Breaking down Day 1 and 2 in our Southwest Screensaver Road Trip through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. So, what did it look like traveling from Arkansas to Durango, Colorado?
This was the longest part of our trip, but like with many good things, you just have to go through the mundane to get to the good stuff.
What can I do to prepare for the Epic Family Road Trip?
I’ll save a whole post on this and just throw out a few things right here that you need to do BEFORE you hit the road.
- charge all the devices and know where you stow your power cords.
- download movies to all the kids’ devices so they can view them offline
- check your data usage before you go and just go ahead and pay the one time extra to give yourself unlimited usage while you are gone. It will be much cheaper than going over.
- download all the podcasts or books you want to listen to along the way. Make sure it is lively and something that will keep your attention and grip your mind. It is a long boring drive in the main sections, so you will want to have something to occupy your mind.
- take some non-tech fun as well. Things like cards, Ispy games, coloring books or activity pads are great to just shift to a different part of your mind along the way. Many families we passed along the way were glad to get an AR license plate to complete their game. This route is a perfect spot for knockout road trip games (yes, there are apps for that!)
- pack a cooler and bring the snacks. You will get hungry and be making lots of stops save yourself a lot of pennies by not getting gas station food at each exit.
- think about your trip as you pack your bags. If you are just going to stop for one night at a time, each day, it may not be an issue, but if you are like us and only stopping for one night at the beginning and end, save yourself a lot of hassle by putting everyone’s clothes for that day and overnights all in one bag, even if it has things for other nights in it. It will be much easier to just unload one bag instead of the whole car each time.
- decide ahead of time where everyone will sit, and make plans to rotate from time to time.
Breaking Down Day 1 and 2 of the Southwest USA Screensaver Road Trip and getting from AR to Durango, CO.
Day 1, the main goal was to get to Amarillo. It takes forever, so just be ready. But, there are cool things to look at and see all the wind turbines for the first time is a really cool thing you kids or other traveling partners will be entertained by.
We stopped for dinner in Wichita Falls because we had to leave in the afternoon. But, if you leave earlier in the day, you could get to town and eat at the famous Big Texan in Amarillo. We stayed in the “medical center” area and it had lots of shopping and dining options. Amarillo is a decent-sized city, so it has lots of options if you are trying to keep it simple.
One fun thing that happened was we stayed for the first time at a Tru, by Hilton property and the filed next to the hotel was a prairie dog “hotel.” From the lobby, you could sit and watch them play. It was a fun little bonus for our adventure.
Day 2, our goal was to get to Durango.
- Cadillac Ranch was a quick stop on our way out of town. While it was on the other side of the highway, its a 2-way service road and the have it all set up and easily accommodating to people driving either direction. It was a fun, quick, free stop worthy of the pictures we needed to prove we were there. It really is as fascinating as you expect it to be. Bring your own can of spray paint if you want or we had people pass one to us as we arrived and they were leaving.
- Flying C Ranch is a good gas station, potty and snack break along the way. It’s like a Southwestern Bucees with tons of souvenirs, gas and a decent bathroom, lots of little breakables, and wild animal jerky.
- Next, we made a stop for lunch in Albuquerque. This could easily be a destination on your trip home depending on time. But lunch in Old Town was perfect and there are so many things to do like Natural History, Turquoise Museum, shop in Patio Market or the art galleries. We had La Placita for lunch and recommend the special with Christmas sauce. Or, the fajitas. And save room for the sopapilla. Check out Gallery 8 and Patio Market as well as San Felipe Cathedral.
- Coronado State Monument – depending on the history you are hoping to uncover, this could be a fascinating stop for your family and connect you with the Rio Grande on a family picnic.
- Drive on to Durango and research Jemez Springs, Cuba, Bloomfield, Aztec, Farmington for stops along the way. Aztec had lots of things.
Remember much of this trip is also a big section of Route 66, so you have lots of memorabilia and famous stops along the way. - Aztec Ruins National Monument – you really need more time for this than we had. It was free, but it was hot. However, it was our first look at ruins and understanding how the Native American people in this area lived in community. It is a World Heritage Preservation site and it worth exploring.
Once we arrived in town and found our hotel, we headed to Walmart to grab snacks and a few groceries for the week and then a quick simple dinner. The timing was nice because we were a little ahead of bedtime which allowed us to get the room ready and settled for the week and everyone could get a good rest after such a long day. We are learning more and more to plan for those bedtimes and just roll with it. Its a new thing for 2 people who like to adventure until they drop, but the point of this trip was to be together and just explore what we could, as we could.
The biggest thing on this section for us was setting up and seeing how Little Man would travel in the car. We kinda learned our own groove as grownups when it came to stopping for food, snacks, meals and potty breaks. We were just getting into our groove and getting ready for the excitement of the core of our trip.
Come back tomorrow (and the day after that) to see what we did next in the Epic Southwest USA Screensaver Family Road Trip.
Southwest USA Screensaver Epic Family Road Trip Itinerary
If you missed any of the previous posts from this epic family road trip with a toddler, check out the full itinerary below:
