Summer is vacation time for those with school-age children. It always was for me growing up, and our youngsters are getting a similar experience.
This is not the Griswold family vacation story. I’ll spare you the guacamole dip and stale nachos. You won’t have to sit through our slides either.
But if you’ve never seen the sights of Arizona and New Mexico, you might like a quick flip-through of the photo gallery.
Our family thoroughly enjoys traveling. I especially like seeing new locations in the United States, where we all speak the language and have an idea of what might be of interest, or at least a background of the historical significance.
So, when my wife Laura and I had our 25th wedding anniversary this summer, we decided to renew our vows in the famous Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe. Neither of us had ever been to New Mexico and there’s plenty to see in the region.
First of all, it’s a 1,500-mile drive from north central Ohio to Albuquerque, and the trek through portions of Oklahoma and Texas can be hot and bland in July. We arrived in Old Town, a section of Albuquerque, just in time for the fireworks on July 4. The locals told us to drive out to the casino and go to the top of the parking garage for a panoramic view above the city.
That was superb advice. Several blocks of Albuquerque apparently had their own mini fireworks displays too, and they were going off constantly for nearly an hour once the sun went down. It was unique and impressive.
We stayed in an old artist’s village that included a number of neat cottages. One day we took a bicycle tour through Old Town, the neighboring desert and over the Rio Grande River. I also made a quick, solo stop at the Breaking Bad store in Old Town. Unfortunately, Bryan Cranston was not there.
Then we journeyed north to Santa Fe and Loretto Chapel. The small chapel was built in 1878, without a staircase to the choir loft. Because of the church’s petite size, a traditional staircase was impractical, as it would take too much room. The nuns prayed for days seeking an answer to their dilemma.
Legend has it a traveler on a mule stopped, looked over the situation, and using wood not native to the region constructed a fascinating helix-shaped spiral staircase (the “Miraculous Stair”). He left before being paid, and no one ever knew his identity. The Sisters of Loretto credited St. Joseph with the staircase construction, and it’s truly a sight to see.
From there we journeyed south toward Carlsbad Caverns. Along the way, we rolled through Roswell, sight of the famous and controversial UFO incident on July 7, 1947.
They tell us there were tours to the alleged crash site at one time. Yet that was not the case when we were there, and the museum in town had just closed when we arrived. With a hotel schedule to keep in Carlsbad, we couldn’t stay.
This was my one regret on the trip. Roswell is a quirky city about the size of Mansfield, and deserved more exploration.
At Carlsbad, one must make reservations in advance for a spot on the self-guided tour of the world-famous caverns. Low lighting helps visitors appreciate the spectacular work Mother Nature has been crafting for centuries beneath the earth’s surface.
After emerging from Carlsbad, we journeyed far west near the Mexico border deep into Arizona. Tombstone is the site of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral. As an avid Western movie fan, it was must-see stuff for me.
Some of the nation’s most famous actors, including Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid have all portrayed characters involved in the 30-second gunfight that killed three men and wounded three more.
Tombstone fully embraces it’s tourist-trap reputation with a stage coach tour, re-enactment of the gunfight, saloons, Boot Hill cemetery, and boarded sidewalks lining the main street of the Town too Tough to Die.
Just as the temperature cracked the century mark, we headed north through Phoenix (where it was 116 degrees) and on to the Grand Canyon. Heights are an issue for me, so the donkey descent into the canyon was a non-starter. The helicopter tours were too expensive. So, we settled for an SUV tour that showed us some of the top viewpoints along the south rim.
A stop at the famed El Tovar Hotel (far out of our price range) is probably the epicenter for the most incredible panorama of the canyon, and we spent three days snapping photos of the elk, watching the IMAX movie on the history of the region, and basking in the splendor of the scenery.
Our last stop was a three-hour trek north toward the Utah border where we drove through Monument Valley, a red-sand desert known for towering buttes in the Navajo Tribal Park. Again, Western movie buffs will quickly recognize this as the background for some of director John Ford’s famed films, including Stagecoach in 1940. John Wayne made numerous films here, too, and a cabin he often stayed in is still located here.
The spot where Tom Hanks stopped running during a scene in Forrest Gump is in this region, and knuckleheads (like the Phillips family) frequently get out to re-enact running with the monuments in the background.
There’s no interstate anywhere near this part of the country offering a path back toward north central Ohio. So, the 1,700-mile drive home included a 17-hour jaunt to Kansas before we could pick up I-70.
Still, the views in southern Colorado, where the Rockies emerge, is a welcome respite from the desert of Arizona.
That concluded a lengthy, but unforgettable voyage for our family. It was an experience we were grateful to share with our kids, between the scenery and the history, there’s simply nothing like it in this part of the country.
I hope they get to make a similar trip with their families someday.
As the sponsor of Ashland Source's Life and Culture section, Brethren Care Village continues its commitment to enriching lives and promoting a vibrant community.
