The American Southwest
It’s a place of history, legends, and possibly more wide open spaces than anywhere in the Western hemisphere. A place made magical and mystical by its first inhabitants, the Native Americans, who respected and worked with the land. A place so incredible, it was chosen and immortalized by dozens of Hollywood films; where nature has carved out such spectacular natural attractions that it is listed on many bucket lists as a place to see before you die; a place where time stands still amidst the human measure of time. This is the American Southwest.
Long ago, as I teenager, I was lucky enough to take an extended trip all over the American and Canadian West. Coming from Long Island, New York, this was my first real eye-opening trip as to “what was out there” and I was immediately bitten by the travel bug and entranced by the Rocky Mountains and the American West.
About a decade later, I packed up my New York City apartment, grabbed my skis and moved out West. But that’s another story.
This story is about dragging my two tween daughters on a trip to see the wide open spaces right next door to their own home state, while also retracing the honeymoon trip, I took with my husband 17 years earlier.
After about an eight hour drive that took us off course because of a forest fire near Silverton, Colorado, we arrived via Cortez at Mesa Verde National park. We spent our first two nights at Mesa Verde. Frankly, I did have a bout of desolationphobia*. It’s really in the middle of nowhere, but so worth the panic attack I had from being so far from a Whole Foods. When you experience the homes and the community that the Native Americans built hundreds of years ago into the cliffs, and their amazing culture and history, you will be wowed. I highly recommend visiting this National Park. Tip: You may also consider buying a lifetime national park pass. I think over time it is really worth it if you plan to see a bunch of Americas national parks.
When we finally arrived in the evening after our long drive down to Southern Colorado, I was very glad we booked lodging right in the park at the Far View Lodge, which was incredibly convenient and has a relatively impressive restaurant with great views. The Kiva lodging rooms left a bit to be desired, and the wifi only worked in the main lodge, which only added to my desolationphobia. But, it was great to be on site since it takes about 40 minutes from the entrance to get to the attractions in the park. After the long drive the previous day, it was great to not have to do more driving that morning. You need to sign up for the tours as soon as you arrive in the park and can sign up for them independently or with a bus tour, but I don’t recommend the bus option; they are much more expensive and you have less flexibility in planning your day. It really wasn’t that hard to find parking and we liked being on our own schedule. So the second day of our trip we woke already in the park and we took two tours, the first, of the Balcony House, in the morning, which does involve climbing up a very tall ladder and squeezing through a fairly small but very short tunnel. It was very cool and we felt quite accomplished after the tour! We had lunch, cooled off and visited one of the museums which had some great artifacts. After lunch we headed to the Cliff Palace for our second tour, which is far more tame than the Balcony House but extremely impressive. For more information on the visiting the park, on site lodging, dining and the guided tours, check out the Mesa Verde Website.**
After spending the 2nd night at the Far View lodge we continued traveling southwest on Day 3 towards the Grand Canyon. I made my family stop at the four corners for a photo and you would have thought I was torturing them. So no cute photo to show, they were too grumpy. It’s totally kitchy and a bit of a tourist trap, but I am glad I can check it off my list, even though it cost a small fortune to get in. If you remember that this is Native land that was stolen and then given back, you don’t feel bad about paying the fee and supporting this business. While it’s just the plaque and stalls of crafts, some are pretty impressive. However, it’s really also in the middle of nowhere and someone told me it’s not even the actual spot where the 4 corners meet.
We continued on, driving through northern Arizona and stopping in Kayenta, which has an incredible display honoring the Navajo code talkers from WWII. I was completely fascinated by the story of the code talkers, who helped to win the war for America by creating a code in the Native American language that the Nazi’s were never able to break. The most unique thing about this particular exhibit is it’s location. It’s in the Burger King on Highway 160. There is literally nothing else around, so when you enter Kayenta, you kinda can’t miss it and it’s a great pit stop.
Driving onward via Highway 160 we stopped in Tuba City which also has a really neat Trading Post and Code Talker Museum. You have to ask to see the museum as it’s tucked behind the trading post.
I think it was about 4 hours from Mesa Verde to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There’s not a lot I can say that hasn’t been said about this wonder of the world, other than it is grand. Go. It’s really amazing and beautiful. It should be on everyone’s bucket list. It’s pretty hot in June, and that’s when we went on this trip, so if you do want to hike into the canyon, fall would be a better option, plus it will be less crowed than summer. If you are not going to do a lot of hiking, one day and night is perfect. It’s enough time to take a couple of walks along the rim, stroll a mile or so down into the canyon if you wish (please be careful – really, one slip and it’s adios), visit the Kolb Studio or one of the other museums or visitor centers, listen to a couple of ranger talks about the flora, fauna and animals, have an amazing dinner at the restaurant at El Tovar and also have another amazing breakfast there the next morning.
We stayed in the Annex, next to El Tovar and with an amazing rim side view. The rooms are very nice rooms and are lower priced than at El Tovar.
After the “rugged” part of our trip, it was time to head due south to Sedona and stay for two nights at the same resort we stayed at on our honeymoon, The Enchantment Resort. Seventeen years later and what did I remember most about it? The prickly pear margaritas! Let me tell you, it was very nice sitting by the pool sipping that delicious concoction once again. (Actually twice again, I had two!)
At The Enchantment, we relaxed, we hiked a bit, we played tennis, ate, took meditation and exercise classes and participated in a really cool star-gazing class with astronomers to tell us what we were looking at. The rooms at the Enchantment were lovely and the food was spa-like. It was a really nice get-away and I think it was the kids favorite part of the trip. Like their parents, they seem to appreciate a little luxury now and then. It was also fun to bring our kids back to the spot where we took our honeymoon.
As we headed home on Day 6 via Moab, Utah, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the natural formations and sculptures mother nature carved out for us to enjoy. I kept pointing them out to the girls but I think they were watching a movie on their i-pads. Probably one that was shot in the place we were driving through!
This trip through the American SouthWest felt like a right of passage that I wanted to share with my kids. While there was a bit of complaining of long hours in the car, I think they will look back on the trip and really appreciate the immense beauty of our country and the history of the people who came before us.
