My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

You might check into the helicopter tours....it's been a number of years since I was there but it sure is beautiful !! Your wife is going to go nuts with all the photo ops....sunrise and/or sunset can be absolutely mind boggling.

Donkey Ride!

Grand Canyon Skywalk

The canyon is amazing. I used to make the trip to LA a lot. My trip was Memphis to amarillo. Amarillo to flagstaff. Then on in to LA. Flagstaff is a cool town. A day is not enough, but if your wife is into photo ops. She will be a happy camper.

If you can manage the time, I am staying at Phantom Ranch next time I go.

My son hiked Bright Angel trail down and up in one day---I had better start working on being in shape for that one.

I havent been, but i hear its gourge-ous.

have fun if you hike and keep an eye out for the bear that threatened the brady bunch.

My brother works there. He's over the parks in the region - not sure which ones but he works mainly at the GC - nice office huh? I have been and it will take your breath away. I have never seen any picture that does it justice. If you have the extra time I suggest a drive up to Utah to explore Bryce Canyon. It is one of the most surreal landscapes I have ever seen. Well worth a day out of your plans.

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

Mrs. HLT is going to have a field day with the camera. I have been and it is too hard to put in to words how awe inspiring the canyon is.

On your way to Ouray if you have time, make a stop in Durango. If your kids are going they will love the coal powered train that is there and the scenery on the train ride will give your wife some warm up time before reaching the canyon.

I have done the donkey thing for the overnight trip to the bottom...and it was fabulous. You have to see the canyon from the bottom as well as the top to fully appreciate the grandeur and beauty. If I was trip planning, I would stay on I-40 because you can have a great time and never be more then an hour off of the interstate.
First off, hit the BIG TEXAN in Amarillo for the 32 oz. steak, lol. Next you will see the Cadillac Ranch where Caddys are sticking out of the ground. Albuquerque is next with its OLD TOWN section but you need to head north to Santa Fe where food, cool vibes, and scenic locales are there to be had. After you get back on I-40, you will see CRATER NATIONAL PARK and PETRIFIED FOREST. Next, you hit Flagstaff to go north to the GRAND CANYON but you can also head south to Sedona and the gorgeous Oak Creek Canyon. Since you are going into Colorado, you need to come down to Taos before Santa Fe. That requires you to eat at Michael's Kitchen. Oh yeah, say hi to Randy Travis and Gene Hackman who you might well bump into there...they love the food there.

I went and it sucked. Went in on foot, left in a helicopter...

But try to make it to havasupai falls, and that whole area where the havasupai people live, its awesome.

(01-08-2009 11:34 AM)TigerChick Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

Mrs. HLT is going to have a field day with the camera. I have been and it is too hard to put in to words how awe inspiring the canyon is.

On your way to Ouray if you have time, make a stop in Durango. If your kids are going they will love the coal powered train that is there and the scenery on the train ride will give your wife some warm up time before reaching the canyon.

This is definitely a me and her trip. It'd be waaaaay too tempting to leave one of them in the desert after listening to them fight for over a thousand miles...LOL.

(01-08-2009 11:48 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 11:34 AM)TigerChick Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

Mrs. HLT is going to have a field day with the camera. I have been and it is too hard to put in to words how awe inspiring the canyon is.

On your way to Ouray if you have time, make a stop in Durango. If your kids are going they will love the coal powered train that is there and the scenery on the train ride will give your wife some warm up time before reaching the canyon.

This is definitely a me and her trip. It'd be waaaaay too tempting to leave one of them in the desert after listening to them fight for over a thousand miles...LOL.

So, I assume you will be driving thru Albuquerque? If so, if you want any tips on where to stop for food around here , let me know.

(01-09-2009 10:14 AM)clew901 Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 11:48 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 11:34 AM)TigerChick Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

Mrs. HLT is going to have a field day with the camera. I have been and it is too hard to put in to words how awe inspiring the canyon is.

On your way to Ouray if you have time, make a stop in Durango. If your kids are going they will love the coal powered train that is there and the scenery on the train ride will give your wife some warm up time before reaching the canyon.

This is definitely a me and her trip. It'd be waaaaay too tempting to leave one of them in the desert after listening to them fight for over a thousand miles...LOL.

So, I assume you will be driving thru Albuquerque? If so, if you want any tips on where to stop for food around here , let me know.

