Florida - Grand Canyon - and back

Doing an insane trip trying to squeeze in 6 weeks+ worth into 3 weeks....
travelling with Kids, and DW likes to find places to stop such as museums, Zoo's, etc... along the way
My ideal light easy day is off the road by noon or 3PM depending, at some point of interest, not too far from a place to overnight....or if still early maybe drive another hour or two
I know we'll be doing a lot of long driving days, hoping to overnight at walmarts and such....
Probably 4 to 5 days pushing to get out to NM, but still stopping to see and play just a bit to break it up
then we can slow down and see what we can see....
My hope is to mix in the long and easy drive days, with some zero or near-zero days mixed in here and there.  hopefully finding a CG every 3 nights or so to dump. 

Totally winging it..... but I think as long as we find fun along the way and get to the canyon and back, we're pretty much happy skipping any of it....

Other than "you're crazy", which I already know.... any comments? 

I know little about these places so I'm trying to get a better feel for where we might want to do a zero mile day or two, or what we should just skip...
I'm kinda thinking Santa Fe might be a zero mile day or nearly so, as an example.  I understand it's a nice little shops and restaurants kind of tourist friendly place.  DW likes that.
We did Sedona before and loved it, but plan on skipping it this time...just not enough time

tentative route:
over night perhaps at
Pensacola (Naval Aviation Museum),
Jackson or Vicksburg,
Dallas,
Amarillo
Albuquerque

maybe do something around ABQ...maybe the balloon museum?
maybe petrified forest?,
maybe meteor crater?

  prob need another stop between ABQ and the canyon, depending on sight seeing..... Flagstaff maybe?

South Rim of the Canyon

Then this is where I'm even more tentative....
after a day or so at the South Rim, maybe swing around up to the North Rim
Then I'm thinking about heading up to Page, AZ
Then maybe Monument Valley...but I'm not sure it's really worth the detour...looping around to Mexican Hat and around to the 4-corners area.  Looks like we'd be going backwards through monument valley....so does it make more sense to head direct to 4-corners and skip it?
Mesa Verda
Durango CO
then back down to Santa Fe
then over to OK City
& I-40 to Memphis
Then I-20 to I-65 back down

For Albuquerque, forget the balloon museum and go to Old Town. Visit the history museums near the square and just wander around. Take the tram up the Sandia Mountains to Sandia Crest and experience a different world than the valley plus incredible views.

I haven't been to Monument Valley yet, but the Four Corners area is one of my favorite haunts. Definitely spend time at Mesa Verde. Make sure you sign up ahead of time for the tours; they are absolutely worth it. Durango Silverton Railroad is also worth the entire day it takes.

In OKC, look at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The OKC Bombing Memorial is very moving, maybe too moving depending on the age of your kids. Bricktown is a gentrified area near downtown that is fun.

I don't know if you'll be towing, or where in Florida you'll be leaving from, but last year, we made a similar trip, but with just the two of us and a 13 year old Sheltie. We drove from Cape Coral to Gold Canyon, AZ about 30 miles east of Phoenix in six days, overnighting when we could and staying in campgrounds twice in Texas. We took the southern route on I-10, something I won't do again due to the road conditions in Louisiana, whereas you're taking a more northerly route. Our trip was five weeks long, going all the way to Las Vegas before turning back and heading on I-40 until reaching the Arkansas border, then dropping down to Hot Springs, then up to St. Louis and finally to Mammoth Cave before heading back home. If you take out the week we spent in Vegas and the week in St. Louis, we would have made it in three weeks. Our total miles were 6,200. I would not suggest making that trip in three weeks without time to recuperate from the days on the road. I used to drive 15 hours straight when I was younger and loved it, but on this trip, I was a wreck by the time we got to our first destination after pushing 400-450 miles per day. If you can do it with kids and still be able to enjoy the trip, the sights and the destinations, you're better than me. In my opinion, your first comment was spot on - trying to squeeze six weeks into three. Good luck.

If you want to see the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert (all the same area), I suggest staying overnight in Holbrook. I wasn't overly enthused with the KOA there, but it was better than boon docking. It's close enough to the sights, however, to make launching your daily excursion an easy one. If you're thinking of heading to the North Rim, you may want to consider driving to the Grand Staircase Monument. You won't be that far away on your way there. And if you don't mind driving a bit farther north, think about Arches and Canyonland in Utah. That is, if you don't mind doing nothing but driving for the entire vacation. I have always liked Albuquerque but many think it is a dirty town. I second the idea of seeing the Sandia Mountains. Santa Fe is nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

If you are wanting to see something different on the way back than what you saw on the way out, a different route obviously will be in order. If you don't want to take the time to head north, you may think about going south from the Canyon and catch Carlsbad Caverns in NM. It's not that far off of I-10 and you can then take US 285 from Carlsbad to Pecos where you can pick up I-20.

