It’s time to fold up the chairs, put away the dishes, and turn out the lights. We’ve reached the end of our Trip Report (be sure to tip your faithful reporter on the way out).
But before we go, I’ll offer up the traditional closing chapter, which typically features some random rambling thoughts, some hastily-arranged top-5 lists, and a preview of what’s to come in the future. In other words, it’ll look exactly like every other chapter to date.
As usual, this was a vacation that involved a lot of driving, seldom resting for more than one night in any one place. I know that sounds exhausting and unappealing to many of you, but we really love it. For us, the choice between sleeping in and doing nothing or going out and seeing spectacular sights and wonders is really no choice at all. I can goof off and do nothing at home. In fact, I frequently do. Just ask Julie. When we’re on the road, we want to explore. We’re driven by the desire not to miss out on seeing something special. If I travel all the way to Arizona, I’m going to make sure I see the Grand Canyon. Sure, it’s tiring, but it’s much better than having regrets later.
Furthermore, we want the kids to have the experiences. Don’t tell them, but this is a big part of their education. They only think they’re on summer break. In reality, we’re just trying to give them a more fun, spectacular, and memorable classroom. I really believe traveling shapes your character as well. I don’t have any scientific proof, but I believe someone who has to deal with the hassles of various modes of transportation learns to be flexible and ready for sudden changes. Someone who experiences various terrains and climates learns to appreciate the variety, and embrace new experiences. And someone who meets people from various locales learns to appreciate the differences in people, and how to be open-minded instead of rushing to judgment.
And, of course, someone who is willing to eat a burger patty made of 50% ground bacon demonstrates a truly refined palate.
Anyway, like I said, I don’t have any proof of the above statements, but they feel right, and now they’re written on a web page, so they must be true.
One thing I definitely know is true: traveling is expensive. We’ve cut and squeezed every dollar from our budget that we could in order to do this. And I have no regrets over doing so.
So, let’s turn our attention to this Southwestern vacation in particular. Much of the American Southwest feels like another planet. The heat, dry air, and rock formations are totally foreign to me as an East-Coast-dweller. As a result, I find the entire region fascinating to visit. I would rank Bryce Canyon, Zion, and of course the Grand Canyon as 3 places you really should not miss. Scenery like that is unique, spectacular, and worth whatever trouble it takes to get there. And anyone who considers themselves a fan of Disney should make the effort to see the original theme park. Just try and take a little more time to appreciate it than we did.
Going into the vacation, we were anxious about how well Baby Drew would hold up, and how difficult he would make life for us while we traveled. Overall, I think Julie and I were pleasantly surprised. Yes, he was up at least twice a night, which was not fun. But he would have done the same thing at home. So we could have been tired at home or tired at the Grand Canyon. I’ll take the latter, thanks. He also got fussy from time to time in the van. But again, this is not unexpected. Eventually, he would fall asleep. Overall, we felt like our fears were largely unfounded. Yes, you have to adjust when traveling with a baby—less hiking, more rests and downtime, and the parents usually have to switch off between activities with the big kids and watching the baby. But I think the larger point is that it can be done. You don’t have to put your life on hold when you have a baby in tow.
Here are my final rankings of our experiences:
Top 6 Spectacular Sights
1. Sunset over Grand Canyon N.P.
2. The night sky at Bryce Canyon N.P.
3. The view from the Canyon Overlook at Zion N.P.
4. Cars Land
5. A plate featuring a 50/50 burger
6. View from the bridge overlooking Hoover Dam
Top 5 Meals
1. Oscar’s Café, Springdale,
UT
2. Thee Pitts Again BBQ, Glendale, AZ
3. Slater’s 50/50, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
4. Café Orleans, Disneyland
5. Plaza Inn, Disneyland
Sights I Never Need To See Again
1. Advertising in Las Vegas
2. Baby Drew’s diaper blowouts
3. Myself in the World of Color viewing area with 8,000,000 of my closest friends
4. The airport parking shuttle at BWI
5. Joshua trees
6. An expired, unused Indiana Jones Fastpass
Best Places to Stay
1. Hampton Inn, Springdale, UT
2. The Pointe Tapatio Cliffs, Phoenix, AZ (on a weekday next time)
3. Embassy Suites Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV
4. Presidential Suite of the Wingate by Wyndham, Henderson, NV
5. Castle Inn (mostly for proximity to Disneyland), Anaheim, CA
Disneyland Rides Which Are Better Than Their Disney World Counterparts
1. Space Mountain
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
4. Soarin’
5. Grizzly River Rapids
Very Nearly Worth The Cost Of Admission By Itself: Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racers
Most Valuable DISFriend on this trip: Alison (duh)
Best Drive: Eastern entrance to Zion National Park through the tunnel
Worst Drive: The road in Joshua Tree National Park
2nd-Worst Drive: I-15 between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas
Surprisingly Enjoyable Drive: the 5 hours from Zion around the Grand Canyon to the South Rim
Best Swimming Pool: The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs, Phoenix, AZ
2nd Best Swimming Pool: Hampton Inn, Springdale, UT
As many of you know, we are on a mission to visit all 50 states as a family. We picked up 4 new states with this vacation, bringing the kids to a grand total of 28. So we’re officially more than halfway there! On the downside, most of them are west of the Mississippi River and there are much greater distances between states out west. We’re going to have to do a couple of big road trips in order to pick up those Midwestern states. But I think we’d like to wait a little longer for Drew to age before we tackle the longer drives.
