Ideas for where to stay near the Grand Canyon

[Faith-manor]

I'm on vacation from work right now so I've happily been able to find time to come check in here at the Hive. Hi everyone!!

So, dh and I, having been through an awful lot these past few years, have decided to do a great American road trip together, just the two of us. We'l be going next summer, and so he can put his vacation request in at work early before everyone else gets theirs in, he's asked me to get some preliminary plans in place. I'm using the myscenicdrives app for this.

Originally I thought maybe we would want to stay in Grand Canyon Village or very close, but oh my word, the prices I see online are pretty awful. Now I am wondering about staying south of it, Williams Arizona area. We'll be coming across the southern route from Michigan so will be on I - 40. Expedia and other sites list several chain hotels, and any number of them seem fine. However, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a privately owned one, somewhere that might be extra special to stay. No matter what, it will need a pool, a good pool. We intend on swimming a lot to help overcome the aches, especially mine since the car accident, of riding for so may hours at a time. Good beds would be another plus. We've done okay at some Holiday Inns with their beds, but many others like Days Inn have been pretty awful. That's the hard thing because so many hotels have terrible mattresses. Our favorites are Westin - good grief they invest in lovely beds - but not only are those only available in very major city centers, we can't afford to do that every night of the trip.

Our whole trip is Michigan to Arizona with a stop in New Mexico at Spaceport America (hoping to time it so we can see the ERSA/IREC launch competition), Grand Canyon, Santa Barbara CA (dh grew up there, and I've never been to Cali), jaunt up to Solvang due to dh's Danish roots, Sequoia National Park, then swing over to San Francisco, up the coast on US 1, stop in Tillamook (old stomping grounds for us when we lived in western Oregon many moons ago), then Astoria, take the northern route through Oregon into Idaho, drop down to Salt Lake City and see the Great Salt Lake, over to Colordado Springs to visit his aunt, then back home. All in 17 days in June of next year.

I'm pretty excited. Anyway, if you know of good places to stay around Truth or Consequences, NM, Williams AZ or somewhere fairly close to Grand Canyon National Park, Solvang and Sequoia, southern Oregon along US 1, and Great Salt Lake (we have friends to stay with in Astoria and Pendleton, family in the the Springs), please post here.

[NorthwestMom]

Just stay in Flagstaff. We stayed there a few years ago when we visited the Grand Canyon and I think it was about a 45 minute drive to the Visitor's Center.  It wasn't bad at all.  Flagstaff is a college town and had some nice restaurants and was not full of tourists all the time.  There may be a better choice of hotels (we had 3 little kids at the time; you will be looking for a different hotel experience than I was). There is a planetarium there that we visited too.

Your trip sounds amazing!  We visited The Great Salt Lake on another trip and that experience is family legend.  There are a lot of flies. 

[Faith-manor]

Flagstaff. On my list to research. Thanks!

[mumto2]

We stayed in Flagstaff too.

Regarding aches from riding......Thanks to a recent car rental in Florida that had heated seats I am now a believer.   I limp about after an hour in the car (major back surgery at 30) but with heated seats and a/c I can slide right out of a car and go after a couple of hours. 

[Faith-manor]

3 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

We stayed in Flagstaff too.

Regarding aches from riding......Thanks to a recent car rental in Florida that had heated seats I am now a believer.   I limp about after an hour in the car (major back surgery at 30) but with heated seats and a/c I can slide right out of a car and go after a couple of hours. 

Dh is being promoted so he's supposed to get a company car. Hopefully that means a lot of bells and whistles we would otherwise not afford. But, i don't know. He has to take whatever they choose. In terms of lower lumbar support, boy the car industry is just kind of all over the map. It seems very hit and miss in terms of quality.

[Targhee]

North Rim has some great cabins

[Faith-manor]

Just now, Targhee said:

North Rim has some great cabins

Are these pretty much full service cabins such as bedding provided, electricity, plumbing, etc.? Dh and I love the "cabin in the woods" idea, but we are traveling light, and won't be bringing a bunch of roughing it kind of stuff with us. We would need something more robust than a camping cabin.

[MEmama]

Wow, that’s a LOT of driving in two weeks. Do you plan to stop and explore? Honestly, you might be able to do it, but I'd be concerned you won’t have any time to actually do or see anything.

We recently had just under two weeks for a road trip in the west- we wanted to hit up the 4 corner states since DS had never been. Several very wise people on the board convinced me to skip several of our planned areas and thank goodness! In 10 days we never got out of Utah, and just barely, barely scratched the surface. We would have been miserable just watching the scenery from the car window.

I'm from the west coast but had forgotten how long the distances really are compared to the Midwest and east coast. 

[MEmama]

If you go to Salt Lake, check out Antelope island. You’ll need several hours or the better part of a day to enjoy it. Beautiful hiking, bird watching, free roaming buffalo and antelope...it’s really spectacular.

