Travel across American Southwest

[jcolvin2]

This coming week, I will be travelling from San Antonio Texas to Los Angeles by car (for reasons beyond the scope of this post). My current plan is to travel through West Texas, maybe take in Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns. Then I will travel North to Santa Fe/Taos (where I will stay at El Monte Sagrado - an amazing luxury hotel). From there, I am undecided. I would like to travel across Southern Colorado or Northern New Mexico, then on the parks of Southern Utah. If anyone has any recommendations in this area, I would love to hear them.

[Judge Roy Bean]

How long do you have?

[jcolvin2]

I need to drop my kids (age 16 and 13) at LAX for a 3 pm flight to Seattle on August 9. I am planning to start the trip on the morning of August 3.

[Judge Roy Bean]

I need to drop my kids (age 16 and 13) at LAX for a 3 pm flight to Seattle on August 9. I am planning to start the trip on the morning of August 3.

Keeping in mind you're going to be driving though the hottest part of the summer with teenagers, a lot of what's in northern Arizona and southern Utah is hotter than hell unless you get up in to the mountains, plus it's all scenic kinds of things which can bore kids to death.

The Trinity blast site (White Sands) and Atomic museum (Kirtland AFB) are interesting if you're into raising discussions about nuclear weapons and history.

The tram up Sandia peak is worth it if they aren't afraid of that kind of thing.

Four corners is one of those touristy picture opportunities where you can do stupid things like be in four states at once.

Monument valley is simply breathtaking - again, considering the ages of your passengers is pretty much a "wow, look at that" as you drive for several hours past it.

But - one of the best kept secrets of the Utah/Arizona border is something called the slot canyons (check it out via Google Earth - Antelope Canyon) just east of Page. If your kids have any sense of adventure at all you can spend days in them and fill megabytes of memory cards. It's truly unforgettable.

If you have time the trip up to Bryce Canyon (as suggested above) is another "holy cow, look at that!" kind of thing and it's higher in altitude so it's not so blisteringly hot. It's another one of those where you drive along and turn off to viewpoints and you have no idea what's in store until you pull into the parking area, get out of the car and join the gawkers.

Zion National Park is a little more like Yosemite - you drive in, hit the visitor center then figure out which of the big scenes you want to see.

The Grand Canyon is so big one or two days just won't do it justice - you have to go down in it or its just a lot of places to take pictures.

Hoover Dam is just a dam; it's more interesting if you've seen the documentary about making it.

I wouldn't waste time in Las Vegas, but then again, you have kids along and there are some seriously cool things for them there.

Beyond that, the rest of the trip is a yawner, IMHO, unless you want to check out some out of the way airports where people have collections of old warbirds.

Good luck!

[jcolvin2]

Thanks, JRB.

[wserra]

Beyond that, the rest of the trip is a yawner

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy the play?

[Judge Roy Bean]

Beyond that, the rest of the trip is a yawner

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy the play?

Seriously - the trip on I-15 from Las Vegas to L.A. is (or was) a yawner unless you're into desert exploration and counting semis.

[Prof]

Let's see if I can give you an route that might work.

Leaving San Antonio, stop for lunch at Junction at Cooper's BBQ. Not the best in Texas, but good.

If you are going on to Carlsbad, you'll head out I-10 to Pecos and turn north to Carlsbad.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE GUADELUPE MTNS THIS TIME OF YEAR. The are just too hot. Go on from Carlsbad to Santa Fe. Go to Los Alamos -- home of the Manhattan Project -- or one of the 3 homes.

Go back from Santa Fe towards Alberquerque and turn North to go up to Aztec and then on to Chaca Canyon. This is the most marvelous Pre Columbia site north of Mexico. Go due north from Chaca to Aztec (see the reconstructed Kava) and due north from Aztec to see Mesa Verde. From Mesa Verde, head west towards Shiprock and the Monument Valley. Go South from Monument Valley to Canyon de Chelley, home of the Navajo.

Head for LA. You've run out of time, but you haven't even touched the Utah parks or the Grand Canyon, which will be terribly crowded in August.

Even as hot as it is going to be, and you will find Chaca to be miserable, the other sites should be ok, including de Chelley as long as you don't try to walk up and down the Canyon Wall.

Sorry about the spellings, if I messed them up. I didn't take time to check.

[LaVidaRoja]

If you go through Winslow Az, stop at La Posada. It is the old Harvey House and is a very nice hotel (you can't hear the trains 50' away) and has a WONDERFUL resturant. By all means order their "Signature Soup" It is a terrific concotion of black bean and white corn soup poured into the bowl in two parts, then swirled into a ying-yang pattern.