Arizona New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips

I live in Nevada and I've been to both Arizona and New Mexico a lot, been to the Grand Canyon too. Several times. But I've never taken the train from Williams mentioned in this book. I plan on it. Going through the book I see dozens and dozens of interesting places and things to see that I've missed and I thought I knew the area covered by this guide pretty well. The next time I go on the road in the Southwest I'll be taking this book with me, maybe checking out Bandera's Ice Cave or the Hovenweep National Monument or several of the places I've missed, but should see. The book reads well, not boring a bit like many travel books are and that's a great big plus. If you're going to Arizona or New Mexico, this would be a good book to take along.

Last month hubby Zack and I flew from Reno to Seattle, where we bought a 1989 Dodge Raider, which is really a Mitsubishi Montero in disguise, from my sister. Actually, it's a car we bought new, but when we went to sea we sold it to her. She's moved on to a family and a Volvo, but she kept the car in tip top shape with oversized tires and a killer stereo, so we bought it back. Since we have these two Lonely Planet books ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO & THE GRAND CANYON and PACIFIC NORTHWEST that we agreed to review, we decided to really put them to the test, so we drove from Seattle to Olympia and from there we took 101 down to Coos Bay in Oregon, then we hopped over to the 5, took it down to Shasta City in Northern California, then we took the two lane road to Susanville and onto Reno and home But since that only used up one of the books, we decided to check in on the cat our neighbors were catsitting, then it was back on the road, down to Vegas, where we didn't gamble a cent away, then on the next book we drove down to Prescott, Arizona, a fantastic city in mountains. We decided to go there because of the description of Whisky Row in the Arizona book. It's a street with cowboy saloons galore. Zack loved it. I didn't think I'd ever get him away. Also in the Arizona book we read about the old style train from Williams to the Grand Canyon. What a spectacular trip. Sadly, we had to go back to our lives after that, but we're gonna get another trip or two out of these books. Just great they are, just great.

In 1989 when Sara and I were just kids, we bought our first new car, a Dodge Raider, which is really a rebranded Mitsubishi Montero. We drove that car from Los Angeles to Miami, where we put it in a storage locker and took a flight to London, where we spent a great month. Back in Miami we drove to New York, up into Canada to Nova Scotia, than across that Great Country to Vancouver, then back on down to L.A. I loved that car, loved that trip. We did that trip with nothing more than a Rand McNally Road Atlas. We saw a lot, but we missed a lot, too. I know that because we just got back from a road trip in that same car and this time we used a similar atlas, but we also armed ourselves with two of the Lonely Planet trip books, PACIFIC NORTHWEST & ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO & THE GRAND CANYON. These books pointed out site after site and though we didn't visit them all, we took in a bunch. After reading through the books we decided to do 101 down the Pacific Coast from Olympia, WA to Coos Bay, OR. There's a lot to see on that route even without a travel guide, but with one, if you have the time (and we took it) you'll see and experience so much more. As Sara pointed out in her review, in Arizona we took the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon and though we'd been there a couple times before, it's always breathtaking, always grand. Sara enjoyed the train more then me, hard seats. Not only are the Lonely Planet books chucky jammed full of sites to see and places to go, but they give you a well written history of the places they talk about and with that you seem to get a sense of belonging to a place, even if it's only for a short while. We've traveled a lot, Sara and me and so I know what I'm talking about when I say these Lonely Planet books really do add value to your traveling experience. These are the best travel books out there, bar none.

I like this series because it tells you the most interesting places to see on your trip and because most of trips just last 2 or 3 days. There are some for a week or more, but it's great for seeing your own state at your own leisure also. It has 58 themed itineraries and 1005 local places to see in Arizona, New Mexico and the Grand Canyon plus trips to Utah, Colorado and Las Vegas. Some of the Iconic trips include the Four Corners Cruise, Motoring the Mother Road (Rte 66), Rafting the Colorado, A Green Chile Adventure, Gunfighters and Gold Miners, Rim to Rim Canyon Hike, Dam Diving, In Search of Georgia O'Keefe, Billy the Kid Byway, Southwest by Train. Some of Route trips include the Fantastic Canyon Voyage, Trail of the Ancients, Ice Caves and Wolf Dens on Highway 53, Fiber Arts Trail, High Road and Low Road, Following the Turquoise Trail, Geronimo Trail Scenic Highway. Food and Drink Lovers tours include: Steak Lovers Arizona, Grapes & Hops in the Desert, Brewpub Crawl, Organic New Mexico, Margarita Marathon, New Mexico's Wine Countries. Outdoors types will enjoy the tours of Monument Valley, Rim Country, Desert Wanderings, Sedona's Red Rock Adventure, Flagstaff's Northern Playground, Hiking in Grand Canyon, Water Rafting and fishing the Rio Grande, Utah's National Park plus much more. There are the History and Cultural Tours like Arizona Architecture, Pueblo Life, In the Footsteps of DH Lawrence, A Geology Expedition and more. There are some offbeat trips listed like Big Skies & Weird Science, Into the Vortex, Polgamy Country, Albuquirky, Out of this World, Cowboy Time. If you are the city type there is 48 hour trips planned out for what to do in Greater Phoenix, Las Vegas and Santa Fe. It gives a lot of website addresses for you to go to in each section so you can get familiar ahead of time with what you are going to see. Lots of little tidbits also listed to grab your interest. I love this series and will use it much more than just a regular guidebook.

Lonely Plant has compiled a fun and thorough travel guide through several Southwestern states. There are trips in this guidebook that will interest the entire family! This book is well organized and easy to use. It's just right for the traveler who wants to spend more time enjoying their vacation than reading through maps and planning itineraries. There are theme trips such as: Iconic trips, short city trips, food and drink trips, day trips, history and culture trips and some offbeat trips. The sheer diversity of the suggested trips means there is something of interest for everyone. I liked the fact that it also mentions pet friendly destinations. That way we pet owners can plan our "pit stops" ahead of time. For each trip the authors have listed: Number of days or amount of time to allow for each trip, distance from the starting point to the destination, best time of the year to visit, local maps, activities at the destination, local websites to study ahead of time, suggested reading, interesting side-trips, lodging and restaurants and even best travel music specific to each trip. Now, that's thorough! My advice; don't leave on your next vacation to the Southwest without your Lonely Planet guide! Have a fun and safe trip.