Houston to San Francisco avoiding So. Cal.

[Mac]

We are taking a trip in early Nov., no time limit. We have 2 children (12 & 2). We want to see lots of fun places, especially the Grand Canyon and others you may mention. I know that Arizona has lots of places to see but I don't know of any.
We are trying to avoid So. California due to the fires. If anyone can suggest a scenic route or just a good route to San Francisco from Arizona it would be greatly appreciated.

Some possibilities:

Visit Carlsbad Caverns in SE New Mexico, then northward to Lincoln, NM (Old West and Billy the Kid sites, these are the places portrayed in the movies "Chisum," and "Young Guns"). Visit the Santa Fe area, then on toward Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon via the I-40 corridor, or, head NW from Santa Fe toward the Four Corners area. See Durango, Mesa Verde National Park, Canyon De Chelly, and/or the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site (near Ganado, AZ) before going west across the Navajo and Hopi reservations toward the Grand Canyon.

Between Flagstaff and the Canyon, you can see Wupatki Natl Monument and/or Sunset Crater. An option your kids might enjoy is the steam train between Williams and the Grand Canyon.

Also possibilities in the southwest area are Zion and Bryce National Parks, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands (all in southern Utah and HIGHLY recommended).

In Arizona, some additional ideas are Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, Walnut Canyon, and Jerome, in no particular order.

From Peach Springs, Arizona, on old US66, you can take a side trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (driving all the way to the banks of the Colorado River)! Another great visit in Arizona is the town of Oatman, where burros roam the streets seeking handouts -- kind of our poor version of the Yellowstone Park black bears!

From there (to get to San Francisco) you can work your way over to the coast highway (CA 1), or if the passes are open, go north from Death Valley and across the Sierras into San Francisco that way. You can find more information on those routes on other current posts on this site.

[Mac]

Thanks for the ideas, they sound great! This gives us something to go on.

I have gotten some really helpful information from other post for this trip.

Thanks, Mac