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[Deleted member 713885]

I've spoke about doing this earlier in the year and I'm about to take the plunge and buy the tickets this week.

Heres my goal. My sons 18th Birthday is a few days away. I've already got him some presents and some great seats for us to see Tool in Nov.
But, we never travel...We went to Bermuda when he was 6 and North Carolina when he was 10...I work A LOT and can never find the time, but I wanna do a get away.
Now, I have family in Florida so we could just hope on a plane and have a place to stay, go to the beach, Epcot etc.. But, I dont want to do that, nor do I think it would leave a memorable experience in his mind. We live 45min from the beach here in Jersey and we're not fans of lines or Disney and such.
I dont want a vacation/experience that is "Shopping, Eating, Theme Parks and the Beach"

I wanna see things away from the East, I want to see things here in the states that are like a religious experience... I wanna see the desert, the mountains..

The Grand Canyon!!

So heres where I'm at, and hopefully some experienced travelers, Arizonians, Utahians, New Mexicoians, Nevadians can help..

I want to leave on Oct 31st..

Fly into Phoenix or Flagstaff (Some help with picking which city would be best. Flagstaff is closer, but the drive from Phoenix is more scenic?)
Grab a rental car..

Go to the Grand Canyon, thats the set in stone destination.

After that? See places in the desert, see whatever is out there and what I should see.
I see Zion National Park is 4 hours away north, should I go? But I see Monument Valley is also about 4 hours North East?

South, West, East? What should we do? What should we see!? lol

I'm not gonna toss a ton of money at this trip. This is, like I said, not a shopping/eating/touristy trip....this is about a couple East Coasters who have never see anything like the South West or the West.
Just some city boys, in a car, with about $1000-$1500 cash, a bag each, looking to make memories in the SW over a week.
Cheap food, cheap place to stay, but mind blowing sites to see and memories to make.

How and what would you guys do?

(would it be a good idea to also leave from a different air port? Not go back to Flagstaff/Phoenix?)

 

[betrayal]

I'm not a native (i'm from Germany) but i did a few road trips through the west. If you start in Flagstaff and heading to the Grand Canyon i would head to Page next. There you'll have the Glen Canyon NP (Lake Powell), Antelope Canyon and the Horseshoe Bend. After that i would check out Monument Vally and, depending on your time budget, heading north to Moab, where you not only have great scenic roads on your way (Moki Dugway etc.) but you can also check out the Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.

I wouldn't recomment Zion. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but i don't like the shuttle bus system (you can't use you car to drive through the park this time of the year) and there may be bigger crowds and full shuttles. Furthermore i think you have a little bit more diversity and different landscapes on the route i have suggested.

Whatever you decide to do, i can only encourage you to do the trip. It will be worth it!

 

[Deleted member 713885]

I'm not a native (i'm from Germany) but i did a few road trips through the west. If you start in Flagstaff and heading to the Grand Canyon i would head to Page next. There you'll have the Glen Canyon NP (Lake Powell), Antelope Canyon and the Horseshoe Bend. After that i would check out Monument Vally and, depending on your time budget, heading north to Moab, where you not only have great scenic roads on your way (Moki Dugway etc.) but you can also check out the Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.

I wouldn't recomment Zion. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but i don't like the shuttle bus system (you can't use you car to drive through the park this time of the year) and there may be bigger crowds and full shuttles. Furthermore i think you have a little bit more diversity and different landscapes on the route i have suggested.

Whatever you decide to do, i can only encourage you to do the trip. It will be worth it!

Awesome! Thank you so much!

Would you recommend flying back out of Flagstaff? Or should I set my outgoing flight to a different city?

 

[betrayal]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

Would you recommend flying back out of Flagstaff? Or should I set my outgoing flight to a different city?

Hard to say with so little information because it really depends on your budget and time. If you're flying back from Flagstaff you could also do a round trip driving from Moab through Capitol Reef NP, Bryce NP and Zion NP. But for that you would need at least 1,5 - 2 weeks.

For me it sounds like you have about one week(?), so i think doing Grand Canyon + Page (Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon NP, Antelope Canyon) and maybe Monument Valley (17th mile drive) is more than enough. But be aware that there are admission fees for all of these areas.

Also if you guys are into hiking you can easily spend 2-3 days in Grand Canyon alone and do one or two daily hiking trips. But you would need a hotel near the park entrance (Grand Canyon Village or Tusayan), because the trips just to the park entrance alone add up if spend your nights in Flagstaff.


PS: If possible and affordable don't start your trip in Phoenix. The landscapes and scenic routes are definitely not worth it.

PPS: I saw that you actually said something about time and budget.

PPPS: On our last trip a part of our route was as following: we had one night in the Grand Canyon NP, one night in Page, one night in the Monument Valley and went straight to Moab for two days (Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Colorado River or quad tours, etc.). If you have ~7 days i would recommend doing something like that. Maybe finish your trip in Salt Lake City. Page (Glen Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope) and Grand Canyon could be even two days, but this depends on your preferences. If possible be flexible, don't stress out and be ok if you can't see everything. I don't know about holidays right now, but in October it shouldn't be a problem to spontaneously find good and cheap Motels every evening, depending on your pace.

 

[Shifty]

Three drops of DMT, an acid tab, and a big Bob Marley-size joint.

You'll be tripping hard balls before you know it.

 

[GAMETA]

US only?

Argentina is broke right now, I bet you could travel there for real little money and have a great time. You can drink some great wine with your son (18 is the drinking age)

Chile is a great option as well, so is Brazil (my native country) if you know where to go.

Nothing beats a trip to Peru to see Machu Pichu, tho. That's one trip I plan on making with my son in a couple of years.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

very cool idea! America is such a bountiful land full of amazing sights, i think a lot of people forget about that when they stay in their areas. it is mindblowing how much space is out there. however, there will be a lot of driving, so best to plan things out in advance.

as for going west, and what to do, i'm not entirely sure, but there is a lot of crazy stuff out in the desert. lot of weird new agey things and UFO touristy stuff by the side of the road. it can be a lot of fun even if cheesy. also there are a LOT of dinosaur fossils out west, i think wherever you go, you should be able to find some cool stuff to check out. also caves and crystals and stuff.

really it is the landscape that is breathtaking. out by the rocky mountains, there is definitely something in the air. there is a reason Westerns were such a huge part of American iconography. on that note, it would probably be cool as hell to have a cowboy campfire dinner under the stars.

 

[nush]

I'd talk to your son and find out if he wants to go on a tour with his dad and what he would like to see.

 

[DrJohnGalt]

A few other suggestions if it's not too far off track would be the Four Corners stop, including Mese Verde (https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm) and maybe a bit further into Colorado to Bishop's Castle. (http://www.bishopcastle.org/). We used to have raves there quite a bit in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Now that was a trip! Haven't been there in a decade but it was a pretty cool place 20 years ago. If you're willing to drive a bit further north/east you can go gator wrestling (https://coloradogators.com/).

 

[crowbrow]

I did a road trip from Texas to the Grand Canyon. Around the Grand Canyon Sedona is a pretty nice desert town.

Also since you're going to Flagstaff and you both like Tool (fuck yeah). You probably would like to check out Maynard's winery's tasting room https://caduceus.org/tasting_rooms/the-caduceus-cellars-tasting-room/

If you feel like driving a bit more you could also go to Madrid, New Mexico. This small hippy-ish town was an abandoned old mining town and is in the middle of the desert and is super lively and colorful and it was mentioned in a Breaking Bad episode. The food is great and when we went there was a small electronic festival with really weird but friendly people.