Absolutely. Give us some recommendations for a good Mexican place semi-close to 66.

Everybody remember the scene from Vacation when Clark takes the money out of the register, runs out to the wife looking over the Canyon, sort of nods and shakes his head and says "lets's go"? I swear that was the childhood memory of my only visit to the GC. We got there about an hour before sunset, did the whole look out into the big ditch thing, ran into the gift shop to buy one of those "I rode the donkey down the canyon" shirts and kept heading back East to Flagstaff. I'd love to go back one day.


Amarillo by morning!!!

I have been and I would second the recommendation to be there at sunrise and/or sunset. We went at mid-day and it really wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. Since you're there for the day, you should definitely take the time to explore as much as you can and learn about what you see. A helicopter tour would be great. One day is hardly enough to go down into it any other way and come back out in the same day while being moderately thorough about it.

My wife and I saw the Grand Canyon and the South Dakota Badlands on the same trip. We camped at the Badlands and that made all the difference. The landscape there was fantastic, and in my opinion the Badlands blew the Grand Canyon away. See as much of the great Wonders of the West as you can. When you live in the east, you really can appreciate all of the majesty of the Rockies, the Arizona desert, the high plains of Montana, the Pacific Coast Highway... the list goes on and on.

(01-08-2009 11:44 AM)Strat57 Wrote:  I have done the donkey thing for the overnight trip to the bottom...and it was fabulous. You have to see the canyon from the bottom as well as the top to fully appreciate the grandeur and beauty. If I was trip planning, I would stay on I-40 because you can have a great time and never be more then an hour off of the interstate.
First off, hit the BIG TEXAN in Amarillo for the 32 oz. steak, lol. Next you will see the Cadillac Ranch where Caddys are sticking out of the ground. Albuquerque is next with its OLD TOWN section but you need to head north to Santa Fe where food, cool vibes, and scenic locales are there to be had. After you get back on I-40, you will see CRATER NATIONAL PARK and PETRIFIED FOREST. Next, you hit Flagstaff to go north to the GRAND CANYON but you can also head south to Sedona and the gorgeous Oak Creek Canyon. Since you are going into Colorado, you need to come down to Taos before Santa Fe. That requires you to eat at Michael's Kitchen. Oh yeah, say hi to Randy Travis and Gene Hackman who you might well bump into there...they love the food there.

Sedona is way cool. Any trip to that area, requires lots of film.

(01-09-2009 10:14 AM)clew901 Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 11:48 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 11:34 AM)TigerChick Wrote:  

(01-08-2009 12:13 AM)HLT 2011 Wrote:  My wife and I are setting out on a road trip for a week in June that's gonna include a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We're leaving on a Monday and driving all the way to some little town in Kansas to spend the night. Then we're spending Tuesday and Wednesday night (which is our anniversary) in Ouray, Colorado at this bed and breakfast that her uncle owns.

From there, it's on to Flagstaff. We'll be spending all day Friday at the Canyon, and we'll be heading towards home the next morning, stopping in Amarillo for the night.

We're planning on taking Route 66 from Flagstaff to Amarillo.

This is pretty much a dream trip for my wife, the photographer. And I'm all about road trips, so I'm pretty excited myself.

Anybody ever been to the Canyon?

Any tips on what to do or see on any other part of the trip?

Mrs. HLT is going to have a field day with the camera. I have been and it is too hard to put in to words how awe inspiring the canyon is.

On your way to Ouray if you have time, make a stop in Durango. If your kids are going they will love the coal powered train that is there and the scenery on the train ride will give your wife some warm up time before reaching the canyon.

This is definitely a me and her trip. It'd be waaaaay too tempting to leave one of them in the desert after listening to them fight for over a thousand miles...LOL.

So, I assume you will be driving thru Albuquerque? If so, if you want any tips on where to stop for food around here , let me know.

I am jealous, lol. If I were that close to Santa Fe and Taos, I would be in heaven.

In all my travels when I worked as an ironworker, I never got to see any of that. Sounds like a great trip! I went to Colorado twice, but never even saw a hill (east side).

I would love to travel the West someday.

If photography is part of the reason for the trip. The Canyon in early morning and as the sun sets is at its best. But, you must take a side trip to Antelope Canyon. Its a short drive.