Day 1 Getting to Van Horn
We left from home right after breakfast. Knowing that there are not a whole lot of options for lunch on our route, we packed some sandwiches for lunch. We drove on only stopping to use the restroom or get gas. We had our lunch in the car. The route was easy and the weather was clear. We reached our hotel in Van Horn, Texas around 4 pm. It was a 7-hour drive. We were still energetic even after the drive. However, Van Horn is a really small town with not much to do around. Hence, we relaxed in our room. We headed for dinner about 2 minutes away to a pizza 🍕 place called Big Momma’s Hut. The pizza was fresh, the staff was nice but we waited quite a while for our food as they were backed up on orders. There is a military base near here, so we saw quite a few soldiers picking up food from here. Once back in our room, we enjoyed some TV before bed.
An interstate highway stop on our way to Van Horn, Texas.
Day 2 Tucson and Saguaro 🌵
We left Van Horn after breakfast to head to Tucson, Arizona. Tho total drive time was about 6.5 hours. We stopped for gas and a quick lunch at Subway in New Mexico. New Mexico is definitely a special state and one of our favorites especially for its cuisine. Even Subway has its own local flair by offering green chili as one of its toppings. For us, that just elevates the sandwich and makes it more memorable.
Once we reached Tuscon, we checked into our hotel and rested for a bit to let the hottest part of the day pass. Our trip was in early June. The temperatures in Tucson were already well into the 100’s. We headed just across the street to a market-style Italian place called Locale Neighborhood Italian restaurant for an early dinner. The food here was exquisite. We sat outside on the patio as we had our dog with us. It was beautifully landscaped with outdoor games available to play. The vibe was local and eclectic. The inside was tastefully decorated as well. We even had dessert to celebrate the beginning of our roadtrip.
At the very cool Locale Neighborhood Italian restaurant in Tucson.
From here we headed to the east side of Saguaro National Park also known as the Rincon Mountain District right in time for sunset. We drove the Cactus Corset Scenic Loop Drive (about 8 miles total on a one-way loop). This drive offers several parking spots to check-out viewpoints and some short paved trails as well. We got a great view of the sunset along this drive. The weather was perfect. There were almost no other people there. We got great photos of the iconic Saguaro cacti while enjoying seeing entire hillsides covered in their majestic cacti. We already had our national park pass but did not encounter any rangers to check or purchase entrance tickets from, at this entrance.
The adventurous trio on a short trail in Saguaro NP.
The one paved trail called the Desert Ecology Trail off of this drive is pet-friendly. However, the cacti are extremely sharp and some of them are pretty close to the ground. If your dog is curious, we recommend watching them closely and keeping a short leash. Once we were back to the car, our son noticed that Percy (our dog) had several cactus thorns sticking out of his floppy ears. We pulled them out successfully but he would bleed from the spots for a few days. The very last part of this drive called Javelina was the best. We parked the car in the lot and took turns walking up the rugged outcropping of the rocks to get a stunning view of the hills covered in saguaro cacti. Bathed in the warm sunset glow, this looked exactly like an iconic poster of the American southwest.
The sunset at Saguaro NP was very special.
Day 3 Sedona sunset 🌄
We headed-out early this morning as we wanted to check out the West side of Saguaro National Park also known as the Tucson Mountain District. Having seen the East side already we expected much of the same with maybe some different views. We could not have been more wrong. The vast number of saguaros we saw covering the hills of the East side were not even close to a glimpse of what we saw in the West side. The Tucson mountain district offered taller mountains and a much more concentrated population of Saguaro cacti. By the time we arrived, it was already close to 90 degrees (around 10am).
Saguaro NP trails get very hot very fast. 😂
We chose to drive around the scenic loop called the Bajada Loop Drive about 6 miles long. We walked the 0.5 mile, pet-friendly Desert Discovery trail. Even a trail this short was extremely difficult to complete in the heat and absence of much shade in the trail. We ended up walking our son and dog back in about 5-10 minutes to avoid heat stroke. The scenery was gorgeous in every direction. The layers of mountains with the tall saguaros everywhere was stunning. We wish the weather allowed us to spend a bit more time in this area.
The saguaros have such unique beauty, solitary and unique.
