We took a detour to see the Hoover Dam as we left Vegas and it was really, really incredible. What an enormous project that took so many years and took some lives of the men who were working there. We honestly felt like our car was going to blow up from the amount of power cables and towers everywhere. I think this was our hottest stop at 110 degrees. I now understand why Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings – I wouldn’t want an extra hour of that intense heat either!
Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon is something I will never forget. This has been a place where I have wanted to come for many, many years – for obvious reasons. The scene doesn’t even look three dimensional, it looks like a beautifully painted landscape. We decided to head to the campground to set up our tent and eat some sandwiches before heading back to the lookout point to watch the sunset. From that point we couldn’t see the actual sun setting, but the colors that reflected off of the rocks was awesome. Mather Point was very crowded though, so we decided that the next night we would venture a little off track and go to a point further east so we would have a better view of the sun.
We obviously wanted to take complete advantage of our only full day in the park – which we knew would be semi-difficult in the middle of July because of the heat. We kicked it off bright and early by going on a 7am ranger-guided hike about a mile and a half into the canyon. This was from the South Kaibab trailhead, and although the size of the group was huge, we decided it was time to do a ranger guided activity. Ranger Rob pointed out several things that we would not have noticed on our own, and gave us a lot of history behind the canyon and the current wildlife. The hike down to the river would have been an additional 5.5 miles – and not a terribly intelligent hike to do during the day in the middle of July. We were quite satisfied with this length and difficulty level of the hike. It got hot fast – so we were glad to be done climbing out around 10am.
We spent the afternoon on the Rim Trail on the western side of the park. We would generally walk about a mile, then hop on the shuttle for a few stops, then hop back out to continue walking. It was a great way to see a lot of views from the rim, without overworking ourselves and staying cool/hydrated.
After heading back to the campsite and having some dinner/washing up a bit – we hopped on a shuttle to Yaki Point (on the east side near where we had been early that morning). This overlook gives an awesome view both of the sun and the canyon, so it was perfect and we had PRIME seats – definitely the best seats in the house (probably because we were perched on a rock and people did not want to get that close to the edge). I think I took about 50 photos of the sunset – of course these are the best of the best.
On to Santa Fe!! So this stop originally made the list when my friend Steve was kind of contemplating joining us for this trip and he mentioned that he had family in Santa Fe. Well, after he bailed, he still kindly asked his cousin Sandra if she would host us for a night in Santa Fe. She graciously said yes! As it turned out, she was going to be in Vegas the night we were going to be in Santa Fe. She STILL said we could stay at her house and make ourselves at home – so we did just that! It was such a cute house and Aly and I fell in love with Santa Fe. The architecture is so unique to that region and the downtown Plaza area of historic Santa Fe was precious. We now understand where the state motto “The Land of Enchantment” comes from. Sandra had some great suggestions for shopping and eating, and we took them and ran with it. The jewelry made by the local Native Americans is absolutely gorgeous – but unfortunately most of it is out of my budget range. We did find some reasonable things that we bought which made us super happy.
After shopping (and lots of window shopping) we settled down for a few beers at the Marble Brewery then headed to Hall of Fame Cowgirl for some authentic New Mex Tex Mex. We both thoroughly enjoyed the food and drinks and headed home thereafter to throw in some laundry and take showers. After 4 short hours of sleep, we were on the road around 5am and saw an awesome New Mexico sunrise.
We had reservations for a ranger guided tour at Carlsbad Caverns at 11am, and it was about a 5 hour drive so an early departure from the lovely Santa Fe was necessary. We were dead tired in the car this morning, but after a crucial stop at Sonic for some coffee and shakes, we were good to go. Arrived at Carlsbad Caverns around 10:30, perfect timing for the tour- which was AWESOME. Ranger Amy was great and we got to see the King’s Palace – the original section of the cave that was discovered by Jim White in the early 1900s. The rooms we got to explore are only open for ranger guided tours and they were absolutely beautiful. The formations were so cool and knowing the history and stories behind the cave really added to the experience. Super glad we did the guided tour - and then we did the self guided 1.2 mile tour through the Big Room, which is open for everyone to browse. Each time we turned another corner we were wowed by the cave formations. Super, super awesome place – and just so different from other stops that we have made on this trip.
So far our marathon day has been successful – we are hoping to arrive in Austin by midnight. Literally just a sleeping destination, and possibly breakfast in the morning. This will be our longest driving day – probably 14 hours total. We are planning on stopping for a solid dinner at some point in Texas – looking forward to that!
HIGHLIGHTS:
The free shuttle system at the Grand Canyon was awesome – we definitely utilized it and it made seeing the park way easier and it was super convenient.
Ranger Rob at the Grand Canyon – what a freaking character. His sq
uirrel imitations were quite hilarious…
We were pleasantly surprised that the Grand Canyon was not as crowded as we were expecting. I guess because every single lookout and viewpoint is epic, that the crowds are more spread out rather than all clustered at the same main spots in the park.
Since we didn’t make it to Death Valley, we decided to insert the Petrified Forest on our itinerary – so we stopped there for a quick visit en route to Santa Fe! Pretty damn fascinating.
Sunsets, sunsets, sunsets.
Shopping, drinking and eating in Santa Fe! Cutest little downtown area.
Winning $5 on a lottery ticket!!
Guided tour at Carlsbad Caverns – Ranger Amy was great. The pictures are awesome. I also accomplished what I consider to be my most successful plank yet.
As we were leaving Carlsbad Caverns, a huge thunderstorm was rolling in and we could see the rain just sweeping across the field towards us. So cool.
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS:
We unfortunately did not see a California Candor. Of course, we knew that would be a rare sighting, but it would have been epic to see a bird with a 9+ foot wingspan.
Packing up the tent and sleeping bags for good! I think about 1/3 of the total trip was spent camping and besides the night in Yellowstone where we were terrified of getting killed by grizzlies, we slept very well in the tent!
Getting a little lost while trying to find LilMoos after having dinner at Hall of Fame Cowgirl. Obviously we weren’t paying too much attention. Thanks Andy & Chad for picking up my calls and guiding us in the right direction!
We’ve been collecting the WPA (works progress association) lost art postcards, which are the original art pieces from the Federal Art Project that were rediscovered. We have not found the Crater Lake one! Badlands never had one that was recovered, but we are determined to somehow find the Crater Lake card.
We wish we had more time at Carlsbad Caverns to see the bat migration that happens at dusk. I have seen one before (in Lake George about 8 years ago) and it was awesome.
Thank you SO much to cousin Sandra for your generous hospitality and letting the two of us stay at your place when you weren’t even there! It is greatly, greatly appreciated – and hopefully you won when you were in Vegas!! Loved the Southwest! I will be back!!
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