The Plan: Just passing through with stops in Springfield, Illinois and Wichita, Kansas. Downtown Wichita sounds fun! Four breweries within walking distance of our hotel?
The Plan: We’ve never been here — or to New Mexico — and it’s a bucket list item.
Drive from Wichita
Stay at Silver Saddle Motel
Get around by driving
Days 6-8: Sedona
Activities
Hike the Bell Rock Pathway and Courthouse Butte Loop
Uptown Sedona
Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village
Other hiking?
The Plan: We were here briefly on our way back from the Grand Canyon to Tucson back in the 1990s and have wanted to come back, spend more time, and do some hiking.
Drive from Santa Fe
Stay at Sedona Village Lodge
Get around by driving
Days 9-10: Death Valley
Activities
Sightseeing
Maybe some hiking
The Plan: It’s sort of on the way — about as close as we’re likely to get. We’ll only have one full day here but that should be enough time to see some highlights.
Drive from Sedona
Stay at Stovepipe Wells
Get around by driving
Days 11-15: Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks
Activities
Scenic drives
Congress trail
Tokopah Falls trail
Zumwalt Meadow Loop trail
General Grant and General Sherman trees
Other sights and overlooks
The Plan: It’s near enough to Yosemite that why not? We have friends in Visalia that we’ll visit while in the area.
Drive from Death Valley
Stay at Sequoia Resort
Get around by driving
Days 16-23: Yosemite National Park
Activities
Mist trail to Vernal Falls
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls trails
Sentinel Dome and Taft Point trail
Lembert Dome or Cathedral Lakes
Sightseeing and scenic drives
The Plan: This is a bucket list destination. We don’t yet know exactly what we’ll do here but there’s a lot. We’re actually spending more time in the Valley than originally planned because I goofed up the reservation and decided to let it stand. Then we’ll spend one night in Wawona for easier access to Glacier Point.
Drive from King's Canyon National Park
Stay at Curry Village Cabin and Wawona Hotel
Get around by driving
Days 24-26: Eastern Sierra
Activities
Explore Mono Lake
Eastern side of Yosemite
Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow Falls
Bodie State Historic Park
The Plan: Mono Lake has always fascinated me and we should have easier access to the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite from this side of the mountains.
Drive from Yosemite National Park
Stay at Alpenhof Lodge
Get around by driving
Days 27-29: Salt Lake City
Activities
Great Salt Lake
The Plan: We’ve been to southern Utah but not this part so we planned a stop for the Great Salt Lake and surrounding mountains.
Drive from Eastern Sierra
Stay at Little America
Get around by driving
Days 30-32: To home
Activities
Driving
The Plan: Just passing through Cheyenne, Wyoming and Des Moines, Iowa.