We made a trip in June 2015 to destinations including the Grand Canyon on the way to Yellowstone NP. Towed a 30ft TT with a 2007 Chev 2500HD. Departed Lawrenceville, GA with the following stops on the way to Grand Canyon.

I20 from Atlanta to Vicksburg, MS.
Ameristar RV Park, Vicksburg, MS
https://vicksburg.ameristar.com/hotel/rv-park/
Visited Vicksburg National Military Park - Definitely worth the time.

I20 thru Dallas and Ft. Worth, Camped in Walmart parking lot, Hudson Oaks, TX. Several RVs parked there, no restrictions. Nearby campgrounds all booked.
I20 thru Dallas and Ft. Worth was in terrible condition, maybe better now but I doubt it.
Route to Amarillo: Texas Hwy 180 to Hwy 51 north to Hwy 920 to Hwy 199.
Hwy 199 towards Joplin, Hwy 114 towards Jacksboro, Hwy 114 to Hwy 281 towards Wichita Falls, Hwy 287 towards Chillicothe, TX and into Amarillo, TX. Roads were in great condition, better than Interstate. Great Texas scenery.

Camped at Amarillo RV Ranch RV Park  (Owned by Big Texan restaurant). https://amarilloranch.com/. Big Texan restaurant is home of the 72oz Steak dinner. If you can eat it in the time allotted, it's free. We didn't try but watched several try. Very large restaurant, great service. Free shuttle from RV part to restaurant.

Route Amarillo to Albuquerque: Hwy 87 south to Canyon, Hwy 60 west towards Dawn and Hereford and thru Friona and Bovina. Hwy 60/84 to Fort Sumner, Hwy 60 towards Encino. Hwy 285 north to I-40 and I-40 west to Albuquerque, NM. Camped at American RV Park, Albuquerque (http://www.americanrvpark.com/ ). Visited old town but not much else.

Route: Albuquerque, NM to Winslow, AZ.  Stopped and visited Petrified National Forest along the way. The park is definitely worth the time. What I found amazing was there were MANY signs in the park warning you not to disturb the petrified rocks, etc. However, once you exit the park there are thousands of specimens along the roads and many shops selling petrified artifacts.
Camped in Denny's parking lot adjacent to Flying J Truck Stop, Winslow, AZ. Several RVs parked there. No issues.
Route: I-40 West from Albuquerque to Petrified National Forest.  We Drove thru park and exited on Hwy 191 to St. Johns, then Hwy 1-80 to Holbrook and I-40 west to  Winslow, AZ.

Route: Winslow, AZ to Williams, AZ. Route: I-40 west to Williams, AZ then onto Hwy 64 to campground. Camped at Grand Canyon/Williams KOA campground and used it as a base to visit south rim of Grand Canyon. Drive from campground to park entrance was about 30-40 minutes each day. Stayed 2 days. http://koa.com/campgrounds/grand-canyon/

Traveled Hwy 64 north from campground to Grand Canyon National Park and back to campground. We stayed 2 days then departed north to Bryce Canyon NP and then on to Yellowstone NP via Salt Lake.

Good luck on your trip.
Reggie

Thanks for the tips.  Exactly the stuff I was hoping for!  thank you!!!

I'm using Roadtrippers to save potential points of interests and stops....and have plugged most all of these in.  Maybe I'll even print this thread before we leave!

We won't be towing.  Sometimes that makes parking for sightseeing in the touristy towns a bit tough but we have managed so far...
    Normally we'd bring bikes, but we were discussing the other day that maybe we won't.  We hauled them to San Antonio and back a few years ago and never took them off the rack.  And again to the mountains last year, used them very little.  With this kind of trip it's more of a go-go thing and we aren't setting up camp typically for any length of time.  Maybe I'll bring mine as "emergency transport" or for hauling trash in a CG...and maybe DW's, and little folding scooters for the kids just in case we get to a CG and they want to scoot to the playground or whatever....

and yes, I figured I'd stay on more northerly routes.  we did I-10 over to San Antonio a couple winters back. ....and more than that I want to stay away from the heat!!!!

Brad, when will you be doing this trip (heat) and how old are the kids (what to visit)?  There are lots of neat places to visit but maybe not age appropriate depending...

