Lights on, camera … and action! Just how many places have we already conquered on this #CreativElenaRTW round the world trip of ours?! Right now, we are travelling around the world for more than weeks with our young kids, from Australia to New Zealand, and via Hawaii to the southwest of the USA.
Why here, of all places? My husband and children have never been to the USA, whereas I have been to its Western states with my parents many years ago. Memories of the Grand Canyon, as well as another trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico have made me decide to show them this fascinating part of the world.
From Hawaii, we take an almost six-hour night flight to Las Vegas. The children get a reasonable amount of sleep, my husband and I less so. Nevertheless, the next morning we bravely pick up our hire car and set off on the historic Route 66, our next destination further east towards Santa Fe, New Mexico, planning a maximum journey time of a few hours.
Approaching Las Vegas: We swap the subtropical island landscape of Hawaii for the dry highland desert of Nevada. Acclimatising here definitely takes time.
As soon as we see the first pickups and trailers, kind of oversize to what we are used to, we think: Welcome to the USA!
Roadtrip #1: From Las Vegas, Nevada to Seligman, Arizona (Historic Route 66).
An image of the Hoover Dam comes to mind when my brother and I first stopped here with my parents around 30 years ago. And indeed, it is very similar to that time – except that now it is my own son who is gazing at the landscape of concrete dam, reservoir and desert. The dam, a 1930’s engineering masterpiece, supplies around 40 million people further downstream on the Colorado River with energy and water. As a result, the safety precautions on site are high.
A view to Lake Mead east of Las Vegas.
Hoover Dam in front of us. Water levels have dropped rather low!
After the Hoover Dam, all of my boys big and small fall asleep in the car; I pass the remaining two hours of the journey with music and the view outside – what a wonderful road trip feeling in North America!
Seligman, a small town along the historic Route 66, welcomes us with an atmosphere similar to Radiator Springs, a place from the famous animated film Cars that our two children like watching. The place is covered in graffiti, drawings and “real Cars” replicas from the film! It’s great fun to go for a walk here.
In Seligman, we sleep in a typical US motel for the first time on our round the world trip: a kind of one-room flat with (in our case, because there are four of us) two large beds, a bathroom, at least one fridge, if not a small kitchenette, and usually a (small) breakfast.
Welcome to the Aztec Motel in Seligman: a friendly, owner-managed motel on historic Route 66. We sleep for 14 hours straight and recover from our long journey from Hawaii via Las Vegas.
Our boys love it here: Cars’ paradise!
Here, at “Big Mike’s” shop, we buy a few old US license plates, just like my parents did some 30 years ago! They, however, often had to go get them directly from wrecking yards; nowadays many of them are conveniently sold as souvenirs.
Roadtrip #2: Grand Canyon with kids: Where to stay and what to do.
From Seligman, we continue straight on to Grand Canyon, whose South Rim & Grand Canyon Village are another three hours’ drive from Seligman. On our first day there, we just stop off slightly; for budget reasons, we have booked our next motel in Valle, about half an hour’s drive south of Grand Canyon Village (any accommodation closer would have been much more expensive).
For the mighty Grand Canyon itself, 450 kilometres long and created over more than six million years by the Colorado River and its tributaries, we take a day and a half to properly visit – including a film on the history of its formation at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center IMAX in Tusayan, near the Grand Canyon itself.
From a parent’s point of view, I have to admit that any walking paths along the upper Grand Canyon Rim are largely unsecured. Paths often lead only a few metres away from drops into the mighty canyon, so we always keep a close eye on our children. Nevertheless, it’s really worth the extra sweat!
The South Rim Trail, from Grand Canyon Visitor Centre via Mather Point to Yavapai Geological Museum and Hopi House, runs for around five kilometres to the Bright Angel Trailhead. From there, buses can take you back to the visitor centre and car park. It is a manageable distance even with small children: Don’t forget to take plenty of water, caps for shade and sun protection! At the end, ice cream and a nice little bus ride are the reward:-)
The magic of the Grand Canyon, one of the most fascinating landscapes on the planet and rightly known as “Wonder of the World”.
We explore this unique natural landscape with our children: “Careful, little brother, there’s a steep canyon drop not far behind you!”
Yavapai Geological Museum is a perfect (rest) stop along the South Rim Trail at Grand Canyon.
At the Hopi House cultural centre, we are lucky to attend a performance by the local First Nations.
Grand Canyon, one day we’ll meet again! Wonderful impressions for our little family, here with a stop at Desert View Watchtower, a place along the canyon that is particularly recommended for watching sunrises and sunsets.
Overnight stay in Valle, around half an hour’s drive south of Grand Canyon Village: pure Road Trip USA symbolism!
Roadtrip #3: Monument Valley: Goulding’s Lodge + Navajo First Nation Tour.
From one day to the next, also because it looks reasonably close on our digital map, we make a detour to Utah and its famous Monument Valley on our route towards New Mexico. Like the Grand Canyon, the landscape here is absolutely stunning; straight out of a Western movie (many western films were actually shot here). We decide to stretch our budget a little and treat ourselves to a night at the famous Goulding’s Lodge and a Navajo First Nation tour through Monument Valley.
