My brother just retired and immediately bought an RV and hit the road for six months – a friend left NH in September to travel the country and has seen 12 national parks along the way (still not home yet) – and I had dinner last night with someone who is making plans to head to the Southwest for a month or two.
I’ve never driven across the country or seen the Grand Canyon – accidentally visited Grand Teton National Park this past summer, as we were visiting friends who live near Jackson Hole.
So – my question – in his earlier life, my new partner drove across country, visited all the National Parks, and doesn’t like to be away from the cats for more than a week.
So these grand adventures are not in the cards, if I want to do them with him.
The Grand Tetons were okay, but not the thrill of a lifetime – are there others out there for whom such travel is just not that enticing or others who faced the crowds and the driving and thought they could’ve lived without the experience?
Funny you mention the Grand Canyon as I am the only one in my family who hasn’t been so while visiting ds2 in Vegas this summer, he and dh and I are committed to getting me there! We are renting a car and making the trip. I hope that I am not disappointed!
I had no desire to see the Grand Canyon but I was in Vegas for a girls weekend and we took one of those little plane tours to the south rim. I was blown away. The photos don’t do it justice. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
I personally think everyone should see the Grand Canyon…if they can. It really is amazing, and the pictures are good, but not as good as seeing it in person.
Having said that…if you can’t do it…you can’t do it. There are lots of other wonderful things you probably can do closer to home or within the timeframe for the kitty!
You can save time. Watch the Brady Bunch episode “Grand Canyon or Bust”. It’s an awesome site but not everyone shares the same desires for these types of things so for you it may be - ehhhh.
My grandparents took me to see the Grand Canyon when I was a child, and it must not have impressed me very much, because my only remaining memories of the trip are: (1) visiting a dusty old gift shop that sold rocks and touristy trinkets, (2) seeing a lot of tourists getting off and on buses. I don’t remember anything about the actual canyon.
I’m guessing I might enjoy it more now as an adult?
(Note: my grandparents always made us hike in national parks and such, so I’m guessing we must have walked around at least a little, but I don’t remember. Maybe I hated it and blocked it out.)
This!! That little plane tour lets you see the canyon so much better than what can be seen from standing at the edge and looking down into it (which is what most visitors do).
We visited in the dead of winter. Somehow we ended up going into some building to warm up and decided to pay for one of these flights and it was so worth it!
When I was twenty-one a couple of friends and went on a trail ride down the Grand Canyon on mules. It was kind of scary— those mules insisted on walking on the very outside edge of the trail. But it was a great experience and I’m glad I had a chance to do it.
You don’t have to drive cross-country to see some of the amazing national parks. You could fly for a one-week vacation and see one or two, and perhaps another year, see another. For example, Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion would make a nice one-week trip.
If you have no desire to see national parks, then that’s different. But just saying it doesn’t require a long trip or a cross country road trip.
Do you live in the East? I do. One summer before grad school, my husband and I did a five week cross country (plus Canadian Rockies) trip primarily to national parks. We didn’t know when else in our lives we’d have that much time off, at least not for a long time. I’m so glad I got to do that because the western half of the US (plus Western Canada) and the national parks are unlike anything in the East. And it is kinda mind-blowing with places like the Grand Canyon because it’s all natural and not man-made.
I’ve been 5 times. It is truly spectacular. I’ve been to 30+ countries. It is hard to think of natural wonders that even come close. The karst landscape of China. Fjords of New Zealand. Ayers Rock. Ang Thong Marine Park in Thailand. Japan’s Mt. Koya during cherry blossom season. Peak fall foliage in Vermont. The Sahara Desert. Bryce Canyon covered in snow. The Austrian Alps and Iceland’s Glacier Lagoon might come close to the Grand Canyon in terms of natural splendor, but I can say that nowhere else on earth beats the Grand Canyon.
I’m glad you are dating someone you like, but if that person said they could never leave their cats for more than 1 week to see the Grand Canyon, I’d probably break up sooner rather than later. And I am a crazy cat lady. Our days on this planet are numbered. I love my cats but I love exploring the world more. Cat sitters are out there
The North Rim is spectacular and interesting and not crowded with tourists. The park rangers run free classes every day….botany, geology, the culture of the Native American original residents, the history of the regions fires and other natural disasters. Even if you aren’t a hardy hiker (like the Rim to Rim folks) the topography and views are worth the trip.
I love every National Park I’ve ever visited but the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is in its own league. Flew to Vegas and then rented a car. You do NOT need two weeks for this trip. We stayed in a cabin in the Park (clean, basic, cheap) although the Lodge looked magnificent. I don’t know what has survived the last few wild fires but worth researching.
I never felt the need to see the Grand Canyon, but I joined my wife and daughter at during a conference in Arizona, and she was accompanying a bunch of students, many who had never been out of Illinois. So she decided to take them all on a trip to the Grand Canyon.
I tend to lean cynical, but the truth is, I was amazed. There is absolutely no way that any photo can convey the actual view and feel of the Grand Canyon. It is enormous, yet you can see extensive parts of it. We hiked down halfway, and only discovered on the way up that one of the kids had heart problems, and many had the wrong type of shoes. It wasn’t an easy climb back even for me, (I had hiking sandals which were a problem going down but not for going back up).
Luckily everybody made it back to the top alive and well. On the way back, I asked my wife to have both vehicles pull over to the side of the road (well away from the traffic, of course). I told the students to step out of the vehicles and to look up at the sky. As I said many had never left Illinois, and some had barely left Chicagoland. This was the first time many had seen a clear night sky that was full of stars, the first time that they had actually seen the Milky Way, and the first time that they had seen a shooting star.
I recommend that everybody visit the Grand Canyon, and that, at night, they stop somewhere around there that is away from the towns and look up at the sky. I am happy that I did and I’m happy that I did it with people who were there. Of course, doing it with my family as well was even better.
I love Grand Canyon. It’s amazing to know you’re looking DOWN five miles.
I read that the average tourist’s stay is very short - they come, look down, and leave. I think you can’t really experience it until you walk down a trail aways.
But don’t do what DH and DS did and walk all the way to the bottom and up in one day!!! There are signs everywhere saying you shouldn’t do that. They were supposed to walk only halfway down and then come back. Our other two kids and I were waiting at the top. We waited and waited… I finally went to the park HQ and was filing a report on them when DH called, very exuberant at their adventure. It was VERY HOT on the way up. Thank goodness DH was a distance runner and had insisted they take a lot of water. They’ll never forget the hike, and neither will I, ha.
I hate to be that person, but I just checked and it’s a little more than a mile down (elevation difference between top and bottom). Maybe the trail down is five miles in length?
I’ve visited, but I wouldn’t care to go again and have been to many other places that were more awe inducing to me.
I have traveled with our cat and dog in our RV van. It can be done.
I also agree with the above suggestions. To fly to a location for a week, rent a car, and try to stay in their cabins in the national parks. I have a friend from Dallas who did just that for Arches, Bryce, Zion and Canyonlands. Just don’t do it in the hot months May- Sept. I happen to really love Arches, Blue Bells in Aspen, and Goblin State Park in Utah. Of course you are getting a response from someone who moved from city life to be in the heart of designated dark sky and mountain lion country.
It’s amazing to know you’re looking DOWN five miles.