Growing up, my family never did road trips. We flew everywhere and explored once we arrived in the city. So when Juan proposed the idea of a 5-day 2,000+ mile continuous road trip to the Grand Canyon, I was very intimidated at first. But, new year new me (which meant doing something new), so I was convinced. A lot of friends have been asking me about the trip, so I decided to write about everything here (including a route map, food recs, an ER visit, and below zero Fahrenheit temperatures).
The Route:
Medium isn’t letting me embed my map, so here is the link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CcTyWntp2Rah-8bg_KrgnQNjdZlTL9G0&usp=sharing
Day 1: Packed everything in the van at 3AM after celebrating New Years with downtown bar-hopping, champagne, and Venezuelan festivities + dinner. Left Austin at 4AM in order to make it to White Sands, NM, before sunset. Slept on the road. Breakfast at McDonalds. Continued through El Paso and arrived at White Sands National Monument around 5:30PM.
Because of the government shut down, the park was “closed,” which only meant that services including restroom cleaning, road maintenance, trash collection, etc. would not be provided. Cars were parked on the side of the road, so we followed other people inside the park through a side entrance where the green plastic barriers were covered with sand. After taking pictures and jumping around, we were back on the road. We continued driving until reaching Globe, AZ, where we spent the night.
Day 2: Back on the road at 6AM heading towards Sedona, AZ. We arrived around noon in time for lunch at Dellapiane, a local burger and empanada restaurant. I recommend ordering a few empanadas to share (try the pulled pork and pineapple one or the Beef Mendoza).
Sedona reminded me of a cartoon town with colorful buildings and shops surrounded by large, red rock formations. It was also snowing, which added to the somewhat magical feel of the town. We explored by walking around, stopping in coffee shops, fudge cafes, and gift stores. By sunset, we were on the road again heading towards Flagstaff, AZ, where we stayed the second night. For dinner, I highly recommend El Tapatio, Mexican food. It’s one of the few restaurants in Flagstaff, but it was great!
Day 3: Left the motel after breakfast and started driving towards the Grand Canyon in temperatures that ranged from -3F to 28F! The north entrance is closed in the winter, so we were only able to explore the south rim.
We left around noon to reach Antelope Canyon by 3PM for our tour hosted by Ken’s Tours. This was my favorite part of the entire trip! Our guide, BooBoo, was amazing and taught us about the history of the Navajo Nation and some words in their language. If you’re coming here in the winter, be careful of the ice when walking! One person in our group slipped, injured her shoulder, and stayed behind for the tour :( We had to go to the ER afterwards, but everything was okay. We stayed the night in Page, AZ.
Day 4: Had hotel breakfast again and drove to Olijato Monument Valley where we explored on a self-guided tour. Make sure to check out The View Hotel and Trading Post! Afterwards, we took a short detour to see the Mexican Hat, Utah, which was slightly underwhelming (it’s a rock in the shape of a guy wearing a sombrero). From there, we started on our journey back towards Austin!
Day 5: After another 1000+ miles, we finally arrived in Austin around 10AM!
Transportation:
There were 8 people total in our group and we rented a 15-seat Ford transit van with high ceilings through CAPPS Van and Truck Rental out of the Austin airport. The van had reclining seats and just enough space for everyone plus luggage. Because it was icy and snowy on the road, the van was difficult at times, but it was overall great for the trip.
Other Advice:
Accommodations: For booking hotels/motels, I recommend using Booking.com and only making reservations a few hours before arriving. This way, you can schedule around unexpected events and avoid rushing to arrive at a certain place. Breakfast included options are extremely convenient for the next day to quickly get back on the road.
Packing: Check the weather! We knew Arizona would be colder than Texas, but we didn’t expect snow and 30 degrees below freezing temperatures. Some people in the group didn’t pack enough or packed the wrong shoes, which made it harder to explore some snowy places.
Pack medicine and/or a first aid kit for small emergencies! Unexpected things happen, and sometimes ibuprofen, allergy meds, pepto, and bandaids come in handy.
Food: We brought a cooler on the van filled with snacks and drinks for the road. Trail mix is great. Fruits are great. Carrots and hummus are great. I highly recommend bringing an electric water boiler! It was very useful for making coffee, teas, hot chocolate, and next time I would even bring some instant noodles. If you’re looking for more options, here’s my shameless plug for my food blog and food insta.
Girl Advice: If you get your period on a long road trip, I recommend ditching the pads/tampons and buying a reusable menstrual cup (Diva, Eva, etc). I was skeptical, but it is so convenient and comfortable — I don’t think I’m switching back.
For those who might be interested in doing a similar road trip, I hope this was helpful! Although I still slightly prefer flying somewhere, renting a car to drive around, and avoiding the first and last days of 10+ hours of nonstop driving, my first road trip was a success, and I would totally do it again. My last bit of advice, which might be the most important, is to make sure you go with a a good group! This means going with friends/family/people who are adventurous, flexible, and willing to spend hours together listening to the same music and playing Bomb Diffuse games on the road!