Southwest Loop

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

In 2024, we spent months planning a 1-month tour of the Southwest. We mapped out an intinerary to visit 7 national parks across 4 different states. We were going to start our loop in Colorado, as Christina was wrapping up a work project in Castle Rock, and then work our way over to Utah, then down to Arizona and New Mexico before ending up back in Castle Rock. Unfortunately, mother nature had a different idea.

Denver Colorado Snow Storm

The day before John was supposed to bring Mack and Air Willy to meet up with Christina, Colorado received 14” of snow. There was so much snow, they shut down I-70, the main interstate connecting Kansas City and Castle Rock. We knew there was no way we could get the trailer through that mess, but we weren’t going to cancel our trip. So, we decided Christina would start driving east, and John would start driving west, and we would see where we met up. That ended up being Dodge City, Kansas. At that point, we decided to head south to get around the storm and spent our first night in the pouring rain, at a last minute campground called Gunsmoke RV park. (Think creepy horror show campground). This was not the ideal start to a month-long journey, but we were off and running.

We believed that traveling with a trailer would give us more flexibility on our trips, and this was the perfect opportunity to prove that out. On the way south from Dodge City, we replanned our entire trip. One of our goals with our new nomadic lifestyle is to see all 50 national parks. So, with a new plan for our trip, we headed toward southern New Mexico to see Carlsbad Caverns.

We had a lot of miles in front of us, and we needed a place to stay on the way down to Carlsbad. So, we decided to try our first Harvest Host, and we were pleasantly surprised! We pulled into the Enchantment Vineyard in Portales, New Mexico. They had a charming tasting room where we grabbed some food and tried some local wine and craft beers. They also happened to be located right next to an Alpaca Farm which added a bit of fun to our stay. Below are some pictures. If you happen to be traveling near by, check it out.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

“I don’t know how to describe the magnificence of Carlsbad Caverns without making it sound like a cartoon or a drug trip or a cartoon of a drug trip.”

Sarah Vowell

Here we go! Eek!

Okay…on to Carlsbad Caverns. Ignoring Christina’s ominous feeling of dread from being under hundreds of feet of rock, Carlsbad Caverns was totally awesome!! You start by walking up to this huge open hole and heading right down into the cave. You follow a paved path, and it seems like you are never going to reach the bottom. Eventually, we were 750 feet below the surface. The best way to describe the cave is “otherworldly”. Around every corner you find yet another amazing view. The main attraction of the cave is the appropriately named “Big Room”. It is a 4,000 foot long and 625 foot wide limestone gallery…one of the biggest single underground spaces in the world. The pictures don’t do it justice, but hopefully they give you a little taste of what it was like.

The Big Room

Walking Down into the Cave

Interior of the Cave

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

While in Carlsbad, New Mexico, we learned there was a less well-known national park about 45 minutes down the road in far west Texas….the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. About the best we can say is that we got to check this National Park off our list.

Look, Mom, we made it to Guadalupe National Park! How, exactly, did this become a National Park?

What did you say? Don’t be talking about Guadalupe like that!!

White Sands National Park

Okay. First things first. The name of this park is completely misleading. Why? Because there is NO white sand in White Sands National Park. Not one grain. What you will find is nearly 230 square miles of white gypsum (like what they make drywall out of). It spreads out for miles in every direction in dune after dune, the largest of which are up to 60’ tall. It is stunning.

It is also quite fascinating. The gypsum washes down from the surrounding mountains to form the dune fields. The gypsum “sand” is water soluble which means it draws up the water that also washes down from the mountains. If you dig a hole just a few inches down you will hit water, and it doesn’t matter if you are digging at the bottom of a valley or the top of a dune, the water is always there. This is what keeps the gypsum in place.

The primary draw of the park is the sheer beauty of it all, but that isn’t all there is to do. Another favorite activity is sledding. Wait, what? That’s right, sledding. We took the opportunity to grab a sled and a bit of wax and hit the slopes, or rather dunes. We have some video below.

Our other highlight was having a picnic on the dunes at sunset.

A bit of a side note….. As this was our first extended trip with our trailer, we would periodically check in with each other. How are we doing? Are we having a good time? How is the trailer working out? Are we ready to kill each other. Up to this point in our trip, all indicators were in the green with one slightly yellow light. After being on the road for about 2 1/2 weeks, the trailer was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic at times. Otherwise, we were absolutely loving it.

A side benefit of all that white gypsum was being able to spot Mack immediately!!!

Tucson & Saguaro National Park

Mission San Xavier del Bac - Founded in 1692.

As much as we loved White Sands (or, should we say White Gypsum?), it was time to move on. So, we headed west toward Tucson, AZ. Our primary objective there was to visit (and learn how to pronounce the name of) Saguaro National Park.