Here’s our updated map of our travels:
This brings us to the plan for Summer 2015. As I mentioned, we are still reluctant to tackle trips with several days of back-to-back long drives until Drew gets a little older. And we’re still hampered in our funding by having only one steady income and my yet-to-be-promoted status.
We decided to take another fairly long flight this year in order to take advantage of the last year in which Baby Drew flies for free. That way, I only have to pay for 5 tickets. I’m also getting better at using Priceline and Hotwire to get better deals on hotel rooms. They don’t typically tell you the name of the hotel where you are getting the deal until you book it, but if you read through the ratings and features carefully you can usually figure it out. I’ve been trying to book 2 or 3 per month that way in order to spread the costs out. The downside of that approach is that it’s non-refundable, but our plane tickets are already bought so we’re committed anyway. Spreading the costs out month by month and paying slowly in advance will help us in the long run, I think.
As most of you figured out from my very subtle hints, our primary destination is Yellowstone National Park. I had the fortune of visiting twice when I was a child, and the entire area contained in Yellowstone and Grand Teton N.P. is one of my favorite places on earth. I can’t wait for the rest of the family to see it.
One of the big things I’m looking forward to is staying in the Old Faithful Inn. Before we’d even planned this trip, I had called last summer to see if I could get a room. I knew that in order to get in, we needed to make reservations at least a year in advance. It’s similar to the Grand Canyon that way—rooms get booked very quickly. When Julie and I kicked the idea around, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the reservation in hand, knowing we could always cancel it later.
The Old Faithful Inn is the building that served as the primary inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge at Disney World, so you can imagine why I was drawn to it. If you’re willing to “rough it” a bit, it’s also one of the best deals you can find. If you get a room in the historic wing, there’s no air-conditioning, no TV, and you have to share a bathroom with other guests. For being willing to do that, you can stay right next to the Old Faithful geyser for a little over $100 a night. Looking at temperatures, it doesn’t appear that we need air-conditioning. Who needs a TV when you can see geysers? And Julie and I both survived living in college dorms, so the shared bathroom thing doesn’t faze us. Much better than shelling out $200 or $300/night in the rest of the area.
We’ll be doing another tour of some of the most famous National Parks of the west. This will be our first trip since 2011 that has no Disney element whatsoever, though. I fear we may suffer some withdrawal. We have been leaning heavily on Jill (
@jedijill ) as our resident DISFriend for this vacation, as she is in the Denver area.
Here’s the plan:
Wednesday: Fly from Philadelphia to Denver, Colorado. Explore Denver—maybe a Colorado Rockies game?
Thursday: Colorado Springs, CO. Climb to the summit of Pikes Peak (either by driving or by cog railway—Jill says we should drive), visit Garden of the Gods.
Friday: Rocky Mountain National Park. Stay in Vail, CO area.
Saturday: visit Colorado National Monument and possibly Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. Stay in Grand Junction, CO area.
Sunday: Canyonlands National Park. Stay in Moab, UT.
Monday: Arches National Park. Still in Moab.
Tuesday: Drive to Idaho Falls, ID.
Wednesday: Visit Craters of the Moon National Monunment, then head east. Stay in Jackson, WY.
Thursday: Grand Teton N.P. Check in for the evening at Old Faithful Inn.
Friday: Yellowstone N. P.
Saturday: Yellowstone N. P.
Sunday: Drive to Vernal, UT.
Monday: Visit Dinosaur National Monument. Drive back to Denver.
Tuesday: Fly home.
This trip should pick up 4 new states for us: Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and a little tiny piece of Montana. And we’ll be seeing a new side of Utah as well. I get the feeling the annual National Park pass will be a good investment once again. I did hear that the President announced all 4th graders would receive a free family annual pass to National Parks this year, which made me excited because Scotty will graduate to the 4th grade in June. However, it appears this program will not be available until the next school year, so, like most recent government initiatives, it really won’t do me any good.
In any case, I’m in the middle of grabbing hotel reservations and finding organic/health-conscious/vegan restaurants for our meals, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please fire away!
I’m sure I will attempt another Trip Report on this one. Since there is no Disney element involved, I will most likely post it on the DIS Dads boards (under Family) here.
Once again, thank you for being such faithful readers and being willing to suffer along as I relate our family’s misadventures. I really enjoy telling the stories, and I especially enjoy the conversations that follow. So, I bid you a fond adieu (does anybody really say that?) until next time, and I leave you with one last piece of wisdom:
Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and he’ll have to chase after you in his socks.
You're scaring me! 