If time permits, there is a visitor center to check out as well. The drive into this area itself offers picturesque views of the mountains and cacti without us needing to leave the vehicle. After exploring the park we stopped for a quick lunch at Eegee’s. The food was pretty greasy and offered limited options.
Many hills covered with Saguaros and windy roads around them. It was fun driving around.
From here, we started driving towards Sedona about 3.5 hours away. After passing Phoenix, the drive became more mountainous. When we arrived in Sedona, we rested at our Airbnb for a while to let the hottest part of the day pass. We went to Mradaa Indian Restaurant. The staff was really accommodating and cleared up a nice table on the patio so we could sit with our dog. Surprisingly, the weather gets so much cooler in Sedona after around 4:30pm in the afternoon.
We enjoyed our delicious dinner along with great service. Next, we headed to Sugarloaf mountain for an evening hike. The trailhead is located about 5 minutes away from the restaurant and our Airbnb. The trail is about 2 miles roundtrip and offers several trail options to climb the Sugarloaf mountain or kind of go around it. We did not climb the mountain but chose to stay around it. The trail was stunning with orange red peaks in all directions. It was the perfect way to get to know the area. After the hike we stopped by Whole Foods for some groceries and dessert.
Sedona red rock formations are so unique and contrast beautifully with the trees and shrubs around them.
Day 4 Sedona trails and hikes 🥾
After a quick breakfast, we headed to the Soldier pass trailhead around 8 am. This was located just a few minutes from our accommodation. We attempted to drive and park near the trailhead, however this is not permitted in the summertime. Hence, we drove to an overflow lot and waited for the shuttle to take us to the trailhead. Pets are allowed on Sedona Shuttle buses and we were glad as we had our dog with us.
Percy’s first shuttle ride happened here. He was thankful to be out of the heat. He took up 2 seats! 🤣
We hiked the seven sacred pools trail. It was an easy 1.1 mile roundtrip trail. It went through the Devil’s Sinkhole and arrived at the pools. The pools were mostly dry except some had puddles of old water. We had cliffs rising out on all sides with spectacular views. After hanging out in this area for a little bit, we headed back to take the shuttle to our car. This trail offers some shade but we recommend bringing a lot of water and being prepared for the heat. Going before 8 am is a safer option.
This trail was a lot of fun. Really unique place.
Big sinkholes sliced perfectly by nature.
After the hike we drove to the downtown area for a quick brunch at Wildflower. The menu had all the usual brunch items. We enjoyed some avocado toast and pancakes on the patio with a wonderful view of the red cliffs. Next, we headed back to our Airbnb to get cleaned up and rest.
In the afternoon, we crated our dog and headed to Tlaquepaque - Arts & Shopping Village. Note that parking can be challenging. There are a couple of free lots which may require waiting for some time for other cars to leave. This place had souvenir shops, art galleries and interesting snack and lunch spots all with beautiful architecture and landscaping. It is a must visit in Sedona. The place we enjoyed the most was The Chai Spot. The chai was phenomenal. They offered traditional biscuits in the traditionally decorated patios. We headed to the main downtown shopping area next for some souvenir shopping. The downtown area has some paid parking lots which is where we parked.
Beautiful artsy village and was so chic.
Next, we arrived back at our Airbnb to get our dog before heading to dinner. After dinner we drove to the trailhead for the birthing cave hike. We had heard that this trail is a busy one, however, when we arrived close to sunset, there were no cars in the parking area. In fact we questioned if we were in the right spot. We followed the trail directions in our AllTrails app. We only crossed a couple people on the trail.
The trail is sandy but fairly easy and flat until the last part. The birthing cave is located up high in the mountain. Hence it requires a pretty steep climb for about 10-15 minutes to get there. We did a bit of scrambling but made it up there, dog and all. It was one of the most spectacular trails of the trip. The view from the birthing cave is phenomenal. Not to mention we were alone here, which is unheard of! The walls of the cave are a bit curved and caution is required to navigate it with kids or pets. We just sat here and watched the sunlight fade behind the trees. We could not stay too long as the sun had already set, hence we had to head back to the car in the near dark. The trail was fine again once we were back to the flat part. Once we got back to the car, we did find a group of javelinas 🐗 right near our car. We were a bit nervous as they are known to be aggressive. However, once our dog 🦮 noticed them, he barked quite a bit and scared them away. He was extremely proud of himself! 🤣 From here, we drove about 10 minutes to get back to our Airbnb.
