few surprises. There weren’t any state parks along the route we were taking so we decided to stay at an RV park for a few days. As we came closer to our destination, we discovered signs for the western rim of the Grand Canyon pointing in the direction we were heading. It turns out we would be spending the next few days just minutes away and had no idea. We were actually not planning on visiting the Grand Canyon yet, but due to poor planning and map reading on our part, we decided to make visiting the Grand Canyon a part of our stop. Also, as we drove closer to the RV park, we saw all these weird trees everywhere. It took us a minute (and a sign) to realize that we would also be staying in the Joshua Tree National Forest. Sometimes poor planning comes with some fun surprises. The owner of the RV park was very friendly, helped us find our site, and she also showed us a great horned owl perched in one of the Joshua Trees within the RV park. She also informed us that sometimes at night you can see ringtails in the area. Apparently, the ringtail is Arizona’s state animal, and I had no idea this animal even existed. Day one at our new site and we learned a lot!

Later that evening we met another one of the camp hosts that scared Lylah nearly half to death. Earlier in the day, after we had set up camp, Lylah had collected some rocks and had them spread out on the table. We were getting ready for dinner so I asked her to put the rocks outside and clean the table. As she opened the door and took one step outside, we heard a bloodcurdling scream as she slams the door shut, eyes big with terror, and tears running down her cheeks. Standing on our steps, right outside the door, was what we believe to be an Alaskan Malamute. Lylah, who came face to face with her in the dark thought there was a wolf on our doorstep. The next day we found out her name is Bella, and she likes to introduce herself to all the new campers. The kids and Bella became quick friends after that.

The next day we decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon since we were already so close to the western rim, proof that we have absolutely no idea what we are doing and are just winging it. We thought we could just drive to the Grand Canyon, park in a parking lot and check it out, similar to any of the national parks we have already visited. Maybe that’s what you do at the other gates, but when we got close to our intended destination we were stopped by security and told to park in a designated parking lot, go into a tent-like building, and pay for our bus that would take us to the Grand Canyon. Uh, okay. While we were paying for the bus ticket we also found out that the glass bottom skywalk was at this entrance, so we purchased tickets for that as well. After our bus dropped us off at Eagle point, we explored a bit and took some pictures, then stood in line for the skywalk. Rules of the skywalk are that they only allow so many people on the skywalk at one time and you cannot bring ANYTHING with you while out on the skywalk. You have to check all of your belongings into a locker before proceeding. Rylen put on a brave face and walked the skywalk, but his fear of heights made it a challenge. We were not able to take any pictures while we were out there, but they did have photographers on the skywalk that take pictures for you to purchase. We wanted to have something to remember our experience by so we bought one of the pictures of us out on the skywalk. The look of terror on mine and Rylen’s faces are sincere. We were both eager to get off of the glass bottom skywalk.

After the skywalk we boarded the bus to head back to the truck, but to our surprise we went in the opposite direction to a different location. Initially, we were just going to stay on the bus and head back to the parking lot, but thought maybe we should checkout the site. We are so glad that we decided to get off the bus at this stop. The bus had taken us to Guano Point, which turns out to be one of the most dramatic viewpoints of the Grand Canyon. We had a lot of fun exploring this area and taking breathtaking photos. The view of the landscape gave a perception of drop-offs, so we had fun taking pictures with the illusion that we were falling (rest assure, we all had solid footing on the ground and not actually near any edges).

Over the course of the next couple of days we were hit by a freak snowstorm. The locals said that they have never seen anything like it. Apparently, this winter has been a weird one for winter weather. We tried to escape the snow this year, but it still found us. I did get some really neat pictures from it though.