Departing
September 29, 2010
DAY
1
- Tour
to Williams, Arizona
- Fairfield Inn By Marriott
- Dinner
We will travel
through the Mojave Desert of Southern California to Williams,
Arizona, a delightful town of Pines, Railroads, and Route 66.
En route we will pass the historic towns of Victorville,
Barstow, Calico, Needles, and Kingman.
DAY
2
- Continental Breakfast, Dinner
- Northern Arizona Tour to Albuquerque
- Visit Petrified Forest National Park
- Sandia Courtyard
Hotel
We will continue
our trek east today as we view the open expanses of Northern
Arizona. We will first climb to Flagstaff and then gently
descend across Arizona to the intriguing Petrified Forest National
Park, where we'll take the 28 mile drive with its breathtaking
vistas, petrified log deposits, Anasazi Indian ruins, and the
Painted Desert.
Then it's off to
Albuquerque.
DAY
3
- Special Shape Mass Ascension
- Albuquerque
International Balloon
Festival
Today, we will
witness one of the highlights of the Albuquerque International
Balloon Festival, the Mass Ascension at 7:00 am. You
will awe at the sight of the desert sky filled with spectacular
hot air balloons.
We will return
to our hotel mid-morning to "catch up" on some sleep that we
lost. Later, there will be time to explore Old Town and the
Albuquerque Museum.
Tonight, we'll
witness the After Glow Fireworks Show from the Balloon Fiesta
Park.
DAY 4
- Continental Breakfast,
Dinner
- City
Tour of Albuquerque
We will tour this interesting city
today. Highlights will include the University of New Mexico's
pueblo-style campus and the historic landmarks throughout the city.
Albuquerque's tri-culture of Indian, Spanish, and "Angelo"
heritage is evident in everything from its unique adobe architecture
to its lyrical street names.
Old Town first
began in 1706! You'll love its cute shops, galleries and
restaurants.
DAY
5
- Continental Breakfast
- Tour
to Santa Fe & Durango
- Hampton
Inn
Today, we'll
take a short drive to lovely Santa Fe, where we will tour this
quaint city - the second oldest city in the United States.
Highlights of the tour will be the San Miguel Mission, the oldest
church in the United States, the Palace of the Governors, the Plaza
area and much more!
Later, we'll tour
through the beautiful mountain of Northwest New Mexico to the
lovely, little town of Durango, Colorado.
DAY
6
- Continental Breakfast, Dinner
- Silverton/Durango Railroad
- Tour
to Grand Junction
- Holiday
Inn-Express
This morning, we
will ride the famous Silverton, a narrow-gauge railroad train, that
winds through the rugged San Juan Region to Silverton,
Colorado. The Silverton has been designated both a historical
landmark and a national civil engineering
landmark.
We will continue on
to Grand Junction, Colorado.
DAY
7
- Continental Breakfast, Dinner
- Tour
to Cedar City, Utah
- Sightsee Colorado National Monument
- Holiday Inn-Express
As we leave Grand
Junction this morning, we will enter the Colorado National Monument
and the spectacular Rimrock Drive, with its panoramic views of giant
pillars of rock, eroded ridges and cliffs, twisted figures in
colored stone, and prehistoric fault lines. This is truly a
geological paradise!
We'll then tour
through the mountains and plateaus of Southern Utah to Cedar
City.
DAY
8
- Continental Breakfast
- Tour
Home
- Valley of Fire
State Park
On our way back to
Southern California today, wewill visit one of the west's best kept
sightseeing secrets, the Valley of Fire State Park. The
erosion of the centuries has left the red sand stone rocks in the
most interesting of shapes and figures. Let your imagination
run wild and, just maybe, you'll see elephants, dragons, and conical
beehives.
We will make
a stop in Stateline, Nevada, so that you can freshen up and win
another dollar or two. Then, we'll return home with many fond
memories of America's Scenic
Southwest!