Standing at the final ascent to the birthing cave.
In the birthing cave looking at the stunning landscape. Felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie.
Day 5 Sedona rocks, chapel and views
After grabbing some quick breakfast, we started our day by hiking the Bell Rock trail. This trailhead was located just under 20 minutes away from our Airbnb. We drove to the trailhead directly to take a chance on parking close by. We were luck to find a spot as someone was just pulling out. From here, we walked for a bit until we got to the rocky part. The trail is not really well marked. Alltrails has the trail at 0.8 miles. We didn’t complete the trail but may have still walked that distance. People were walking all over the rock. However, there are some trail markers which we tried our best to follow. We scrambled along for a bit climbing the large rock outcrops as best we could. We came to one section that our son could not get over and it would be quite impossible to carry him. He stayed there with my husband and dog. I carried on for a bit further. It looked pretty challenging to get all the way to the top. I got some great views and headed back to the boys. The views are spectacular on this entire hike. Even with very little climbing, you come to vistas with views of nearby cathedral rock and courthouse rock with bell rock in the back.
Enjoying all the rock formations from a convenient vantage point.
On the way down we got a bit lost as we tried to follow the trail markers more closely but that ended up taking a slightly longer trail. Eventually we made it back to the car. It is worth noting that there is no shade on this trail except some trees in the beginning. We recommend arriving as early as possible (we arrived around 8:30 am), lots of water and sun protection (no restrooms though).
Climbing up to get a closer view of bell rock.
From here we returned to Tlaquepaque - Arts & Shopping Village again for some lunch. We grabbed some sandwiches and salad. We also had missed buying a ceramic tile souvenir and wanted to get it. Next we were back at our accommodation for showers and relaxation.
We tried a Thai restaurant for dinner with a nice patio. After enjoying our meal, we headed to the Airport loop trail for a sunset hike. We paid to park at the airport parking lot. This is a popular spot for sunset, hence we recommend arriving early. We followed a trail from the parking lot to the airport loop trailhead. The area was simply gorgeous with red-orange peaks all around. We began the hike but had to turn around once the path got too narrow with a steep drop-off on one side. My son was scared to walk this close to the edge of a huge drop-off and we were concerned of our dog pulling in this area as well. We did enjoy the views from the top of the rock just beyond the trailhead. This rock was popular as one of the energy vortex sites. Although we cannot confirm any vortex energy, we really loved the views in all directions. It was definitely a peaceful spot. Once we climbed down and took the path back towards the car, we stopped at the sunset viewing platform just across the road. Due to the popularity of this spot at sunset, it was pretty packed. We did stay for some time to enjoy the incredible beauty of the red rocks in the amber glow of dusk.
The hike up (or down) here is totally worth it. Felt like the big rocks are the seats for monsters and kaijus.
The sunset here and the 360 vistas are one of the best.
From here we headed back home, completely satisfied yet again with another amazing day in Sedona.
Day 6 Slide rock, Flagstaff & The Grand Canyon
We packed up and left Sedona this morning. Our first stop was Slide Rock State Park (about 40 minutes away). We had to pay a state park entry fee here. Once we parked, we headed to the restrooms so my husband and son could change into their swim shorts. The area was beautiful, if a bit crowded. Dogs are allowed in the park but not down by the water. Hence, me and our dog stayed in a little shaded cabana right by the stairs to go down to the water. The river has natural smooth stones which act like a slide. It is pretty fun is you don’t mind the crowds. My husband and son found a less crowded spot towards the back, enjoying the water and slides for over an hour. There are jumping spots as well.
After they made it back up, we followed a short trail with some shade to get some views of the river (dog-friendly). It was a unique, fun experience for the boys. Once everyone was changed, we headed towards Flagstaff for a some lunch about 30 minutes away. We chose Pita Jungle 🥙 for some delicious Mediterranean food. The outdoor patio was great. The food was fresh with good sized portions. We picked up some cookies from Crumbl Cookies 🍪 as well to enjoy as a desert after dinner.
