Southwest Road Trip

A lazy afternoon spent staring at the giant map hanging on our office wall, combined with some friends who were planning on hiking Havasu Falls, led to an idea. And it didn't take long for that idea to evolve into a plan. A very loosely hashed plan, that I hope to brain dump about here from time to time.

So anyways. The plan? A Southwest road trip. Fly into Vegas, rent a camper van (it's a thing!), and head to the Grand Canyon. Spend a couple days, then drive up to Utah-- specifically Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. We'd see as much as we could, and then make our way back to Vegas. Enjoy a night there, and then fly out the next morning.

And that was a great plan. Until some friends mentioned they'd done the same trip, only they'd gone west and touched the ocean. In less amount of time than we were planning on taking for our trip. April spent one of her younger years living in Huntington Beach, and even if she couldn't remember much of the time, we would be so close... and oh, on our way there we could see Death Valley National Park. And Sequoia. And King's Canyon. Plus a chance to pass through Joshua Tree National Park on the way back. 

And what city would we be not too far from at that point? Sedona, Arizona, with its vortexes and its awe-inspiring red rock formations. Which, at that point, you're not that far from Petrified Forest National Park, either. 

From there, it's back to the original destinations-- the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce. Relax and hike around for a few days, then Vegas. 

We'll see what the final itinerary looks like, but I think it's a solid start. Four states, eight national parks, and over thirty hours in the camper van (which may be upgraded to an RV-- undecided, there). Should be good!