Do you have a national parks pass? It's only $50 and will get you into all of the np's for a year. They usually give you a booklet when you buy one and it lists all of the np's and a little bit of info about each. I just bought a new pass last week. They were out of the booklets. If I can find the info they gave me, I'll post on how to request a booklet. We went to the Davis Mountains in Texas a couple of months ago. We ran into several retired rv'ers that were traveling around to various parks. Some had just left Big Bend, stayed at Ft.Davis and visted the fort and then were driving into New Mexico to visit the Guadalupes (sp?) and Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Bandelier and others. These people seemed to plan a 2 or 3 night stay at each campground and then moved on after they had seen the main attractions. We moved here to NM a couple of years ago and visit enough parks that the pass pays for itself. Of course, we target a lot of other things in the are, not just the NPS.

Lordamightee. I've been looking at these pictures for the last 15 minutes, and I still can't pick a favorite - thankfully, I don't have to. But, I will say, the picture of Makayla tucked into bed, is the sweetest. Btw, the spot you chose to set up camp, looks just like one of our little hideaways, up in Luddington. Wonderfully Zen-like. So, AB, will you be up for the challenge again, next year? Uh oh, I'm picking up distress signals from planet Annie. Sol

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip and glad you all enjoyed it. That's a lot to cover in 11 days! Dh and I drove across country right after we got engaged, starting in No. California. We'd both been to the Grand Canyon before, but while living in Hawaii, we met a guy who grew up in AZ. He told us about this canyon adjacent to the Grand Canyon that he and his family used to hike into - the trail ends in an Indian reservation. We decided to do it on our trip across country. I'm not sure what we were thinking...while physically fit, we weren't big hikers and it was a 10 mile hike down, it was 100+ degrees (middle of July). We camped overnight and then hiked back out the next day. I was never so happy to get back to our car with A/C! From there we were headed to Denver, so we drove up through Utah along some deserted 2-lane highways, but the scenery was spectacular. We didn't make it to Bryce or Zion, but we have vowed that once all of our kids were old enough to appreciate, we were going to do a trip like yours. We'll probably just do Sedona, Grand Canyon, and then one place up in Utah. I assume you were driving from place to place? Did you get to stop at any of the pueblos? Those were really pretty cool. I agree with you about Vegas. Once was enough for me. We stopped there too on our trip from San Fran down to AZ via L.A then San Diego (our trip was very convoluted as we were all over the map visiting friends along the way). We just had an overnight in Vegas, but did hit a casino just for fun. Totally not my thing at all. Just too much for me. It was neat to experience once, but I have no desire to head back. Did you see the Hoover Dam too? Probably not as I imagine that wasn't on your way if you were coming from Utah. If you have any specific kid-friendly info of places you stopped, please share! I'm taking note of the Pink Jeep tour! Glad you had a great time but totally understand being a little bit too much togetherness! With four kids, I get that when we are having to stay in hotel rooms for any length of time.

Casey: how long is a "few days"? If you go thru north, then Valley of Fire SP (beautiful), Hwy 15 IS my DH favorite road to drive on, Springdale and Zion NP, Mt. Carmel tunnel and hike on the east side of it, Checkered mesa. If you have enough time: Bryce NP and Kodachrome SP. If not head south-east to Rt.67 to north side of Grand Canyon. Then to Page for a hike thru Antelope Canyon (I like Lower better). Then around to Rt 64 (Rim drive). It is all very scenic but a lo-o-ong drive. If you only have time for GCanyon: drive thru the Rim drive. If you have time to hike, November is a good month to go down to Colorado river and back in one day. If not all the way down, then atleast to Ahh Point from Yavapai point trailhead. Grandview trail is nice (steep) short hike. Yuo can take bus to Hermit point and hike along the rim back to village (9 mi) or take bus along the way back. Sunrise is good at Mather Point. Sunset at Hopi point (must take bus) or down at Ahh point (must hike). Good luck :o)