We continued on from here towards Grand Canyon National Park (about 1.5 hours). We entered the park through the south entrance and headed to our hotel - Yavapai Lodge. It was a bit tricky to find the main lobby and parking area. Once located, we checked in and made our way to our room. The rooms are a bit tight, but they are renovated and look really good. Overall, we would definitely recommend staying here especially for traveling with pets (note - no wifi in rooms or pool). There is a general store in the hotel in addition to a cafe style restaurant (with great veggie options) and a gift shop. The Yavapai lodge is located minutes from the south rim visitor center and has a shuttle stop for going towards Grand Canyon Village as well. The convenience of this resort can’t be beat.
After relaxing in our room for a bit, we headed out to dinner at the restaurant in the lodge. There was plenty of outdoor seating, but it was crowded. Occasionally we had to wait a few minutes for an outdoor table to open up.
After dinner we drove to the South Rim Visitor Center Parking lot. From here, we made our way to the south rim trail, which led to several breathtaking viewpoints. Mather point was the first viewpoint we saw. Although pretty crowded, absolutely nothing can take away from the stunning beauty of the canyon. Even after visiting many countries and various canyons, the view of the Grand Canyon is hard to beat. Sunset was our favorite time on the Grand Canyon trails. The soft orange glow highlights the colors of the canyon and the depth of the gorge below. We continued on this trail until Yavapai point. There is a geology museum at this point, however, it was closed when we were there. This is a great spot to view the sunset as there are some seats available. From here, we walked back to the car and drove back a few minutes to the lodge. The entire south rim trail is 🦮 pet-friendly, paved and hard to beat in terms of views.
Grand in every sense.
Having a moment in trying to take it all in.
Day 7 Grand Canyon viewpoints and village
We woke up and had breakfast in our lodge. Next, we began our drive down the scenic desert view dr (about 23 miles one way). This scenic drive heads to the east. It boasts six glorious viewpoints. Some views are visible right from the parking lot, while others allow for a bit more exploring. As you get closer to the desert view watch tower, the colorado river begins to make its appearance. The desert view watchtower viewpoint has the best view on this drive. We especially enjoyed the desert view gift shop inside the old tower with expansive views of the canyon.
A water-carved landscape.
We enjoyed some veggie burgers for lunch at the small cafe inside the general store at this stop. Driving till this point (desert view watchtower) and back to the lodge at a leisurely pace including lunch and shopping was about 3 hours. This last stop has a large parking area (big enough for tour buses and RV’s too) and several restroom facilities. It is notably busier than the rest of the stops.
This watchtower is such a cool spot, inside and outside. Shaded areas to sit for sometime.
Unique little gifts and souvenirs that are worth to come take a look at.
After the morning tour, we came back to the hotel. As the temperatures were in the 90’s during the afternoon, we dropped our dog off in the room (in his crate) for the afternoon. We took the shuttle 🚌 from the hotel to get to Grand Canyon village. The village is set right on the rim of the canyon, with several historic lodges overlooking the canyon. There are some restaurants in the lodges and unique gift shops as well. We got some drinks and explored the various lodges, train station, art galleries and amazing views. We got back to the hotel in the shuttle. From here, we headed to dinner at the lodge again.
Having scouted out some parking options when we were there the previous day, we headed back to the south rim trail. We parked at the Yavapai geology museum parking lot this time. We explored West from this point towards Grand Canyon Village. The evening glow added to the perfect atmosphere for the hike. The south rim trail is dog-friendly as mentioned before. Hence, we had our dog with us. Some sections of the trail are unpaved, while some sections are close to the edge with a drop-off on one side. Occasionally we experienced windy conditions, hence caution is recommended. These evenings walking different sections of the south rim trail were some of our favorites in Grand Canyon National Park. After the hike we returned to our hotel for a quiet evening.
Wonderful rim trails for miles and miles make it very convenient.
A grand sunset befitting a grand place.
Day 8 Grand Canyon shuttle 🚌
After breakfast, we all got in the car and drove to Grand Canton Village. We found some areas to park around here the previous day. From here, we walked long the south rim trail again until we got to the Bright Angel Trailhead. This is one of the popular trails to hike into the canyon. This trail is strenuous and challenging. Hiking this trail requires leaving early to avoid being out in the open without any shade in the hottest part of the day. Alternately, you can ride a mule 🫏 along this trail as well. Since we had our dog with us, and their trail is not pet-friendly, we took turns hiking it for a short distance just to experience going into the canyon.
