Mesa Verde, Durango, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Grand Canyon, Sedona
A version of this trip was booked for July 2021, but Covid canceled our plans last minute. We are so glad we were finally about to return to the places Ryan took his Japanese tourists during the summer that we dated (2003). He loved sharing all the sites with the kids and me and seeing how things have changed over 21 years.JUNE 29 - DAY ONE - Sat: Travel
We woke up early (you'll see this is a theme for the whole trip!) and drove all-day to Durango (14 hrs).
JUNE 30 - DAY TWO - Sun: Mesa Verde
We left for Mesa Verde at 6:30 am. We stopped at a couple overlooks on the way.
Montezuma Valley Lookout
Park Point (on the way into the park, highest point, 360 degrees views of the area)
Far View Sites Trail (1 mile paved path w/ 5 villages, reservoir)
It's hard to get guided tour tickets, but we successfully got two sets for the day. We loved our first guide!
9am Cliff Palace Tour - 45 min tour, crown jewel, uneven stone steps, four ladders, 1/4 mile walk
After our tour, we drove to other overlooks, like House of Many Windows and Hemenway House Overlook. Hemenway is named after a woman who helped raise funds to create the park back in the 1920s!
After finished the East loop, we drove to the overlooks on the .Mesa Top Loop. We saw Pithouse, Navajo Canyon View, Square Tower Overlook, Pithouse & Pueblo, Mesa Top Sites, Sun Point View, Oak Tree House, and Sun Temple (best view of Cliff Palace).
Then it was time for our second guided tour. This guide was kind of annoying and not very knowledgeable, unfortunately.
12 noon Balcony House Tour - 1 hr tour, 32-foot ladder, 18in x 27in tunnel extending 12 ft long, 66-foot open cliff face with uneven stone steps, two 18-foot ladders to exit
After climbing up from Balcony House, no small feat, we hiked Soda Canyon Overlook Trail (1.2 mile walk, best view of Balcony House). Then we had a picnic near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and walked around. Wow, this "museum" is greatly in need of a remodel! Super lame and smelled funny. Haha. A short time there and we headed to the Spruce Tree House Overlook behind the museum. The house is now closed, but it is the third and best preserved cave dwelling.
We were all done with cave dwellings by now, so we headed back to Durango, grabbing Zia Tacos. A thunderstorm was rolling in, but I really wanted to walk along the Animas River Trail right by our hotel. It was raining and there was lightning in the distance by the end. Good memory!
JULY 1 - DAY THREE - Mon: Durango/Travel/Monument Valley
This day was a little stressful. The night before we realized it was going to storm all day in Durango, and we had planned to hike to a waterfall in the mountains. So we found a neat alternative, outside the path of the storm. We drove to Natural Bridge National Monument.
First, we hiked down to Sipapu Bridge, about 1.2 miles to bottom.
Then, Ryan & Ethan hiked back up to the car, and the rest of us 3 miles along river bottom to Kachina Bridge.
After meeting up again, we hiked up from the river bottom (1.3 miles to the top), and ate a well-deserved sandwich at the Kachina Bridge Overlook. Last, we drove to the Owochowa Bridge Overlook. Then it was onto Monument Valley (3 hrs).
We opted to drive around Monument Valley, which is part of the Navajo Nation and was $8 pp. Ryan downloaded an audio tour that worked using our GPS. Pretty cool!
Our full-day ended with dinner at our Kayenta hotel at the Reuben Heflin Restaurant, which is the most highly rated for authentic Navajo food, including fry bread & Navajo tacos. The fry bread appetizer with honey was delicious!
JULY 2 - DAY FOUR - Tue: Travel/Buckskin Gulch
We were up early for our 3-hr drive to Buckskin Gulch. where the last 8 MILES was a very rough dirt, sand, and mud "road." We hiked 4 miles through the slot canyon.
 |
 |
| Heart-shaped rock find |
After this long, hot hike, we drove to Page, AZ, about an hour away. We got ice cream at Scoops, and visited the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Center. We were grateful it was finally time to check into our hotel and quickly headed to the pool, which strangely didn't have any deck chairs. Fail for this reader. Afterwards, we had pizza in our room and slept well.
