July 6-8: Moab - Arches & Dead Horse State Point, staying 2 nights in some big tents, four corners, Aztec ruins, Hovenweep?
Hovenweep is worth it. Tent camping? Invest in the large 20V MAX battery and a DeWalt fan, it could be hot at night. If you are at Dead Horse point, you'd be silly not to visit the Island in the Sky overlooks of Canyonlands. If you have an SUV (doesn't need to be a built Jeep), there are some ways down into Moab that are waaaay better than the pavement. And while we DID get a minivan down one of them, I wouldn't recommend it. 😉

July 8-10: Cortez, CO - Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is awesome, but they are in the middle of construction and the cliff palace loop is closed and so is the museum. It *may* open early July. If you can't do the tours or the museum, it's honestly not worth it. Plan B in the area would be the Durango train, enjoy Silverton/Ouray, etc. All in the same vicinity (and it will be cooler). We are going over the 24th, so heat isn't much of an issue at 10kft+



July 10-12: Santa FE, NM - Bandelier National Monument, Loretta Chapel, Meow Wolf
July 12-14: Roswell/Carlsbad Caverns - White Sands
July 14-15: Almagardo, NM
July 15-16: Albuquerque, NM - Bio Park, Indian Pueblo Center, El Mapais National Monument, Lava Tubes
July 16-17: Holbrook, AZ - Petrified Forest
No comments on these days, I've never been. But return and show lots of photos.


July 17-18: Grand Canyon - south entrance, staying at Maswik Lodge, Horseshoe Bend
Look into visiting Sedona. Monetzuma's Well and Montezuma's Castle will make up for missing Mesa Verde and fit in with the Hovenweep theme. There is a podunk airplane museum on the way to the South Rim visitor center, it's worth a stop. Consider Bearizona if you have time. Take the Glen Canyon Dam tour while in the vicinity. I preferred it to Horseshoe Bend. But the bend is also worth seeing.

July 18-20: Cedar City - The Tempest at Shakespearean Festival.
-How are you getting from Horseshoe bend to Cedar City? Take a detour to Pipe Springs National Monument, then swing back up to Kanab (highway 89) and make sure to hit Cedar Breaks (Cedar Breaks is close enough you can hit that after the Shakesperan festival if time is short.....in fact, I'd recommend that. On your way home, do Cedar Breaks and the canyon road down into Parawon before hitting I15. Or if you still love your family after being stuck in the car for a month, consider taking Highway 89 all the way home and bypassing I15 entirely....)