I can absolutely recommend this tour with friendly guides from local, indigenous tribes who also own the land as a protected area. With our hire car, we would only have been able to drive part of the route through the Monument Valley nature reserve, mostly due to its unfamiliar desert terrain. Above all, however, we would not have learnt nearly as much about the many bizarre rock formations and their significance for the First Nations Americans! Check this out.
Goulding’s Lodge, a really interesting motel and “Wild West Museum” in Monument Valley in Utah.
Even the pool here looks exactly like the natural surroundings outside.
One of our Navajo guides, who shares Navajo culture with us during the guided drive through Monument Valley. An eye- and heart-opening encounter on our family world tour!
Our guide leads us past many spectacular rock formations up to this eagle (can you see its head?), under which he takes a family photo of us.
Magical moment: Horses passing by, searching for water and shelter from the midday sun.
Bye bye Monument Valley, you will stay on our minds for a long time yet.
This is followed a little later by the so-called Forrest Gump Point, the location from the famous film where Forrest Gump ends his multi-year run across North America. It continues to attract legions of fans today!
Roadtrip #4: Four Corners Monument in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
From Monument Valley, the road trip winds its way through the arid high desert landscape of the south-west of the USA. For the first time, we notice its low humidity of only 10-20%, combined with an altitude of around 2000 metres above sea level: the results are slight nosebleed, extremely dry skin and cracked soles. The only useful motto is to drink a lot (A LOT) of water! Soon we’ll be back at sea level, I think. The difference is enormous!
A little later, we stop at Four Corners Monument, another protected area for local First Nation Americans and the only place in the USA where the borders of four states meet.
“Four Corners”: Liam and I have a foot in each of the US states Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
Roadtrip #5: Santa Fe with kids: Where to stay and what to do.
From the Four Corners Monument, it’s another few hundred kilometres to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We choose driving via Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, which is known for its fascinating cliff dwellings: First Nation Native American settlers once lived here in caves carved directly into the cliff canyons! Next time, we decide, we must definitely take more time to visit this place.
We continue on to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, a place that is inextricably linked with the famous painter Georgia O’Keefe. I came here on my first visit to Santa as part of a creative photo tour; now I stop here again with my family.
Abiquiu Inn, about an hour west of Santa Fe: A lovely motel and inn en route to New Mexico.
Here we mainly visit the Georgia O’Keefe Centre, which dedicates numerous exhibition rooms to the painter. Ghost Ranch, her former home and place of inspiration in New Mexico, can also be visited.
When I arrive in Santa Fe, I get a real sense of “coming home”. The city at the confluence of indigenous, Spanish and Anglo-American culture inspires with its location, its many hours of sunshine and its multifaceted life, expressed by the many artists that live here. Santa Fe is unlike any other US city and a stronghold of what makes up the (scenic, cultural and culinary) fascination of the south-west states of North America.
I spent almost two weeks here in 2014, and now we are spending four days in and around Santa Fe. I visit artists I met back then and we all meet Rebecca Wurzburger, former mayor of the city who made Santa Fe internationally famous as a creative tourism destination (that’s how I met her too). She has since become a grandmother herself: We meet her, her husband and her grandson for a family exploration of the city.
Hello, Santa Fe! The face of the city is characterised by adobe buildings, such as the New Mexico Art Museum.
Do make sure to also check out the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, if travelling with kids.
We stay at the Sage Inn right in the modern heart of Santa Fe, its modernised Railyard District.
A place full of playgrounds, coffeeshops and Street Art, which we love.
Afterwards, Rebecca shows us around her city: A visit to the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, which offers an exciting puzzle rally and an attractive play area for children in addition to the fantastic exhibitions.
Thanks to Rebecca, we choose top culinary addresses in the city, such as La Choza (New Mexico on your plate!). Make sure you book and come early in the evening, the crowds are big!
We also discover a nice restaurant with a play area, the Cowgirl in South Guadalupe Street, where we linger for quite some time, enjoying a very good meal.
Another highlight is the many trains that arrive in or leave from Santa Fe, such as this painted Sky Railway which our children love!
Roadtrip #6: Albuquerque with kids: Where to stay and what to do.
From Santa Fe, it is only about an hour’s drive to Albuquerque, the capital of New Mexico. We stay there for one night before flying on to San Francisco. In my opinion, that’s enough: Albuquerque’s old town is quickly visited; the Natural History Museum of New Mexico and the nearby Sawmill Market are also on our day’s programme for the short visit to the city.
Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum of New Mexico: The boys enjoyed it!
View of the historic centre of Albuquerque, founded around 400 years ago. Chilli peppers are everywhere, just like in Santa Fe! The area here surely is pretty hot.
If you would like to know more about each of the destinations of our #CreativElenaRTW family trip around the world, I can recommend the following articles on my travel blog.
They may trigger acute wanderlust, but they are certainly very useful for planning and inspiring a long-distance trip with (small) children
- Perth with kids: Family travel tips in Western Australia
- Near Perth, Western Australia: Exploring Mandurah, Gingin & Pinnacles Desert
- Roadtrip in East Coast Australia: Travel Tips from Brisbane to Byron Bay.
- Campervan Travel in New Zealand: South Island Highlights for families.
- Campervan Travel in New Zealand: North Island Highlights for families.
- Taking the family to Hawaii: Travel tips with kids in Oahu.
- Taking the family to Hawaii: Travel tips with kids in Big Island.