kansasmom

We just got back from eight days in Arizona and New Mexico -- what a great trip. We drove over 2100 miles total and stayed in four different hotels/motels/condos. This was hubby (age 45), me (43), and our 13-year-old boy/girl twins.

Day One: nothing too interesting today...drove to Albuquerque. Stayed in a Hampton Inn free on points. The kids were bummed because it was 65 degrees and raining hard, so it was a little cold in the outdoor pool.

Day Two: Drove to the Grand Canyon. On the way, we stopped at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. This was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. We skipped the visitors center to save time though and just did two short hikes.
We went in the GC through the eastern entrance, which had almost no line to get in. Then we drove along toward the village, stopping at all the points for pictures. What can I say about the view? Amazing and something everyone should see!! These viewpoints were not particularly crowded (and this was the last week of July). The kids loved hearing all the different languages...based on what we heard and saw, the tourists seemed to be almost 50% foreigners. It seemed that we especially heard a lot of German and Japanese.
We stayed at the Yavapai Lodge for three nights. I know others just insist that you must stay right at the rim, but Yavapai was great for us. There was plentiful parking, and it was only a short walk to the grocery store, shuttle bus, and cafe.
By the way, the shuttle buses worked well for us. We took them several times. At times, we had to wait quite a while for one (because of long lines of people), but this was not a problem.
Dinner that night was at the Yavapai Canyon Cafe. Loved all the choices here...maybe it isn't gourmet cuisine, but it suited us fine. Pot roast, fried chicken, hamburgers, etc. We ate here three times during our stay. Couldn't beat the convenience!
More to follow later...

ElendilPickle

You caught us during monsoon season. Believe me, 65 degrees is a welcome relief from the triple-digit temperatures we've had recently!

Enjoying your trip report and looking forward to the rest.

Le eAnn

kansasmom

Thanks, ElendilPickle. We knew it was the rainy season when we came, and it definitely was. We encountered rain every single day, but it seldom stopped us from anything we wanted to do.
To continue -- Day Three: We woke up early to hike part of the South Kaibab Trail. We only went down 1 1/2 miles, but that was enough. Beautiful views, but very steep. They were doing some construction on the trail, so twice we had to wait for a worker to bring some stones down the trail in a wheelbarrow.
After lunch (Yavapai Cafe again), we walked around the main village area, buying souvenirs and taking in the sights. It was unbelievably more crowded in this area, and parking was at a premium. We also attended the ranger talk on condors, but unfortunately we never actually saw a condor at the park. I forgot to mention that the previous night we attended the outdoor ranger talk on mammals in the park. It was very well done and enjoyable.
For supper, we ate at the Bright Angel restaurant. The menu is actually quite limited, but we enjoyed it. I had the trout.
After eating, we tried to go to the rim to watch the sunset. We had gone back to our room, so we then decided to walk to the rim from Yavapai. Normally, fine, but not that night, because it started to downpour when we were just a few minutes away from the rim. We had umbrellas with us, but we still got completely drenched, and the sunset was completely obscured. Oh well.

spirobulldog

looking forward to the rest

kansasmom

Continuing on with Day Four: With the sunset having been rained out, we decided to try to see the sunrise. Wow...sunrise is early in Arizona!!! This was somewhat successful-- it was a cloudy morning, so we saw the canyon gradually getting lighter, which was neat, but we did not get to see the sun itself rising over the horizon.
Back to the hotel, where daughter managed to go right back to sleep while the rest of us got ready for the day.
Next was our bike ride with Bright Angel Bikes (if I'm remembering the name correctly). If you google grand canyon + bicycle, it should come up. Anyway, this was WONDERFUL, and I am so glad we did it. They fitted us with bikes and helmets and took us by shuttle to one of the points along Hermits Rest Road (I forget which one, but it was one of the eastern ones.) This road is closed to private cars, so the only traffic along it was the occasional shuttle bus and a few pedestrians. We rode west on the Hermits Rest Road, stopping at all the viewpoints. At several places, we were the only ones there!! The quiet was wonderful, not a single man-made noise, at least when I could get my son to stop talking! This solitude was amazing to me, considering how crowded the village area is. By arrangement, the bike shuttle was waiting to pick us up at Hermits Rest. Loved this ride...having the canyon in view as you bike along was just so cool!
After lunch (Yavapai Cafe again, which really irritated my daughter), we left the GC. Time to check out and move along. We stopped in Tusayan and saw the IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon. Some cool moments, but not a highlight for me. The kids liked it though.
Nothing else too interesting then...just started the drive to New Mexico. Spent the night at the Motel 6 in Holbrook. For the 12 hours we were there, it was fine.
Sorry this is getting long...just my way of reliving everything, I suppose. More to come...

kansasmom

Day Five: Drove to Red River, NM. We go there about every other year, usually meeting my parents and siblings. We always stay at the Edelweiss Condos. Plenty of space to spread out in, very nice warm pool, and you can park right by the condo.
Day Six: Went horseback riding with Red River Stables in the morning. Beautiful ride up into the mountains. After lunch, we went drove down south of Taos to go rafting. We've rafted several times before, so all of us (except my parents) opted to go in the "funyaks", which seem to be a cross between a raft and a kayak. Very fun, and a LOT more paddling than the raft trips.
Day Seven: Hiking -- all day! We woke up at 4:00 and left the hotel at 4:30 am to start up Wheeler Peak. This is the highest mountain in NM at 13,161 feet. This may not sound impressive, but you gain a LOT of elevation in the hike. We started at the Middlefork Lake Trailhead. Much of it is a beautiful hike, but it just gets very tiring by the top. I had trained extensively, so my legs had no problem. I did really wish that I lived at higher altitude though -- a few days is not enough to acclimate for serious hiking. The hike took about 9 or 10 hours total; it was 13 miles of hiking.
Day Eight: Driving home to Kansas. Back to reality!!

Ozarksbill

Nothing equals the Grand Canyon for sheer spectaculr scenery. Just the views from various points. Yes, we stayed at Yavapai Lodge and ate in cafe. This isn't a place really for fancy lodging and dining. Anyway glad you did some horseback riding and biking too. So you did climb to the top of Wheeler Peak? I did that myself at age 50. Certainly not in one day. As for the 13 year olds...tough to please them I would guess...BUT they will remember this trip years later. And back to Kansas, yes I know what that is like (son in Wichita and we must moved from SW Missouri).

Bill in Boston

Spivonious

GC is an amazing sight. My wife and I went there this past March (somewhat surprised to see snow on the ground, as we never connected the altitude with temperatures). Did you get a chance to just lie outside and stare up at all of the stars? Living in the northeast, the sheer number of them was simply jaw-dropping.

kansasmom

Yes, Ozarksbill, we did make it up to the top of Wheeler Peak. My son and daughter hiked it with us, as did my 75-year-old father (who is in fantastic shape), so it was great to all get to the top together.
Spivonious, you know, I never just lay outside and looked up (what a great idea!); one night it rained pretty much all night, and I guess I just didn't think of it the other night.
So glad we went to GC -- nothing else like it!!