View from a little bit down into the Bright Angel Trailhead.
My husband went by himself first. I stayed up in a shaded spot with my son and dog. Once he was back, my son and I went down the trail. Since it was already almost midday, it was starting to get pretty hot. We walked for about 0.3 miles downwards. We saw some gorgeous views and got an idea of what hiking into the canyon would feel like. The path is unpaved and made up of loose sandy granite. Shoes with good grip are definitely recommended along with plenty of water.
The famous trailhead that has plenty of restrooms and hydration stations.
We thoroughly enjoyed experiencing this part of the canyon even if it was pretty brief. Next we headed back to our hotel. We had lunch at the general store next to the hotel.
After crating our dog for the afternoon, we took the shuttle back to Grand Canyon Village. Here we switched buses to get on the Hermit’s rest shuttle route (the red route) to go towards the western part of the park. Pets are not allowed on the shuttle buses. The only way to see this part of the park is to get on one of the free shuttles as cars are not allowed beyond the Village. The shuttle stops at about 6 different view points. It is a hop-on, hop-off sort of route. The weather was extremely hot (almost 100 degrees F). Most viewpoints have no shade. Hermit’s rest is the only stop with water, snacks and restrooms. We stopped at about 4 viewpoints and Hermit’s rest. The building is old, charming and has a unique gift shop inside. We had some ice cream here as well.
Many viewpoints along the shuttle trail.
Once back at the village, it was a long wait to get a shuttle back to the hotel. Once at the hotel, we rested for sometime to enjoy the coolness of the room. We had dinner back at the lodge.
After dinner we headed back to the Village. After parking, we walked west from the Bright angel trailhead towards Hermit’s rest. This evening walk was another stunning time of day to enjoy the glorious setting. The weather was perfect with a pleasant breeze. Having walked this part of the south rim, we completed our experience of the entire south rim trail almost end-to-end from the Desert view watchtower to Hermit’s rest. This was a spectacular way to end our time in one of the most popular national parks in the country.
My husband insisted on an adventure hero shot. 😅
And more views.
Day 9 Page 🐴 🧲 Bend
We woke up and left Yavapai Lodge after breakfast. Our next stop on this road trip was Page, about 2.5 hours away. The drive was beautiful, making us feel like we were in an old western movie. Once we made it to Page, it was still too early to check in to our hotel. Hence, we stopped by Subway for lunch. We headed to a gift shop in the middle of town which had official national park items for all the surrounding national parks and monuments. Even though Page is surrounded by national parks and monuments in every direction, we did not find the city itself a very happening place to be. The north rim of the Grand Canyon (3.5 hours), Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (1 hour), Escalante National Monument (less than an hour), Zion National Park ( less than 2 hours), Bryce Canyon National Park (2.5 hours) are all somewhat close by. We drove to the Lake Powell area, however, the temperature was around 110 degrees with no clouds around. The lake level was too low in most parts of the lake to allow for boating. It was tough to see the effects of the drought on this lake.
Hot, dry and low waterlevels, albeit, sweeping views of lake Powell.
Once checked in, we relaxed for a short time before heading to the pool. It was probably too hot to be out at all, but we promised some swimming time to our pool-loving son. My husband drove to a nearby Thai restaurant for some take out. We ate this pool side in a shady area.
After our early dinner we headed to the main attraction for the day - Horseshoe Bend. We arrived about an hour before sunset. This area is pet-friendly, hence we were happy to continue the epic evening walks with our dog on this trip. This area does get pretty crowded during the summer at sunset time. We recommend bringing your dog only if he or she is okay with crowds. There is a large parking area. We did not have any issues finding a spot.
Horseshoe bend is simply spectacular.
After paying for the parking, we walked roughly 20 minutes to the Horseshoe bend viewing area. Once here, we were blown away by the steep, sheer drop-off along with the gorgeous curve in the river below. Sunset is definitely the best time to come here as the light is just perfect. We walked about the area for a while and enjoyed the view from various places along the trail. The drop-off is quite far down, hence we kept our dog and son pretty far from the edge. After enjoying sunset and talking lots of amazing photos, we headed back to our car when the light was fading. Horseshoe bend definitely makes Page worth a visit.
