Southwestern Haul

Warren Mary Ellen

Warren Mary Ellen

Ranger
Almost ready to head West again this summer. This time it will be the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches/Canyonlands & Mesa Verde. Looking for BBQ in Memphis and may hit Hot Springs on the way back home. McClards BBQ if we get there. Got everything cleaned up, just have to finish packing and will be heading out early Monday morning. Our daughter will be heading to school at the University of Pittsburgh in August so this may be one of the last big family trips we do for a while. Hoping the Stanley Cup is wrapped before we head out. If it is going to end tonight, the Penguins better score in the next few minutes.
 
A great itinerary! We did those parks last summer (except for Grand Canyon) and loved them all. I would definitely include Zion if you can - a hike up The Narrows of the Virgin River is an incredible experience. And the Angel's Landing hike is a dizzying trek with big payoff views.
Maybe those Penguins can wrap it up Sunday...

Have a great trip!
 
Loaded. Going to bed in a few minutes so we can get up and hopefully beat Morning Rush Hour in Atlanta. I will have to be on the road by 5:00am to make it out the western side and on my way to Alabama and beyond. Depending on how the day is going tomorrow, we may get some BBQ or Ribs in Memphis.
 
Two days in and we have made it to Amarillo, Texas. 1253 miles to get here from SC and a couple of plates of ribs in Memphis along the way. Camped in Little Rock last night at the KOA there.Tonight we are at the Oasis RV Resort in Amarillo. Nice place, very new and mostly big RVs but was convenient to I-40. Tomorrow we go to Santa Fe where we will stay a couple of days before heading up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
 
Got up this morning and discovered one of the running lights was missing, both cover and bulb. We hit a cooler top somewhere in Oklahoma and it must have busted it. The pic above it is still there but now. I was in the middle lane with cars on either side of me. Could have been worse I guess.
 
Try Black Canyon federal Campground or Hyde Memorial State Park just outside of Santa February. We have an extra lens if you want to shoot up to Salt Lake City...
 
Talked to Craig with Camp Inn and he is shipping one to one of the places we will be camping at next week. Thanks for the offer and I'll keep those campgrounds in mind because when we leave from Mesa Verde I'll be back in this area again before making the slog home to the Palmetto State.
 
Here's a link for Black Canyon Campground Santa Fe - Black Canyon Campground
and a couple screenshots...
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Finished 3 days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon camping at Jacob's Lake. Got in some hiking at Cliff Springs Trail and went down a mile on the Kaibab Trail. Our daughter did a Mule ride on the rim. On the way from Santa Fe to the Grand Canyon we met some Camp Inn owners as we pulled into the Hubbell Trading Post Historic site we spotted another Camp Inn heading into the Post. We talked for a few minutes. They were headed home with Stella to Santa Fe where we had just come from.
Woke up early this morning and made the drive up to Bryce and got set up in North campground for the next 3 nights. From our site we can see another Camp Inn 560 Ultra but I have not talked with them yet. Been on the road for a week today so we are doing some laundry.
 
Got in a couple of hikes today here in Bryce. We did Bristlecone Loop and Mossy Cave. First time here and we absolutely love it . Tomorrow morning we are going to do Sunrise Hike.
 
Sunrise hike earlier today down the Queen's Garden Trail and back to rim on the Navajo Loop Trail. Absolutely beautiful and may be my new favorite trail as well. Really cool to go down in the canyon and look up at the rim. Tomorrow morning we will be up early to move to Capitol Reef.
 
Loved our two days at Capitol Reef National Park. Hiked to Hickman Bridge, through the Capitol Gorge, Ranger talk at the Petroglyphs, and pie at the Gifford House (Strawberry rhubarb). Fruita Campground is now one of our favorite places to camp, very quiet and great sites. We backed up to the apple orchard. Today, we drove drove up to Moab and we will be here for 3 days to do as much we can in the heat at Arches and Canyonlands, maybe Dead Horse State Park. We are in Canyonlands RV resort which so far is nice and we found about here on this forum.
 
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Arch at Bryce Canyon
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Sunrise hike down to the Queens Garden and back up the Navajo Loop
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Navajo Loop to get out of Bryce Canyon. One of the nicest hikes we've done anywhere.
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Mary Ellen while we were camping at Fruita in Capitol Reef NP.
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Mule deer in the apple orchard directly behind us Fuita Campground. Site 33 and several others...
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At Capitol Reef National Park
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