[Faith-manor]

Thanks! Antelope Island. Check. 😃

[Faith-manor]

39 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Wow, that’s a LOT of driving in two weeks. Do you plan to stop and explore? Honestly, you might be able to do it, but I'd be concerned you won’t have any time to actually do or see anything.

We recently had just under two weeks for a road trip in the west- we wanted to hit up the 4 corner states since DS had never been. Several very wise people on the board convinced me to skip several of our planned areas and thank goodness! In 10 days we never got out of Utah, and just barely, barely scratched the surface. We would have been miserable just watching the scenery from the car window.

I'm from the west coast but had forgotten how long the distances really are compared to the Midwest and east coast. 

 It's a lot of driving, but we have only very specific spots we really want to stop at, and the rest we can be very flexible about. We've always been long distance drive kind of people. I do the 12 hours to DD's in one day, butts in seats at 5 am, and don't feel tired when I arrive. So three hours in the middle go explore something is fine. But in terms of LONG explorations that involve a lot of walking, those won't be happening. My ankle is in very bad shape. I can actually bike better than walking, and we won't be allowed to put a bike rack on the company car so taking the bikes are out. We will actually be gone more than 17 days, that's just the max for consecutive vacation days dh can take. We have Saturdays and Sundays to add to the beginning, middle, and end so more like 23 days, and wait. 24. 4th of July will be in there before we return and he gets the business day before as a paid holiday no need to use a vacation day. 

[gardenmom5]

we stayed in valle (we just needed a place to sleep one night.  the older building had bigger rooms than the newer one.).  there's also Tusayan. (a lot of hotels.)

both were less expensive than the GCvillage.

short notice will almost always be more than father out.

[Faith-manor]

Thanks. Going to go look up Tusayan.

[Lori D.]

7 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

...Our whole trip is Michigan to Arizona
... with a stop in New Mexico at Spaceport America...
...Grand Canyon
...Santa Barbara CA...  to Solvang... Sequoia National Park... to San Francisco
... up the coast on US 1... Tillamook
...then Astoria... through Oregon into Idaho
...drop down to Salt Lake City and... Great Salt Lake
.... over to Colordado Springs to visit his aunt
...then back home. All in 17 days in June...

Ouch -- that is pretty much non-stop driving for 2 weeks and no time to stop and explore!

3 days (25-30 hours) = MI to Space Port in NM
1 day (8.5 hours) = Space Port in NM to Grand Canyon in CA
1 day (9.5-10 hours) = Grand Canyon to Solvang in CA
0.5 day (5 hours) = Solvang to Sequoia National Forest in CA
1.5 days (11-12.5 hours) = Sequoia to southern OR
1  day (6-7 hours) or (8-9 hours) = southern OR to Astoria (which is the very NW tip of OR) or to Pendleton (which is the far NE corner of OR)
1 day (9-10 hours) = Pendleton OR down to Great Salt Lake in UT
1 day (9 hours) = Great Salt Lake in UT to Colorado Springs in CO
2 days (20 hours) = Colorado Springs in CO back to MI
(over 105 hours of driving JUST to get to each of your destinations -- and none of that is on US-1 (Pacific Coast Highway,)** 

** = the Pacific Coast Highway is MUCH longer and slower to travel than the more inland Interstate 5. PCH hugs the coast (so a longer route), has a slower speed limit (highway vs. interstate), and has fewer towns and much longer stretches between towns throughout most of CA and OR. For example PCH takes about 9 hours to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco; I-5 takes 6 hours.

Gently -- esp. with bad backs which limits how much time you can tolerate riding in a car -- I love your enthusiasm, but you've got at LEAST 3 full trips (each worth 2 weeks of time) here. I'd consider deciding on what your ONE major goal is, and focus on planning around that to make the most of your 2 weeks, AND to minimize your driving times across the vast western portions of the U.S. (That also would allow you to "splurge" here and there on something you'd really like (ex: Grand Canyon Village), since you would not be needing to spend such a fortune on gas/driving.)
I'll just mention that, while I've not seen it from the ground, flying into/out of Salt Lake City, I saw the Great Salt Lake, and it was like really and truly like looking at the apocalypse -- salt kills vegetation, so there is nothing green, and no color except for this huge patch of red in the water that looks like blood. It is from a giant bacteria bloom (the organisms thrive when salt levels increase). Based on that view of the lake, I can not imagine that there is much to see from the ground...

Also, I'll just point out that JUNE is BRUTAL in southern AZ and NM, and also in driving across southern CA to get to Santa Barbara and Solvang. We're talking typical summer temps of 103˚ to 115˚ degrees for that month. NOT conducive for driving in a car (what if the AC conks out! what if the heat makes you blow a tire!) -- but esp. not conducive for getting out of the car and sightseeing. Nope, just not happening. So, personally, I would absolutely skip the side trip to NM for the launch competition (there is really not much in Truth or Consequences NM -- it's a town of maybe 6000 people, and in the middle of nowhere, and the elevation puts it right around 100˚ in June).

