SOUTH WEST TOURS, ARIZONA, ROAD TRIP with BEST FRIENDS
On the original list Arizona was one option and so was a tour of South West Archaeological sites like Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. As the list evolved, changed, and grew, it became more focused to include Arches and Four Corners. When Tracy and I compared lists we added and adjusted according to the others list creating the mutual goal of a Best Friends Road Trip.
I could not imagine taking a girls road trip without both my best friends. Tracy is four days younger then me and we have been best friends since we were roughly a month old. In all these years we have never gone on a road trip. Jaella and I have been best friends since sixth grade and traveled multiple places over the years. Every year Jaella and I do some form of a trip usually locally around Wyoming. For years we have talked about Canada so as my 30 to 30 list grew and Tracy joined the fun we extended to Jaella who turns 30 in January. We decided the Grand Canyon was our final destination and due to limited time we settled for a short whirlwind trip to kick off the summer and celebrate each of us hitting a milestone:
Jaella completed her master's degree in education.
Tracy got an art internship in Denver
I completed the first year of my second masters degree.
it also just so happens #NationalBestFriendsDay 2018 happened right in the middle of this trip.
DENVER -- DURANGO -- MESA VERDE -- FOUR CORNERS -- FLAGSTAFF -- GRAND CANYON -- MOAB -- DENVER -- CHEYENNE
~ 1,700 miles -- 5 STATES -- 3 FRIENDS -- 2 PAIRS of BFF -- 6 DAYS -- 7 MILES HIKED -- 2 NATIONAL PARKS -- AND SOME 170,000 STEPS
Day One:
Jaella and Tracy started by coming down from Wyoming and we set out on Wednesday morning for our first stop Durango, CO. After hours of driving we arrived in smoky Durango which was effected by the 416 fire. We spent the evening exploring down town’s train station, museum, shops and played pub trivia, which we didn’t lose.
Day two:
Mesa Verde is about an hour south west of Durango so we set out to hike and give ourselves a tour. My fear of heights limited which site we could hike as did cost. We did the Spruce Tree trail to the petroglyphs.
On the way back we discovered this fabulous attraction and had to turn around and take photos.
Day Three:
To mark off Arizona and the four corners we headed that direction on the way to Flagstaff. Our hotel was right on Route 66.
Day Four:
The day started with a quick stop in Bedrock on the way to the Grand Canyon. There is no wrong way to do the Grand Canyon if everyone walks away alive. Its also a good day if I don't throw up from fear. We walked the rim trail on the south side of the canyon including the walk through time. We ended the day by watching a performance of Navajo dancing. The plan was to let Jae and Tracy hike down some below the rim while I hung out and drew but plans changed as it got later in the day and hotter. This is one of those places that you have to see for yourself because you can't truly understand how small you are until you place yourself in a place like this.
“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.”
Day Five: How we always end up with our final day being spent in the car for way too long I’ll never know. Flagstaff to Denver and Cheyenne. We went through Utah to mark that off my photo travel map (One of the states with missing photos)
