American Southwest Roadtrip: 17 Days

David and I spent a few months planning an American southwest road trip. To be precise, it was I that poured through guide books and websites, since I live for that kind of thing, and David would say yay or nay whenever I showed him my newest route plan! It works well for both of us :)

Our initial plan covered a massive loop covering Las Vegas (as the port of entry/exit due to cheap plane tickets) and AZ, NM, CO, and UT. However, I realized that although we would have 17 days (including arrival/departure) to do the circuit, I needed to calm down and be realistic about what we would be able to achieve if we actually wanted to sleep.

The final plan consists of:

Las Vegas, AZ, the tip of CO, and UT. More specifically, Vegas - Grand Canyon - Flagstaff/Sedona (New Year's) - Page (access to Horseshoe Bend/Antelope Canyon/Vermillion Cliffs) - Monument Valley - Four Corners - Mesa Verde - Moab (access to Arches/Capitol Reef/Dead Horse/Canyonlands) - Cedar City (access to Bryce Canyon/Zion NP) - Las Vegas.

Let's see if that happens, shall we?

How did we choose the route? We googled images of natural parks "in winter" to see how much snow appeared in the photos, haha. If it was a light dusting, it was a go! Anything more was a hard no. We also made sure to reserve an SUV well in advance so that we would be able to do unpaved, 2WD roads in the parks.

The route is mostly centered around nature and national/state/tribal parks. We both love being outside and hiking, though we are fairly casual hikers. 6 miles is the maximum, and even that better be a damn good hike :) Considering that it's late December/early January, the route may change if mother nature so demands. Neither David nor I feel capable of driving in heavy snow/ice, so we'll detour somewhere else if there's a storm. We also have brought books/movies with us if we get snowed in anywhere!

We know we'll be driving a lot, so we picked destinations that will include scenic views. Half the fun is being able to see how the land changes!

Finally, while we aren't shoestring travelers, we do try to be budget minded since we make Colombian pesos. All hotels were deals found on booking.com. If any of them are particularly good, I'll mention it. Food-wise, we will have a cooler in the car full of groceries for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. If the location has decent dinner options, we'll eat out.  And of course, the car will always have chocolate in it.

If there are any unanswered questions, feel free to shoot me a message!