ArdraF

Don't bore yourself with I-75. From Ocala take Alt-27 to Williston, Chiefland, Cross City, Perry to I-10 at US 19. It's almost as fast and a much nicer drive than 150 miles of droning along I-75 to I-10.

My standard overnight stop near Pensacola is Avalon Landing RV Park.
Be warned that if you so much as go near the Naval Aviation museum you'll be there the entire day and want to come back for another.

Vicksburg if you're looking to explore some history. Jackson if you just want to sleep and move on.

Dallas: On a trip like this, just get through it as quickly as possible. Go back when you can stay a while.

Amarillo: Nothing to see here folks, move along.

Albuquerque: Old town, Sandia Peak Tramway and a sleeper: The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Let the kids burn off some stream scrambling around Petroglyph National Monument.

GRand Canyon. One or two days is a nice introduction. You'll go back. Getting from Tusayan to North Rim is over 200 miles. Think hard about whether it's worth it for a quick stop.

Mesa Verde is a special place. Worth at least a full day. Even the drive in and out is spectacular. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAm4O8x33mY

Durango exists for the train. It's expensive but SO worth it. Allow a full day for the ride. More if you want to poke around the town. We stayed at Riverside RV Resort & Park which is about 10 miles North of town, but had a site that backed right up to the river.

Memphis: We stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park across the river in West Memphis Ar. If the river isn't too high you can camp right at river's edge and have a great view of the barge tows passing by 24/7.

Yeah you're crazy. But you'll want to go back and do it in a more leisurely fashion.

>>By the way, I was in Jamestown last week and enjoyed seeing the occasional traffic in the pattern at JGG. Memories.

Ardra...great questions... this month, and kids 6-12

popop.... ahh, JGG.  Yes, Jamestown Settlement was our landmark to make the 45 degree entry for 31. 

Yes, I know only a couple days isn't really "enough" at the canyon, but at least the kids will get to see it.  I'd actually love to go back some day and do a backpacking trip down.  I'm still young enough but not too much longer.... maybe some day.  If it were up to me I think I'd skip the south rim totally.  DW & I have been there, stayed at El Tovar.  I figure it'll be crowded this time of the year.... but DW wants to go back.
With that, my thinking is that the North rim only makes a little sense if we'll be looping up towards Page anyway.... in which case we can get a taste of the south rim, hit the shops there, reminisce.... then hit the points along the drive around, desert view watchtower, etc... making the journey part of the destination....finally getting to see a view that none of us have before... for 80 or 130 miles off route....which is still a lot....so odds are good we'll skip it.
  but
      if we are skipping page, monument, 4-corners, and Durango it surely wouldn't make sense
This gets a bit more complex too, because we had to give up our reservation slot at the Trailer Village, so for multiple days at the south rim we'll likely be commuting out to Tusayan.  Thinking about that, maybe it does make some sense to head out to the North.... we will see....

If you end up,going the South route, I 10, the Pima Air Museum in Tucson if fantastic. 

Oh I'd like to do that!  Had thumb tacked it before I decided to try and stay north

Thanks everyone for the tips

I figured I'd pay back a little, with trip updates.... sorta like Sarge and other here do. I enjoy reading those, so here' my abbreviated attempt. I'm behind, but hope to catch up in a few days....

So the first day DW and kids did "camp driveway" so we could get an early start.  First time ever for us I think.  We made it to Pensacola just past noon, with just enough time to do an abbreviated tour of the Naval Aviation Museum.  My 1st time there was many years ago on  business trip, when I had maybe an hour or so free before I had to catch a flight out...so I had done a jogging 1 hour tour of the museum an aviation buff could easily spend the day at.  This time we spent about 3-1/2 to 4 hours there. I could have spent much more time there but the family was just about finished after the long drive.

From the museum we tried to find a place for dinner down at the beach.  Parking was a bear, with a huge municipal lot with plenty of open spaces but no rv's allowed.  We called the Pensacola Beach RV resort.  We were planning to boondock but figured we'd give it a shot since they are right next door in walking distance to the boardwalk.Nothing available, but they were going to be willing to let us park long enough for dinner in their check-in lane but they were waiting for a late arrival..... SO we found a place just down the road called Landshark Bar and Grille, with a  large parking area, live music, and ok basic beach food.  Ended the evening at the Cracker Barrel out by the highway, where they let us park anywhere.  Lots of highway noise but otherwise ok.

I have spent a lot of time living at the south rim. Many months, and I never got tired of the views. Every single day while out hiking I would stop and look at the canyon and actually say out loud "Dang this place is incredibly beautiful." I have been asked countless times as to what is my favorite or most recommended thing to do at the canyon. You didn't ask but I am going to volunteer the info anyway.