The rock formations all around the viewpoint are interesting, fun and curves around.
Day 10 Garden, dam & canyons
We started our day early with a morning hike to the hanging gardens trail (under 10 minutes from our hotel). Even though we reached the trail before 9 am, it was already pretty hot (maybe upper 80’s). The trail was mostly flat, just under 1.5 miles roundtrip. The most important thing to note about this trail is that there is no shade until you reach the part of the rock wall which the hanging garden comes out of. It is not recommended in the summer anytime after 9 am or before 6pm as the weather in Page is pretty hot. We barely completed the trail without passing out. The flat trail took us over some interesting rocks and different ground with many beautiful rock formations in the distance. The actual hanging garden gets its name for a rock wall that remains moist, allowing some vines and flowers to grow on its wall. It is quite a beautiful sight in the hot Page desert.
We were worried about our dog on the hike back as the temperature climbed rapidly in the short hour or so from the time we started the hike. With very sparse shade, we resorted to taking frequent water breaks before making it safely back to the car.
After the hike, we headed over to the Glen Canyon Dam look out area. We walked down a few stairs to come to an overlook. It was sad to see the water level so low. We picked up some lunch and headed to the hotel. Our dog was incredibly happy to be back in the cool hotel room for the afternoon. We picked up a Taco Bell lunch, which we enjoyed in our hotel room.
We crated our dog for the afternoon and headed to our Canyon X (the beginning part of the Antelope Canyon) tour office for our 1:30pm tour. We were supposed to arrive about 30 minutes before time. The office was located about 30 minutes from the hotel and the main area of Page.
We chose the Canyon X tour as the upper and lower Antelope Canyon tours did not have any availability for the mid-afternoon time (this is the best time for the light to come into the canyon for better photos and to view all the colors). Additionally, the upper and lower antelope canyon tours require an earlier check-in and tend to be a lot more crowded as per our research.
Once checked-in, we followed the pilot car for about 20-30 minutes closer to the entrance of the canyon. This drive was quite sandy in spots but we didn’t notice sedans struggling. The parking is about 10 minutes from the entrance of the cave. The walk down is not shaded and the afternoon sun in the summer is pretty hot. The temperature was over 100 degrees and we definitely felt the heat. Once inside the canyon, the temperature feels cool almost. We enjoyed the tour and got many wonderful photos. The tour guide gave us a great demonstration of how the canyons were created. We spent about an hour walking through the canyon. After the tour we headed back to our hotel to wait for the temperature to reduce a bit.
We had dinner on the patio of the same Thai restaurant we picked up from the day before. The food was decent. We didn’t find too many other vegetarian options in Page that we were interested in trying. After our meal we tried to find a trail that started really close to our hotel (Rimview trail). After we found the correct trail (which was confusing for a bit), we enjoyed the walk through some interesting terrain with great views of the dam and rock formation in the distance.
We had a long day in the heat, hence we were happy to call it a night.
Day 11 Mesa Verde NP 🏞️ & Durango
The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel and packed up the car. We began driving to Mesa Verde National Park. We added this to our itinerary as we were not sure about how dog-friendly it would be. After reading that the scenic drives lead to paved areas, that are pet-friendly, we decided to add it to our day. We began our 3.5 hour drive to Mesa Verde National Park. We drove through some beautiful parts of New Mexico, even seeing Shiprock from the distance. We did try to go to the four corners monument, however, the line to even get into the parking lot was incredibly long. Hence we just continued towards Mesa Verde National Park. We had a quick fast food lunch along the way to save time. We arrived in the park from the entrance close to the city of Cortez.
After entering into the park, we went to the visitor center to figure out where we could go with only a couple hours. We got some maps and information about the scenic drives. The only scenic drive open at this time was the mesa top scenic drive, which has several beautiful overlooks allowing visitors to get views of different cliff dwellings. We could enter some preserved pit houses as well. This area was about 1.5 hours away from the entrance of the park.