We were successful on the visiting, but are still unclear on the pronouncing. The big names in dictionaries like the Cambridge and the Oxford dictionary say its pronounced suh-gwah-ro. All the non-dictionary people say its suh-wah-ro. Either way it is easier to pronounce than that darn volcano in Hawaii, Haleakalā, which we just called Hock-a-loogie. We also discovered there was a great deal more to see and do once we got there.

Upon arriving, we checked-in to the Lazy Days Tucson KOA campground. We were quickly learning that not all campgrounds are the same. While some can be a bit sketchy (see above comments on Gunsmoke RV Park), others are just the opposite. Lazy Days was one of the latter. It was truly an RV resort. They had multiple swimming pools and hot tubs, a fitness room, basketball and pickleball courts, a huge dog park, a nature area, a peddle cart track, covered parking for your RV, fruit trees at virtually every campsite, and so much more. (It also happened to be located right next door to the Lazy Days RV dealership, but more on that later!)

We found our way to 4th Avenue which is one of Tucson’s more popular and well-known areas. It was lined with trendy stores, good restaurants, and fun bars. At La Yaquesita, we discovered Birria Tacos. Oh, birria tacos, where have you been all our life??

We also found Mission San Xavier del Bac which is a Catholic mission founded in 1692. We were caught completely off guard by this impressive church. It felt like one of the great European cathedrals with a very clear and distinct southwestern feel. Definitely worth seeing the next time you are in Tucson.

As for Saguaro (insert your preferred pronounciation here), it was a cactus-filled wonderland. To be fair, neither of us are big desert people. We definitely prefer mountains, forests, and oceans. It was, however, cool to see so many saguaro cacti in one place.

Smaller side Alter in Mission San Xavier del Bac

Birria Tacos served with consommé. Yes, you dip your taco! YUMMY!

Yep! Another National Park, we are checking them off the list!

Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park

Phoenix

As we began to head north from Tucson, we made a short stop in the Phoenix area. We have visited there before, but, as we always like it and were in the neighborhood, we decided to spend a couple of days.

We stopped by Barnone which is a super cool, cute and unique maker community filled with craftmen, artists, farming, restaurants, and more. We grabbed some coffee and pastries, and wandered through the grounds.

We visited Old Town Scottsdale for the first time and really enjoyed it. It is very historic with lots of unique shops and good restaurants. The Arizona Canal runs through the area and is the center of many events and activities. The Canal Convergence was happening while we were there. It included some very cool, interactive art exhibits, and an interesting and entertaining show that synchronized fire to music in the canal itself.

Another favorite stop was Papago Park. This is a lovely oasis within the city limits of Phoenix. It features a palm tree-lined lake and the locally famous “Hole in the Rock”. Photos below.

If you are in the Phoenix area, Gilbert AZ is definitely worth a visit. Locals refer to their downton area as the Heritage district. It is filled with resturants, shopping, Broadway shows and more. We ate at the OHSO Brewery & Distillery, a dog friendly place with a huge outdoor patio/yard, and an off-leash area for the pups. While we were there, we took the opportunity to give Mack a bath in the local pet spa. All that Southwest dust was playing havoc with his coat.

While taking a hike in North Phoenix, we stumbled across an actual Roadrunner (and of course, couldn’t resist saying “beep, beep” about a hundred times) and a small but impressive car show.

Papago Park - No, that isn’t photoshopped! (P.S. Check out Mack’s hiking boots!)

Carousel - click on images to see more.  Arizona Canal,  Papago park, Barnone, Gilbert, Car show and our run in with a wild burro. 

Sedona

Deep breath, yes, we were still going! Our next stop was one of our favorite places, well just about anywhere…..Sedona. We can’t tell you how much we love this beautiful town. Nestled in the middle of red rock country, Sedona has some of the most beautiful scenery you will ever see.

Chapel of the Holy Cross - high atop the red rocks of the Sedona valley sits this beautiful Catholic church which was named one of the 10 most beautiful churches in the world by Architectural Digest. The church was commissioned by a local rancher and completed in 1956.

In addition to the amazing scenery, Sedona has an active art scene and some delicious food. (Mack even got in on the food action!) We spent much of our time hiking in and around the town.

One of Sedona’s other claims to fame is their “vortexes”, supposed centers of swirling energy with healing properties. We sought out one of the better known ones (the airport mesa vortex), to see what we could see. After sitting in silence next to each other for a few minutes (and repeatedly asking “do you feel anything”), we are disappointed to report that we felt no swirling energy and experienced no healing (although John did have a hang nail that got better a couple of days later).

There were several other areas of interest around Sedona including Montezuma’s Castle National Monument. This is the site of a well-preserved cliff dwelling built between 1100 and 1400. Not far away was Montezuma Well National Monument which is a natural limestone sinkhole through which 1.5 million gallons of water has emerged every day for centuries.

Woods Canyon Trail - Beautiful hike with a creek running along side.

Mack especially loved Sedona. The first restaurant we went to he ordered steak tartare.

