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Old 05-25-2014, 03:49 PM   #1
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Western Road Trip

I would like to make a trip to Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. I will be coming from the MS Gulf Coast. Timing of trip is open. I am thinking for at least a month maybe longer. I have family connections to the Four Corners area and would like to try to look up some of that long lost family. My question is what time of the year would be best to make such a trip? I would of course like to avoid the hottest and coldest times of the year. A bonus would be if this coincided with a rally or two but not a deal breaker if not.
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Old 05-25-2014, 06:03 PM   #2
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In regards to the Arizona part, you would like to miss this Phoenix area from mid May (already had 100 degree days) until mid October. The Balloon Festival in Albuquerque is a neat event in October.

If you stay above 6,000 feet like Flagstaff or the Grand Canyon, one has a more flexible schedule. The nights in Santa Fe are still in the mid 40s.
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Old 05-25-2014, 06:33 PM   #3
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October is a great month if you avoid the low desert areas. Great camping weather!

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Old 05-25-2014, 08:12 PM   #4
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Late September, early October. The fall colors will be on at that time of year.
If you get a chance. Drive US 160 over Wolf Creek Pass. Hwy 550 between Durango and Montrose is another beautiful trip. Or go north out of Dolores over Lizard Head Pass to Ridgway.
Be sure to look into riding the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge RR.
Have a great trip.
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Old 05-26-2014, 08:19 AM   #5
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Don't forget a few days in Santa Fe, then up to Moab. While in AZ, go to Bisbee, when it's over 100 in Phoenix, it's only 85 in Bisbee; a great town.
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Old 05-26-2014, 08:32 AM   #6
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Some great suggestions. Keep them coming. Thank you

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Airstream Forums mobile app
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Old 05-26-2014, 09:11 AM   #7
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Agree that the fall is great, but we have also enjoyed traveling
southern AZ and NM in April and early May. It can be nice if you want to spend time in the desert. The saguaro cactus around Tucson are worth seeing. Nice campground in the National Monument. Sedona AZ is worth a visit, great scenery, good boondocking on USFS land between Sedona and Cottonwood. Jerome is also worth spending a day visiting. In southern NM, visit Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands Nat. Mon. In the four corners area see Mesa Verde and Hovenweep Nat. Mons.
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Old 05-27-2014, 02:49 PM   #8
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A lot depends on the elevation of the long-lost relatives. April is great for the low-lying desert areas, but that is still winter at high elevations-- which can be in the plateaus and passes, not necessarily on the mountain peaks. For this year, I would suggest mid-late September/early October. There will still be a lot of tourists there, but not so many as in the past, when kids went to school after Labour Day. By late October, the mountains can be back into snow season.

Summer in the desert can be too hot to enjoy the desert areas after noon. But then, if y'all all from Mississippi, you probably wouldn't mind the high temps.

Don't know about rallies, but this would be a great area to visit ancestral Puebloan ruins, ranging from Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Bandolier,and Chaco Canyon, to some of the lesser-known and visited, smaller sites like Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monument. The Grand Canyon and Monument Valley are also many people's destinations. If you can visit Arches and Canyonlands NPs near Moab, UT, so much the better!
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