Our first-ever trip to Williams, Arizona had us barefoot on a mile-long trail, and marveling at actual bear feet — safely, of course! With a side course of dinosaur poop. It’s Williams, Arizona — on the original Route 66!
This particular destination included three V.I.P.’s, our three eldest grandchildren — Connor (5), Violet (3-1/2), and Graham (3). They have individually been on RV trips with us, but never as a group! Color us “brave!” And tired.
There are lots of fun things to do in Williams, including a train that goes to-and-fro the Grand Canyon, 50’ish miles north; a cute, compact downtown; and a wide variety of Route 66 attractions, including a mash-up of “Lightning McQueen” and “Mater” from the Cars movie franchise, which runs on repeat in our house, in front of a curio shop.
The Poozeum (get it?) is a unique museum with the world’s largest collection of “coprolite,” better known as fossilized poop. You heard me. It’s perfect for the 3-5 age group to whom poop is a regularly-acceptable topic of conversation. This tidy storefront is free to enter, with every poop pun you could ever dream up in full display, and a really good time for a quick visit. Where else can you see the World Record T-REX turd, 26×6″ and weighing 30 pounds? Only at the Poozeum, which the New York Times calls the “Sh–tiest Museum in the World.” Ba-duh-dum, we’re here all week folks. https://poozeum.com/
Speaking of poop, if we see y’all on the road and you need help dumping your RV sewer, we have three experts in tow — they know what hooks where, and which levers to pull, and how to know when it’s empty. They even claim to be able to recognize whose waste is flowing by in the tube viewer. And any/all of them are available for lend!
Bearizona is a 160-acre, drive-through wildlife park. A long line of vehicles snaked along the 3-mile treed route on this busy holiday weekend, but you can repeat the loop as many times as you like, and there is a separate walking area more like a traditional zoo, with animal encounters/shows, plus the requisite ICEE machine.
We sprung the kids from their carseats for the occasion (don’t tell their moms, although we never went above 5 MPH) so they could hang out the windows, except in the bear and wolf areas, where stern signs warn of dire consequences (mostly dismemberment) if you don’t put your windows back up. My pictures are pretty lame, mostly ’cause I was fielding questions and wrangling children, but it was really cool! Ibis, and white wolves, and bison, and bears … oh myyyy! https://bearizona.com/
The Barefoot Trail, about 20 miles east of Williams in the middle of Forest Service land, was our favorite excursion. It’s a mile-long manicured trail with a bunch of fun activities and adventures along the way! You’re meant to do it barefoot, but our mid-afternoon time slot meant it got a little hot halfway through, so the shoes went back on in the sunny areas. It’s for all ages, but of course kids love it — what kid doesn’t want to be barefoot 24 hours a day?
The founder was inspired to create the park after visiting a similar barefoot trail in Belgium while living in the Netherlands, and they lean into the health/reflexology benefits, but mostly it’s just DARN FUN! Walking through troughs of mud, skipping along smooth stones, following labyrinths, climbing on slacklines and in hammocks and counting trolls as you go along … your inner child will thank you! Highly recommend! https://thebarefoottrail.org/
KOA campgrounds often have activities for kids, especially on holiday weekends. Besides multiple hours trying to drown Philip in the pool (how many times can kids scream “Watch Me, Papa!!”? Answer: A LOT), we also played bingo, defied gravity on the jumpy-jumpy thingy, and made tie-dye shirts.
The biggest draw for these city-slicker kids, however, was dirt, rocks and sticks … just as it should be, with regular and unlimited infusions of s’mores. Plus hanging out in the big rolling fort, a.k.a. the RV.
RV America Magazine recently published our latest article, “Let It Go” 10 RV Travel Worries That Aren’t Worth the Stress.” I’m not sure any of these items could compare with the stress of inviting three kids under age five to RV with you for three days, but it all worked out perfectly … so much so, that we’re already planning the next one.
Our Summer ’26 RV Trip has been delayed by a month, with an anticipated July departure. Philip has been a repeat customer at the local hospital this spring (despite their refusal to issue Frequent Visitor Rewards), with an unplanned emergency appendectomy, quickly followed by a surgery on a disk in his neck. Then today, June 2, he had a major 5-hour surgery to fuse four levels of his crumbling spine, which went swimmingly.
He’ll need a month to heal, and then we’ll spend the summer rehabbing on the hiking trails and lakeshores of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Eastern Oregon and Washington. We’ve got that RV Travel itch, needin’ a scratch!
Loved, loved, loved every aspect of this post, Tessa – except, of course, the part about Philip’s medical “adventures!” I smiled and laughed my way through the entire thing. Nicely done (as always), my friend! What a fun-filled, spectacular, challenging, exhausting and memorable expedition for the Millers! Please give Philip a (very gentle) hug for me. Alan and I wish him a fast and complete recovery, along with a pass on future hospital visits for a long, long time. Enjoy your summer travels! ❤️