Houston to grand canyon and back in 7 days possible?

Hi all... my wife and I are new to the site.. came across it while trying to plan a roadtrip, our daughter just started college and we are planning to get out of town for a week- we would like to go to the grand canyon as we have never been there; but is it doable in 7 days their and back with lil stops along the way- we dont have a lot of $$$ so if anyone can shed some ideas? we have always traveled east and never been out west .. except for our honyemoon we did go to fort davis and that was a blast - we would both like to see some ghost towns , old mining towns and love to stargaze.. we have heard that the stars are awesome out in the deserts . anyway we plan on leaving on Saturday Sept 4th and have to be back the followinig Saturday - just the two of us - can not decide if best and more scenic to go north then west or just travel west then north - thanks for any input lots of info here on the site but until we get home from work tonight cant really look at everything.. - .. :P

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

By the most direct route (I-45 and US-287 up to I-40), the Grand Canyon is just 2½ days from Houston, So if you plan to spend a day at the Canyon, you have another day to sprinkle on detours and at stops along your drive. What I'd suggest is that you look at a completely different route either to or back from the Canyon that satisfies your desire to see some of the 'wild west' and use the short route the other way. One possible alternative would be to use US-90 and its extensions. Say, take US-290 through Austin to Junction and then head down US-377 to Del Rio and US-90 along the Rio Grand through Langtry (Judge Roy Bean territory), Marfa (site of some strange lights in the sky), and hook up with I-10 at Van Horn. The last leg would then be US-191, the scenic Coronado Trail up through eastern Arizona to the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon.

If you plan to star gaze, there are two things you should bring with you. A star map for the time you'll be traveling and a pair of moderately powered binoculars if you have them. Neither is absolutely essential, of course, but they will add immensely to what you can see and learn from the clear skies of the southwest. And to both be out under the stars and to save money, you might want to look at camping in state parks a night or two, particularly when your route takes you well away from civilization and the Interstates on a given night.

AZBuck

Thank you AZ for the great info !.. we will definatley look into your suggestions - we have been out to the Marfa lights and Fort Davis but not beyond that - the Coronado trail sounds like a lot of fun - but as for the camping suggestion - LOL .. not sure we can camp again .. earlier this year we went on our first camping trip ever - just me and wife - stopped at Brazos Bend State park for a night - that was very nice the second part of our trip took us to the gulf coast near surfside texas.. we arrived and we were the only one in a tent everyone else had rv;s we felt quite humble.. LOL.. but it was sooo windy took us forever to put our tent up cause of the wind - finally got it up - that night a bad storm rolled thru had winds of 40 mph sustained in the middle of the night we heard pop pop snap grabbed wife and our two puppies and ran to the truck in the middle of the rain and wind - slept in the truck for the rest of the night woke up the next morning our tent was torn apart LOL -- we laughed about it especially when our neighbors in the RV next to us greeted us when they woke up and asked if we were ok and that they "thought" about us during the storm hehehehe.. anyway just yacking here but when i get home will have to find the pics to support this story and post them ..