JULY 3 - DAY FIVE - Wed: Page/Travel/Grand Canyon
Another early morning with another hotel check-out! Now we were headed to Antelope Point Marina, only about 20 mins away. We filled our giant paddleboard and two regular ones and started out on our 2-mile paddle to Lower Antelope Canyon.
We discovered that our sneaky way into Antelope Canyon wasn't so sneaky as we arrived to many, many kayakers hiking in the canyon. We walked about 2 miles into the slot before turning around, because we still had a 2 mile hike out AND another 2 miles of paddling. So hard and so worth it!
Time for a quick grocery trip to Walmart, lunch at McDonald's, and a refill of gas, and we were off for the Grand Canyon (3 hrs).
After stopping at some overlooks, we checked into our hotel and took much-needed showers. Then we hopped on the Red Shuttle to Hopi Point, barely making it in time for sunset.
Instead of heading straight back to the room, we walked along the Bright Angel Point Rim Trail, which is a 1-mile paved sidewalk.
JULY 4 - DAY SIX - Thu: Grand Canyon
Early morning! We wanted to see the sunrise, so we walked to Mather Point, arriving at 4:45 am. It was just behind Grand Canyon Visitor Center, and the sun peaked over the edge of the North Rim about 5:20 am.
Heading back to the hotel, I took a short nap before we all headed to the start of the South Kaibab Trail, where we hiked down to Ooh Aah Point. It was 1 mile down and 1 mile out. Whew! This one was steep! But the views were beautiful!
We then headed to Yavapai Geology Museum, which was actually super well done and very informative. I highly recommend it! Behind the museum is the Trail of Time, which features rocks and placards through the timeline of the formation of the canyon. It was amazing! Ethan stomped on EVERY year marker, and I loved it!
Finally time for lunch, and we hopped on the shuttle to the Maswik Cafeteria, which is a great option for families. We shared ribs, bbq sides, and a pizza.
Knowing we still had a long evening ahead of us, we headed back to the hotel for more napping. When everyone was awake (and received their nap-bribe candy), we grabbed souvenirs at the Market Plaza. They definitely had the best selection for kids.
Now we drove to Tusayan, a small town 14 mins south of the park. We had Wendy's (Frosty's were necessary!), and we watched the native Navajo dancing. The boys enjoyed speaking with the owner of the evening's drone shown.
When it got dark about 8:30, we watched the drone light show.
JULY 5 - DAY SEVEN - Fri: Travel/Sedona
Checking out of our hotel yet again, and we headed to Williams, AZ, just an hour away. It's not like our family could skip this one!
We sat in the town's bleachers near the Grand Canyon Railway and watched a silly wild-west reenactment.
After the little play, we drove to Sedona, about 2 hrs. This town was full-to-overflowing, and our plans to swim at Slide Rock were thwarted. Luckily, Ryan saved the day finding a public parking lot that wasn't full at the River Verde in Cottonwood - Tuzigoot. We pumped up the paddleboards again and swam in the 107 degree sun.
Afterwards, we headed into town for ice cream at Rocky Rd, which was the best ice cream we had all trip. Last, we swam at our hotel and ate Subway in the room.
JULY 6 - DAY EIGHT - Sat: Sedona/Travel
Last real day! We awoke at 4:30 to get a parking spot at the Boynton Canyon Trailhead. We hiked 7 miles to Subway Cave, by taking a right about 2 miles into the canyon. It was absolutely amazing, and my favorite hike of the week.
We returned to our hotel for breakfast and checking out and started our LONG trek home with 8 hours to Las Cruces. We treated ourselves to Mexican at Chilito’s next door to our hotel for dinner.
JULY 7 - DAY NINE - Sun: Travel
Last day, for real. Checking out in Las Cruces, we finished the 8 hours more to home. We got back about 5 pm.
