To start out, and to get some practice, I'm going to put up a few posts about some trips I've done in the past. I'm going to start with one of my favorite trips I've taken....
The Southwest in the Snow
with ShyAnne and Amanda
December, 2007
In December, 2007, I took my nieces, ShyAnne and Amanda, on a trip through the Southwest. We had a terrific time and it's a great trip to take with kids. Most people do this trip in the summertime and there are crowds and crowds of people. We did it in the winter and found very few people. It's really neat to get to see some of these places without so many people in the way, making noise and crowding in front of you.
We took off one morning and headed south to Bakersfield and then east on Highway 58 to Barstow. One of my favorite stops out in the Mojave Desert is at
Barstow Station. It used to just have McDonald's, but now there also is a Panda Express, a sandwich place, and a Popeye's Chicken right next door. Kids love it because they get to eat in an old rail car!
From Barstow, we hopped onto I-40 for the boring drive across the Mojave Desert. Not too many places to stop out there. After a potty break in Needles and crossing the Colorado River into Arizona, we took the first exit onto old, old Route 66. It's the Oatman-Topock Highway and it leads us to the old mining town of Oatman. Just outside of Oatman, we ran into the wild burros that roam the area. They are quite friendly and come right up to you, especially if you have carrots or apples or something else they like to munch on.
The town of Oatman itself is fun, as well. It has several shops to check into, although many are closed in the wintertime. Make sure you bring some carrots along for the burros, or a few extra bucks to buy some there, as some of the stores in town sell them.
We made it to our first night's lodging in Tusayan, the town on the edge of Grand Canyon National Park. The next morning we checked out the
National Geographic Visitor's Center and IMAX film about the Canyon, which is a great place to get your bearings on what to do while there.
We spent the rest of the morning walking along the snow-covered South Rim of the Canyon and made our way to the El Tovar Dining Room for lunch. It is an exceptional experience to have a meal there. The food was delicious and the service, impeccable.
After lunch, we made our way back to the car and drove eastward along the canyon rim. There are several overlooks along the drive and each one brings a new perspective to the canyon. Visiting in the wintertime adds another dimension, with the bright white of the snow really bringing out the colors of the canyon.
Just south-east of the Grand Canyon are two National Monuments;
Wupatki and
Sunset Crater. Wupatki is a collection of old Native American ruins and Sunset Crater is an ancient volcano cone. We did some quick exploring of the ruins and got to Sunset Crater just as it was getting dark. The scenery in the area is amazing and both are worth the visit.
Our next night was spent in Page, Arizona. It sits just south of the Utah border and next to the Glen Canyon Dam, which forms Lake Powell. We stopped to see the dam the next morning.
We continued north into Utah and visited
Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce Canyon has some of the most beautiful desert scenery ever, and when you add a layer of snow, it just pops! We were dumb enough to have decided to do one of the hikes... down into the canyon area. If there is snow and ice in the area, I wouldn't recommend it, as it was quite challenging for us to make the climb back out, although it was an amazing hike.
After we left Bryce Canyon, we made our way west towards
Zion National Park. We encountered some wild turkeys along the way...
The girls thought it was quite funny when I got out and chased after them... I told them if I caught one, it could be our Christmas dinner! At Zion, we had a great time exploring the natural areas... our favorite was the trail along the Virgin River at the end of the Floor of the Valley Road. We ran into a few deer... yes, Amanda pretty much ran into them before they hopped over the fence and out of the way.
After dinner in St. George, Utah, the last night of the trip was spent in Las Vegas. That evening we drove up and down the Strip and checked out
New York, New York,
Excalibur, and
Luxor. Amanda really wanted to ride the roller coaster at New York, New York, but she was too short to ride. We had Krispy Kreme donuts for a midnight snack at Excalibur before heading back to our room for the night. The next day, we parked the car at
Bellagio and checked out some of the places in that part of the strip. The lobby of the Bellagio was all decked out for Christmas. We also enjoyed the trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower at
Paris!
Since Amanda couldn't ride the coaster at New York, New York, we stopped at
Buffalo Bill's in Primm and rode a few of the rides there before heading back across the Mojave Desert, Tehachapi Mountains, and back up Highway 99 to home. It was a terrific trip and one I'd recommend highly... beat the summer crowds and have a winter adventure in the Southwest!
