Southwest Roadtrip

Wow! Our very first official 50 state trip that we ever went on. This was the trip that we loved so much we decided we wanted to go on more trips like these all across the US. ATVs, hotsprings, the best zoo in America...this trip has it all!

New Mexico

The state known for hatch green chiles, which my dad tried while we were there. Our first time going to New Mexico, we went in 2017 and visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This was on our first long road trip where we went out West, and New Mexico was our first stop. We stayed in the town of Carlsbad and I don’t really remember what we ate or where we stayed, but I remember that I didn’t really like them, so I don’t really recommend staying here. Carlsbad Caverns was cool and I enjoyed seeing it. Only a half day is needed for visiting this national park. (We also stayed in Albuquerque on our way towards Durango, Colorado in 2023 where we had a good restaurant called Frontier, and in the town of Ratón on our way towards Steamboat Springs in 2022). Overall, for the state of New Mexico I would recommend going to the mountains in the northern part of the state and either go hiking or skiing. The nice thing is that the skiing there is cheaper than Colorado (but don’t get me wrong, it is still expensive!). After staying in New Mexico one night, we headed off towards Colorado.

Colorado

We have been to Colorado four times. The first time that we went to Colorado was on this first state road trip and we stayed in Pagosa Springs. We got to stay in a little cabin right off a creek (Pagosa Springs RV Park and Cabins). It was very peaceful and relaxing being able to hear the water rushing and see the mountains in the background. In Pagosa Springs, we went ATV riding all around a mountain which was a highlight of the trip. We also went to the hot springs, which was another highlight of the trip. I remember that each hot spring had a theme and it was a super cool experience. You could also go swimming in the river to cool off. If you are wanting to visit Colorado in the summer, Pagosa Springs is a great place to go!

The next time that we went to Colorado was on our Yellowstone road trip and we stayed an hour West of Colorado Springs in my great aunt’s cabin. The cabin was in the middle of nowhere and had a perfect view of Pike’s Peak, one of the highest mountains in Colorado. While we stayed here we went on a 3 mile hike and went to a local wolf sanctuary that helps rehabilitate wolves. If you’re in the area I highly recommend going to the top of Pike's Peak and trying a glazed donut!

We also went to Steamboat Springs over spring break in 2022. We didn’t go skiing this visit, but we did do a bunch of other activities that were a blast. This was a last minute trip so we ended up staying at a motel called the Rabbit Ears Motel, which ended up being pretty nice. We had a balcony with a view of the river and snowcapped mountains. We were also able to walk everywhere in downtown, which was nice because parking was hard to find. Steamboat’s food was delicious and my favorite pizza place, Beau Jo’s, is there. Their town square is very picturesque with tons of restaurants and shopping. The ski area is also very nice with shops and restaurants at the skiing base and a center gondola in the middle. The activities that we did were dog sledding, Strawberry Hot Springs, Old Town Hot Springs in downtown, ice skating, and snow tubing. All of the activities are highly worth it and I recommend doing each and every one. My favorite was either dog sledding or Strawberry Hot Springs. Strawberry Hot Springs is a natural hot springs area and is about 20 minutes away from any civilization. It doesn't even have electricity there! Dog sledding was a fun and unique experience, but was very cold.

The most recent time that we went to Colorado was to go skiing in a town called Purgatory. This was not my favorite place to visit in Colorado, but it was a good place to ski. This was my first time skiing so we went to a smaller resort where it was easy to learn and the prices are not too high. The skiing here was good and perfect for a beginner. The reason that I would not come back here is because there were hardly any restaurants and shopping. There was the town of Durango that was 30 minutes away but who wants to go on an hour round trip after a hard day of skiing. Overall, this place worked out but I don’t think that I would come back. Anyways back to our first state road trip, we left Colorado after two nights and then headed to Utah.

Utah

Utah, the state that I want to come back to because I did not get to experience enough of it! We drove through Utah in 2018 on the way to Del Mar, California. We saw this rock that looked like a hat, ate sandwiches, and then continued driving. I can’t say much about Utah but I do know I really want to go back and go to Zion National Park. I would highly recommend checking out Zion National Park and spending a few days there. If you are a skier, then you can go and check out Park City! We continued our long day's drive, through Utah to Arizona.

Arizona

Arizona was part of the first 50 states road trip we went on. We drove through it twice and the first time we went to the Grand Canyon National Park. I was about 10 years old when I did this trip, and I was honestly not that impressed with this massive canyon, so make sure to go at a time when the kids would appreciate it. We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 3pm and did a hike heading down to the river. We walked down for about 30 minutes and walking back up took over an hour. If you hike here, be prepared and take lots of water! We spent the night at a motel in Flagstaff and ate dinner at a place called Yippee-Ei-O! Steakhouse; it was really good and also really crowded. Everything in the Grand Canyon was really crowded so be prepared for that. On the way back from California, we stayed at an Embassy Suite in Tucson. This hotel was really nice and as a kid I really enjoyed the pool they had and the sodas that they offered at the bar. And it had beautiful views of the nearby mountains. I would highly recommend this hotel. That night we had dinner at a place called BIRD Modern Provisions and Bar. I would rate it a 7/10 and it is something that I would try again! Unfortunately, this restaurant has since closed. Our state picture for this was obviously the Grand Canyon! Then we headed off towards Cali.

California

I have been to California twice: once on our first 50 states roadtrip and the other time visiting Yosemite National Park (see my Nevada post for more on Yosemite). The first time was a blast! We stayed two nights in Del Mar and one night in San Diego inside the San Diego Zoo. In Del Mar we stayed at a beach front hotel called Del Mar Beach Hotel. This hotel was a little pricey because it is in California and on the beach, but everyone in my family highly believed that it was worth it. For dinner, we went to Poseidon on the Beach - we loved the food and view so much we ate there both nights! We loved coming to Del Mar so much that my dad made our Fortnite username DelMartian1day because he hopes to one day retire there. After spending two days in Del Mar, we went to San Diego where we first went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, a wildlife preserve area. This is where we got the amazing chance to sleep in tents inside the wildlife preserve through their Roar & Snore Safari! I was about 10 years old and my brother and I loved animals a ton, so this experience is great especially for kids who love animals. The next day we went to the actual San Diego Zoo, which is the best zoo that I have ever been to and makes every zoo seem bad. The zoo is giant so be prepared to be walking the entire day! I think my mom had 25,000 steps at the end of the day!!! There is even a Skyfari aerial tram that connects the East and West sides of the zoo. That night we stayed at a motel called Kings Inn San Diego. The next day we headed back towards Arizona (written about above). After leaving Arizona, we drove through the night and headed back to Fort Worth!

Awards

Favorite Place We Stayed: San Diego Safari Park

Best Meal: Yippee-Ei-O! Steakhouse

Favorite State: Colorado

State I Would Go Back To: Utah (Zion National Park)