14-16 Days: St. Louis to NM/CO in late May/early June

Dave,

Thanks as always - sorry to be so late getting back here. The end of the semester is looming and things are busy.

Anyway, we are thinking of jiggling things a little bit now i am thinking of rerouting a little bit and going by Canyon de Chelly between Santa Fe and the North Rim. Then, going by Bryce afterwards to try to hit the Astronomy Festival and the Solar Eclipse there on May 20. We'd come back through Moab to Durango (via Muley Point and Hovenweep) to Great Sand Dunes.

That probably means saving Colorado NM and Black Canyon of the Gunnison for a future trip, but you can't do everything. I think I would like to save Mesa Verde for a couple years when our daughter is a bit older.

Thanks again,
Jon

Another thought -- you might think about getting your daughter a "National Park Passport". They are a little spiral bound book, purse-sized. At every national park she goes to, she would get a stamp for it at the Visitor Center. This would be a great little piece of memorabilia for her to have when she's an adult. Gosh, I wish they'd had them when *I* was a kid, because I'd have quite a few stamps in it!


Donna

We have been offered the use of a house in Big Sur for a couple of days and are thinking of adjusting our route to take advantage. I was looking at trying to do Williams, AZ to Santa Barbara in one day. Would this be feasible on a weekend day? (The weekend before Memorial Day)

In my opinion it is feasible. Traffic is hard to predict. A weekend day would generally have less traffic in LA urban area than weekday. A sunny and warm weekend day, particularly the afternoon, will have more traffic on coast. A few days with a house in big Sur sounds lovely.

It will be quite a full day on the road with a few rest breaks and lunch on the way, but perfectly doable.

Dave.

Thanks. I thought it probably was, but I have not been down to Southern California in many years and I wasn't sure how bad the traffic would be. I figured the fact that it would (most likely) be on a Saturday (possibly a Sunday) would be helpful.

I really appreciate how helpful everyone is here.

Thanks again,
Jon

Since you indicate you'll be in the Kanab area, you might want to visit Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

If you're going through Mexican Hat to reach Moki Dugway, Goosenecks State Park is a great stop that only takes a half hour our so.

Since you're going to be in the Moab area, don't miss Dead Horse Point State Park.

Since it sounds as if you've been in the area before, perhaps you've seen these places but, if not, they are all more than worth the stop.

Have A Great Trip!!

Is there any reason you have to go to Santa Barbara? If not, you could have a lot easier day by going to Bakersfield instead. It's about the same amount of time to get to Big Sur from there as it is from Santa Barbara.

Re Bakersfield: Stopping in Ventura rather than Santa Barbara breaks driving similarly along the coast. Based on earlier postings, there may not be another opportunity to drive along the coast and there will be time in the central valley (Sacramento).

glc: I have never been to Santa Barbara (or any of the coast below Big Sur) so I am taking this opportunity as a sign to do so.

CANative: I am also considering Ventura.

This might be a bit moot anyway - I decided to stay in Tusayan rather than Williams for the Grand Canyon, so we might hang out a bit Saturday morning to see the sunrise and early morning at the Canyon before heading out. If we do this, there is no way we are making it to Ventura, much less Santa Barbara, that day. We may end up just getting to Barstow or somewhere and then getting over to the coast the next day.

Again, thanks to everyone.

--Jon