The drive was gorgeous through some winding mountain roads with steep drop-offs and sweeping mountain views. My son did complain about not liking all the winding roads, but this underrated park is totally worth it. Arriving at the overlooks confirmed our interest in the park. Our dog was able to walk to the paved overlooks (all of the ones were paved). We got amazing views of the cliff dwellings and the surrounding mountains. We were simply awe struck by the views in this park. We wish we could have spent more time in this park but overall were thrilled we got to visit it with our dog on this trip. Some of the cliff dwellings are open to visitors with booked tour accompanied by a ranger. I am sure those experiences would be amazing. They get booked months in advance in peak season. We recommend planning your time in this park based on who you are bringing (some cliff dwellings require climbing and hiking) and how much time you have.
After completing our scenic drive, we heard some more complaining 🤣 on the way out of the park about the winging roads from my son. From here it was about an hour and 20 minute drive through beautiful farms with mountain views to our Airbnb in downtown Durango.
Once we arrived and settled in, we walked to a nearby Indian restaurant to pick up some take out. We enjoyed this at our Airbnb and called it an early night.
Day 12 River, 🚂 rail museum & mining
We had breakfast from the taco truck just outside our Airbnb in downtown Durango. The food was really satisfying after just pastries for breakfast for the past few days. After breakfast we drove to the trailhead for Chapman hill loop. This trail was dog-friendly and offered a great birds eye view of the town of Durango. However, after about 30 minutes on the trail, we did not seem to be making much progress. My son began complaining about the elevation. Truth be told, I was struggling a bit as well. Hence we turned abound a bit more than halfway. We saw a lot of dogs off-leash in the area. It seems this trail is popular with locals in the area.
Next we headed to the Animas River trail. This area had a large parking lot. We enjoyed walking by the river for a bit. We just sat on the rocks around the river, watching kayakers in the river. After relaxing for sometime, we headed to lunch.
In the afternoon, we crated our dog in the Airbnb so he could relax while we wandered around the downtown Durango area checking out some souvenir shops. We did a little mining activity in one of the shops, which was fun for my son.
Next we walked to the Durango Silverton Narrow-gauge Railway Museum. We would have loved to take this train ride but it is one way, super-long and not pet-friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around, checking out all the antique engines, a lot of which my railfan son was familiar with. The museum is free to visit. It appears a bit shabby, but is full of interesting collections of antique engines and toys.
We took a short rest at our Airbnb. Next we had dinner at Fired-up Pizza. The pizza was excellent and the patio was pet-friendly. This restaurant was just a short walk from our Airbnb. Next, we picked up our car from the Airbnb parking and drove back to the Animas river parking area to walk the trail a second time. The trail was just as peaceful as before. The trail is lined with quaint houses on one side and the walkway and river on the other. We were lucky to see some deer peacefully eating some corn from the front yard of some houses. It was a quiet walk in pleasant weather.
Day 13 Roswell 👽 👾 🛸
We packed up the car and began our drive to Roswell, New Mexico about 6.5 hours away. We made a stop in Albuquerque, NM to have lunch at one of our favorite spots - Annapurna Vegetarian restaurant. They are located around the downtown area and have a pet-friendly patio. Their menu is full of global vegetarian cuisine along with a great drink menu as well.
After lunch we drove to a local chile shop - The Chile Addict to stock up on some green and red chile salsas, enchilada sauce and dry spices. We love the chile from New Mexico and use our road trips to stock up on these authentic products. From here we drove straight to Roswell.
After check-in to our hotel, we went to a local New Mexican Restaurant Peppers for dinner. They had a pet-friendly patio and were located close to our hotel. The food was good with sizable portions, however the patio was hot and buzzing with flies. We found ourselves constantly battling the flies, keeping them away from our food. This took a bit away from the experience.
After dinner we walked about the downtown area with alien souvenir shops, statues, art and even street lights. It was cool to be in Roswell, but we did not find all the alien connections quite as charming. We did not have time to go to all the museums and paid photo-ops as they had closed for the day. My husband found the city in general a bit shabby and in need of some freshening-up.
Day 14 Drive 🚙 back Home 🏡
We had breakfast and began making our way back home at last. It was an uneventful, not especially scenic drive (after all the scenery we had witnessed already). We made it back home by late afternoon, stopping only for gas and a quick Taco Bell lunch.