Frybread - a snack from a local Native American Indian tribe - a bit like a funnel cake.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

We get asked a lot how Mack likes traveling. Well, he loves going into restaurants and is incredibly well behaved. He also has a fondness for gift shops. He gets very excited when we bring out the trailer and he is always the first to jump in the truck. He spends most travel days just relaxing on his bed in the back seat, but checks in occasionally to see how things are going.

Petrified Forest National Park

The Petrified Forest National Park, located in northern Arizona, is a geologic wonder. 200 hundred+ million years ago, the area that would become the park was located near the equator between mountains and the ocean. Over time, trees fell and ended up in rivers that ran to the sea. They were quickly buried under sediment and thus protected from decay. Over millions of years, minerals began to seep into the wood and ultimately replaced the trees cells altogether. The result was petrified wood. About 60 million years ago, the land was thrust upward by tectonic forces and became exposed to massive erosion. Over millions of more years, the petrified wood became visible on the surface. The result is spectacular.

This park is kind of two parks in one. At the south end of the park is where the majority of petrified wood is found. The north end is known as the painted desert as evidenced by the buttes in the background of this photo. Both areas are really spectacular.

People began arriving in the area about 13,000 years ago. As a result, in addition to the petrified wood, there are several ancient ruins and artifacts in the park as well.

Painted Desert Inn - This building was stunning and packed with lots of history. Today when visiting the park you can stop by and marvel at the amazing architecture. If you are visiting in the summer they have an ice cream shop in the back if you need a cool treat.

One final note on this stop, because of its remoteness, this park is an International Dark Sky Park which makes it ideal for stargazing. We were fortunate (and persistent) enough to score one of a handful of passes that allowed us to stay in the park after dark. We were treated to more stars than we had ever seen before.

Santa Fe, New Mexico…and a hot minute in Albuquerque

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis Assisi

After the Petrified Forest, we left Arizona behind and returned to New Mexico - the northern end this time.

We stopped in Albuquerque to pick up Blake from the airport. He flew out on school break to join us for Thanksgiving. While we were there and waiting for his flight to arrive, we stopped by Airstream of New Mexico to check out their on hand inventory and kill some time. Stay tuned for the outcome of that visit……

Enjoying a cool town along the Turquoise Trail.

After 24 hours in Albuquerque, we headed on to Santa Fe. Old Town Santa Fe is really charming. It is built around a historic square that definitely gives off that old west vibe. We found the most amazing antique store and spent a long while getting lost in its maze of goods.

We wandered into a local gift shop and were treated to a great deal of history. During the days of the Manhattan project in nearby Los Alamos, this storefront at 109 East Palace served as the secret jumping off point for scientists coming to join the project. Scientists were invited to Santa Fe and told to show up at a specific address at a specific time. Once there, and after having their credentials confirmed, they were whisked out a back door and taken by secret train to Los Alamos. Legend has it that a German spy made it as far as the entry way before Miss Dorothy sensed something was off and called in the calvary.

We had Thanksgiving in a wonderful adobe home just outside of Santa Fe. We enjoyed a very peaceful day with a fire in the wood burning stove, a bottle of wine, and all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings.

The house next door to where we were staying had the biggest, wolf-looking dog we had ever seen. We were sure it had to be at least part, if not all, wolf. Of course, Christina decided to go over and give it a treat, but as she got closer to its pen, she decided discretion truly was the better part of valor and tossed the treat from a few feet away. It promptly landed up in a tree. So, she had to grab another and try again. Much better luck on the second toss!

Southeast of Santa Fe is a scenic route call the Turquoise Highway. It is so named for the turquoise mines that existed along that road. Today it connects several small towns that feature a fun collection of things to see. This included a remote old church, a bustling art scene, the remains of an old mining operation, a very traditional saloon, a very old general store, and a psychic or two.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

The last stop, and our 6th national park on this trip, was Great Sand Dunes National Park. This park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America (up to 750’ high). The dune field covers about 30 sq. miles, and when you venture in to the dunes, you could swear you were in the Sahara or some similar desert. The dunes are impressive and strangely beautiful.

At the bottom looking up to the top.

Mack & I chilling as John walks to the top!

FINAL WRAP UP

We left the Great Sand Dunes and returned to Castle Rock (the snow-free version this time) so Christina could wrap up her project. The next day Mack and I returned to KC with Air Willy and Christina flew home a few days later. So, what did we think about this crazy journey??

While the Southwest isn’t our favorite part of the country, this was a fantastic trip. We had so much fun and made so many memories. We saw more than we could have imagined and got to see many things we didn’t even know existed. We ate great food, met fun and interesting people, learned a lot, laughed a lot, and drove a lot. We learned that we like traveling with a travel trailer and learned the ins and outs and pros and cons of Air Willy. Now, we are excited to get going on our next adventure……it just won’t be with Air Willy!

Introducing Big Willy! Our 2022 27’ Globetrotter Airstream.