The wife and I are planning on taking a vacation out west. While we have done a bit of traveling, neither of us have visited much of the Southwest, so we wanted to do that late this spring.
At this time we are planning on about 2 weeks, starting from the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Right now the plan is to leave on a Friday morning with the two of us and a dog, and head west to Carlsbad, NM, where we will stop for the night. Saturday will be spent checking out Carlsbad Caverns, and the local town, and probably stay the night, then head up to Roswell on Sunday. We arent big alien people, so just some time being tourist, and probably try to make Albuquerque that evening. Following day will be over to the Flagstaff/Sedona area, which will probably be our "base" are for the rest of the week.
We are wanting to do some sight seeing and offroading in the area, so we will be planning on the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Vermilion Cliffs, Antelope Canyon, The Wave, Cathedral Rock, etc. Also considering some stuff like hot air balloon ride, Grand Canyon tour, off road drive your own vehicle tours, etc.
From there plan on heading up to Southern Utah for the Red Cliffs, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase monument, etc, on the way back to TX.
We wont be going up to Moab on this trip, nor going into Nevada or CA, those will be follow-up trips. Dont want to get too far into really difficult offroading, as neither of us have a lot of experience, and we will be alone, a long way from home. But we do want to get off the beaten path, have some fun and adventure, and get in some sights. Dont mind hiking some, but the wife is dealing with some medical issues right now, so I dont want to plan on long hikes.
Anyone have any ideas, thoughts, things I am missing and should see, particular trails or roads, to hit or avoid, etc?
Thanks much!
At this time we are planning on about 2 weeks, starting from the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Right now the plan is to leave on a Friday morning with the two of us and a dog, and head west to Carlsbad, NM, where we will stop for the night. Saturday will be spent checking out Carlsbad Caverns, and the local town, and probably stay the night, then head up to Roswell on Sunday. We arent big alien people, so just some time being tourist, and probably try to make Albuquerque that evening. Following day will be over to the Flagstaff/Sedona area, which will probably be our "base" are for the rest of the week.
We are wanting to do some sight seeing and offroading in the area, so we will be planning on the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Vermilion Cliffs, Antelope Canyon, The Wave, Cathedral Rock, etc. Also considering some stuff like hot air balloon ride, Grand Canyon tour, off road drive your own vehicle tours, etc.
From there plan on heading up to Southern Utah for the Red Cliffs, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase monument, etc, on the way back to TX.
We wont be going up to Moab on this trip, nor going into Nevada or CA, those will be follow-up trips. Dont want to get too far into really difficult offroading, as neither of us have a lot of experience, and we will be alone, a long way from home. But we do want to get off the beaten path, have some fun and adventure, and get in some sights. Dont mind hiking some, but the wife is dealing with some medical issues right now, so I dont want to plan on long hikes.
Anyone have any ideas, thoughts, things I am missing and should see, particular trails or roads, to hit or avoid, etc?
Thanks much!