The road trip across America continues with the Apache Trail and the Canyons. If you haven’t already click here to read part 1 and part 2

SEDONA

After 2 weeks of driving around Nevada and California we went back to Arizona and went on a few day trips in the area. Our first one was to Sedona, a 2 hour drive north from Phoenix. It’s one of the most scenic attractions in the state. Here you can find the characteristic Red Rocks. Everything around is bathed in red. The village consists of the main street full of souvenir shops, restaurants and bars. We visited the chapel of the Holly Cross which is located on the high rock and offers stunning views. We drove back on a very rocky road and passed a large scale you can climb but we decided to skip that. Sedona is beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

APACHE TRAIL

This was definitely not part of our plan; descriptions of unprotected areas and the high altitudes discouraged me immediately. But I got tricked into going and somehow managed to survive the whole drive. I didn’t want to go back on the same road though so we had to take a 2 hour detour. This quote from Wikipedia can perfectly captures what it was like:

The Trail winds steeply through 40 miles (64 km) of rugged desert mountains, past deep reservoir lakes like Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. The narrow, winding road is unpaved from just east of the town of Tortilla Flat to Roosevelt Dam; there are steep cliff drops and little in the way of safety barriers. The trail requires caution when driving and it is not recommended for large RVs, SUVs, or caravans. Some large RV rental companies in the US do not allow their vehicles to be taken on this route.”

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PRIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM

The main destination of this trip was the Aircraft Bone yard, a large land where they keep David Monthan Air Force aircrafts no longer suitable to use. Unfortunately, I didn’t check the information and it was closed when we arrived in the weekend. Instead, we checked out the Prima Air Space Museum. I liked the old presidential Air Force One a lot; it’s just too bad we couldn’t see the other planes.

GRAND CANYON

Our last trip on the west coast started with the Grand Canyon. When we arrived we went on the South Rim. I heard the North Rim is better but it wasn’t on our way. What can I say about the Canyon? It’s huge! It’s not as impressive as I had always imagined but still looked quite unusual. A variety of colors and shapes create an interesting look. I can’t judge too much as I haven’t seen most of it. I know that if we had decided on camping and hiking around, I would have ended up having the time of my life. Who knows maybe I will return one day and do just that!

While few and far between you can see some places to stay near the Grand Canyon Below

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ANTELOPE CANYON

From Grand Canyon we started driving up north. When we started passing pickup trucks along the way, we knew we were approaching the Navaho Indian Reservation. I have to admit the drive was amazing; it was scenery straight out of the movies. Long empty roads, no buildings, no houses, no people and gas stations every couple of miles. Our goal was city Page.

The next day we visited Antelope Canyon. We tried to choose between the upper or lower part. Many people recommended the lower part due to an interesting entrance, beautiful views and lower price. So we bought tickets for $26 and went deep into the earth. The entrance looked super tiny but after seeing our tour guide I was no longer worried about whether I would fit.

Canyon looked wonderful. The photos don’t show exactly what we saw as I only used my iPhone camera. It was a magical place. Smooth cliffs of varying shapes, narrow passages, and different colors changing along with the sun – simply divine! The whole tour took about 30 min. I hope I will get a chance see the upper side one day as it is definitely one of my favorite places in the world. We were also planning on stopping by the Bryce Canyon but we had some car trouble so we decided to drive straight to Vegas for the last time.

LAS VEGAS

When we got back to the city we left our car at the service station and checked into our Treasure Island hotel once again. We didn’t do much as we were pretty tired. The purpose of this trip was Armin Van Buuren’s gig at the Marquee day club. The club looked phenomenal, I’d never been to that kind of party before, and I was very impressed. There were two bars, two large swimming pools and several private areas for VIPS.  I had to wait for the DJ for four hours but it was all worth it as I got to see him from the first row .We spent the next two days just relaxing and shopping before driving back to Arizona.

If you can't tell I love Las Vegas! Checkout the latest deals in Vegas below.

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PHOENIX – NEW HAMPSHIRE

We left early in the morning on May 8th and drove through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, where we stopped for a night. The next day the landscape changed drastically. In the states of Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and New York there are no more dessert roads with red rocks and cactuses. We were surrounded by trees, grass and buildings. We arrived to Rochester, NY early in the morning on Friday and spent the night there.

The whole trip was incredible. I saw places I’d always dreamed about. I can finally say I’ve seen LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas – and not just in the movies! I captured the wonders of nature such as the Grand Canyon, HWY1 and Antelope Canyon in my own photographs. If you have the chance to take this journey don’t think twice, just do it! Ignore anyone who will try and convince you it’s a crazy idea!

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11 COMMENTS

  1. The pictures from Arizona are absolutely gorgeous! It’s so funny because I was in Vegas last week for a family event and we drove from Colorado. The sights on the drive are amazing and definitely picture worthy. We went hiking at Red Rock Canyon in Vegas, I would love to go to Arizona and go hiking though!

  2. Great article and pictures! We also drove through most of those places and they are beyond spectacular! There’s really nothing quite like a road trip to really experience a totally new way of exploring.

  3. Wow, you visited so many gorgeous places on my wish list! Antelope Canyon looks like something from another world, and your photos capture it beautifully! The Apache Trail, meanwhile, sounds like it wasn’t fun to drive…but the views are beautiful! Maybe it’s time to plan a little road trip of my own…

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