American Southwest trip thoughts

DeanRIowa wrote:
Good questions and the answers for us:

• See native American sites, especially those of Anasazi(that's mine)

As I mentioned above, Mesa Verde may be the best of the bunch, with both cliff dwellings and mesa top ruins. In that area, you might enjoy a stop at the Anasazi Heritage Center north of Cortez, CO near McPhee Reservoir. Really nice museum and they can direct you to other sites nearby (Canyon of the Ancients NM). Hovenweep (the Utah part) is kind of out there, but worth the trip.

DeanRIowa wrote:
Thank everyone very much for the suggestions above. I made changes to our itinerary after reading through the thread. I did extend our nights at some locations and skipped Las Vegas.

busskipper wrote:

So for me I always ask what is the Mission? see locations? visit friends? drive around the country? explore new terrain?

Good questions and the answers for us:

• Visit the Grand Canyon
• Scenic Drives
• See native American sites, especially those of Anasazi(that's mine)
• See friends if driving nearby there homes

Thanks again everyone. I will post for specific stops in later threads.

Dean

Let me just suggest Canyon de Chelly it will be well worth your while ,and is on the way.

BOL,

We spent five days at the South Rim, didn't hike, and felt we didn't have time to see all that we wanted at a leisurely pace.

So we are going back for 3 months at the North Rim as volunteers.

One issue we had was it took the wife two days to get comfortable with the elevation.

If u don't hike much, why 3 days at Grand Caynon? I have done both rims and mostly it is hiking which we enjoy.

Thank everyone very much for the suggestions above. I made changes to our itinerary after reading through the thread. I did extend our nights at some locations and skipped Las Vegas.

busskipper wrote:

So for me I always ask what is the Mission? see locations? visit friends? drive around the country? explore new terrain?

Good questions and the answers for us:

• Visit the Grand Canyon
• Scenic Drives
• See native American sites, especially those of Anasazi(that's mine)
• See friends if driving nearby there homes

Thanks again everyone. I will post for specific stops in later threads.

Dean

Skip Vegas. There are other places to gamble and see shows, but there aren't other places like Zion, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon. If you're going in the summer, places like Sedona will be blisteringly hot.

The road to Chaco Canyon is long and rough. Might not be someplace you want to take your trailer. A better choice might be Mesa Verde. If you're going in the summer, Mesa Verde is higher up and cooler. Nice CG up there and paved roads the whole way! Besides it's more on the way between Bryce and Pueblo.

2gypsies wrote:
Since you're going thru Albuquerque, Los Alamos is mentioned above. However, in the same area is Bandelier Nat'l Monument with some nice Indian ruins.

If you're going to Grand Canyon South Rim you could exit via Hwy 64 east to Hwy 89. Then the Flagstaff area also has some good ones to explore: Take Hwy 89 south and before reaching Flagstaff you'll come to Sunset Crater Nat'l Monument. Right at the park entrance is a lovely forest service campground, Bonito. Then drive through Sunset Crater and you'll come to Wupatki Nat'l Monument with excellent ruins. This road is a loop so continue on and it'll bring you back out to Hwy 89. Flagstaff also has Walnut Canyon Nat'l Monument - more ruins.

Then if you're heading to tour Sedona, I'd suggest staying in nearby Cottonwood and Dead Horse Ranch State Park - very nice. A couple miles away is Tuzigoot Nat'l Monument and also Montezuma Castle Nat'l Monument is nearby. Also near is the funky little town of Jerome but don't take your RV up there. You can see the lights of Jerome from Dead Horse Ranch State Park - pretty.

There is clean, safe and inexpensive RV parking with hookups at the Los Alamos County Visitors Center in White Rock,NM. It is about 9 miles from Bandelier and 8 from Los Alamos.

We did a day trip last summer to Chaco and the road in is very rough. We stayed in Bloomfield. I would stay there and do a day trip. If you have an extra day you can also do Four Corners and Monument valley from there as well. See the Aztec ruins NM too. Very close by Bloomfield and almost as impressive as Chaco.

If you are interested in Native American and History check out Valley of Fire near Vegas Here

C'mon, guys. Different people have different camping styles... sometimes out of necessity.