Hike down into the canyon. The view from the rim is mind blowing and one of the seven wonders of the world. But the further you go down into the canyon the better it gets. That might sound impossible but it is true. There are two main trails into the canyon from the south rim, Bright Angel and South Kaibab. Bight Angel is the trail the mules made famous so watch out for the presents they leave on the trail, and the South Kaibab is steeper. The good news is that the south rim trails are in the shade for most of the morning. Drink a ton of water and start as early as you can convince yourselves to get out of bed. The free park shuttle starts before 5 am and services both trail heads.

Notice I only said hike into the canyon, I did not say to hike to the bottom. A mile and a half should be the maximum for your first trip down. Bright Angel has a rest house and water supply at the mile and a half rest and on the South Kaibab there is also a rest stop at mile and a half with a rest room but no water. It is called Cedar Ridge. Go no further. It will be very tempting at that point to continue but save it for another trip. Hiking down into the canyon early in the morning is extremely easy, even for your six year old. But as you hike out you will only be going up up up and so is the sun going up up up. It gets harder and hotter the longer you hike. A mile and a half is a really easy hike for a first timer and it will be one of the highlights of your life.

If you go down the Bright Angel you will come upon a tunnel after you go a few hundred yards. Once you get through the tunnel (small tunnel, less than ten feet long)stop and look on the cliffs to your left. You can see the original trail (it was moved to keep people from adding modern graffiti to ancient graffiti) and right next to the trail is a bunch of Native American petroglyphs. Here is a shot of a Big Horn Sheep standing next to his petroglyph. This trail is over 1000 years old so the date of the petroglyphs is unknown but they are very old.

If someone in your party is not physically capable of hiking down a mile and a half then make the petroglyphs your final destination. I make it a point of being out of the canyon by 10:00 before the heat arrives. Watch for wildlife. You will see a lot more wildlife inside the canyon rather than on the rim. If you go down on South Kaibab after nine tenths of a mile you will run into Ohh Ahh Point. It is not marked. It does not need to be. Everyone around you will be going "Ohh ahh".

The two trails are as different as night and day. Bright Angel is in canyons and there is a lot of shade on the route. South Kaibab is on an exposed fin sticking out into the canyon. Ohh Ahh Point is at the tip of the fin and sticks way out into the canyon offering views up and down the canyon.

My second recommendation is to get on the Hermit's Rest Shuttle bus at around 6 pm and take it out to Hopi Point and view a sunset.

Well written, useful description, Tom. It's really nice to have an experienced viewpoint.
We ventured into the canyon, but caution about getting back up kept us from going very far. Probably a good thing considering how late in the morning we started.
You've got me hankering to go back.
Thanks!

PopPop51 said:

Well written, useful description, Tom. It's really nice to have an experienced viewpoint.
We ventured into the canyon, but caution about getting back up kept us from going very far. Probably a good thing considering how late in the morning we started.
You've got me hankering to go back.
Thanks!

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You are welcome. It is making me want to go back there too, but I have to wait till May of 2019.

SeilerBird said:

You are welcome. It is making me want to go back there too, but I have to wait till May of 2019.

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Is that when the statute of limitations expires? 

PopPop51 said:

Is that when the statute of limitations expires? 

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No, I am buying a new Tesla 3 with my February 2019 tax return and then this will be my shakedown cruise. The ultimate goal is number one on my bucket list, Banff National Park. ;D ;D ;D

Tom, that's a neat photo of the bighorn sheep on rock and in rock.  We hiked a bit down one of the trails (not even sure which one) and loved it.

ArdraF

Thank you Ardra, I am rather proud of that shot. But the sheep on the trail are so used to humans that they don't even get out of your way if you meet one going down the trail while you are headed up the trail. I have photographed baby sheep at a distance of a few feet with the mother standing right there unconcerned. They are really tame. Here are a few more, all shot within 20 feet of the Bright Angel Trail. I love the shot of the mules and the sheep. Almost everyone is getting out their camera. Hikers notice the lack of sun early in the morning, this is why I prefer to get up early and hike Bright Angel. At the Kolb Brothers Studio located at the Bright Angel trail head is a photo of Teddy Roosevelt on a mule on that very trail one hundred years ago.

Oh how neat Tom!  I love that baby bighorn.  What a great shot of it!

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

Oh how neat Tom!  I love that baby bighorn.  What a great shot of it!

ArdraF

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Thank you Ardra. You have no idea how tough it was to resist the temptation to pet the little guys. They were right there in front of me and acting so tame and looking so cute. But I have my rules and I don't interfere with the wildlife I am trying to photograph.