And finally -- think about whether you want your trip to be mostly about driving and watching the scenery, or actually stopping and doing things (as MEMama described in her post up-thread). Below are some examples of goal setting, with the "driving time" listed being the major there-and-back to your goal -- this  assumes 8 hours is a full day of driving (thinking of your back), and does NOT include any other driving for sightseeing to other "nearby" venues. (Note, everything in the western US is HOURS or DAYS of driving time apart -- often at least 4-6 hours between one city or sight and another -- so LOTS and LOTS of time looking at landscape going by. So you want to make sure it is interesting landscape, and there are side sites you'd like to visit for breaks out of the car, lol.)

BEST of luck, whatever road trip you decide to do! Warmest regards, Lori D.

_____________________________

#1
GOAL = Grand Canyon
side goal: visit aunt in Colorado Springs
driving time = ~30 hours one way, from MI to Grand Canyon = 6-7 days driving round-trip
sightseeing = that leaves you 10 days for exploring CO
option = could come out via the IL, MO, KS, route, but return via the slightly longer eastern CO, WY, SD route (possibly see Mount Rushmore, and other sites)

#2
GOAL = Oregon
side goals: visit friends in Pendleton (NE corner of OR) and Astoria (NW corner of OR)
driving time = ~33-37 hours one way, from MI to Pendleton (and another 4 hours from Pendleton to Astoria) = 8-9 days driving round-trip
sightseeing = that leaves you 8-9 days for exploring northern OR, southern WA, Tillmook, etc.
option = could come out via the IL IA, NE, WY, UT ID, route (possibly see the Great Salt Lake), but return via the WA, ID, MT, SD route (possibly see Mount Rushmore, and other sites)

#3a
GOAL = Southern California
side goals: Santa Barbara, Solvang, Grand Canyon, Colorado Springs
driving time = ~38 hours one way, from MI to Santa Barbara CA, through Grand Canyon = 10 days driving round-trip
sightseeing = that leaves you 7 days for exploring -- maybe 4 days in CA, 1-2 days at Grand Canyon, and 1 day side trip to Colorado Springs on the way home

#3b
GOAL = Mid-California
side goals: San Francisco, Sequoia National Forest, Great Salt Lake
driving time = ~35 hours one way, from MI to San Francisco CA = 8-9 days driving round-trip
sightseeing = that leaves you 5-6 days for exploring around San Francisco and to/from in: northern UT, Denver CO, NE, IA, Chicago IL

Edited July 30, 2019 by Lori D.

[Faith-manor]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the input. It's all very helpful.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

 It's a lot of driving, but we have only very specific spots we really want to stop at, and the rest we can be very flexible about. We've always been long distance drive kind of people. I do the 12 hours to DD's in one day, butts in seats at 5 am, and don't feel tired when I arrive. So three hours in the middle go explore something is fine. But in terms of LONG explorations that involve a lot of walking, those won't be happening. My ankle is in very bad shape. I can actually bike better than walking, and we won't be allowed to put a bike rack on the company car so taking the bikes are out...

While I was typing up a long reply, you posted the above. Since long drives and little time at stops works for you, then you may want to disregard my thoughts.

I'll just mention that a number of your destinations are "walking around" sites (Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Solvang tourist town), not "drive up and look at" sites, so, due to your ankle, that may also influence what you choose to do.😉

Also, you might consider renting bikes, or even a wheelchair, at some of your locations.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Lori D.

[Faith-manor]

Also, we have no intention of spending 3-4 days exploring around San Francisco. It's not on our bucket list at all. Just heading over that way, and going over the Golden Gate Bridge.

We used to live in Northern Oregon. We wanted to do the coast drive, but we aren't really exploring in the area because as far as Astoria, Portland, and Pendleton go, we've done it all before. We also won't be stopping on the way home for Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, or Badlands. We took that western trip with our sons a few years ago, and totally explored the area. Loved it. Since we have a budget to keep to, we won't be doing those stops. Due to our interest in rocketry and the years of mentoring high school rocket teams, we really want to spend the two days at Spaceport. We'll spend a day and night at Grand Canyon. Santa Barbara is just a drive by his old neighborhood. If it ends up being too much, we'll not even go the full northern route.

I am bummed about not being able to take the bikes. But it is what it is.

[chiguirre]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

Thanks. Going to go look up Tusayan.

Tusayan is right by the park entrance. You'll probably have trouble finding a nice pool and a reasonable price there. Flagstaff will have a much better selection.

[Lori D.]

13 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Also, we have no intention of spending 3-4 days exploring around San Francisco. It's not on our bucket list at all. Just heading over that way, and going over the Golden Gate Bridge.

We used to live in Northern Oregon. We wanted to do the coast drive, but we aren't really exploring in the area because as far as Astoria, Portland, and Pendleton go, we've done it all before. We also won't be stopping on the way home for Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, or Badlands. We took that western trip with our sons a few years ago, and totally explored the area. Loved it. Since we have a budget to keep to, we won't be doing those stops. Due to our interest in rocketry and the years of mentoring high school rocket teams, we really want to spend the two days at Spaceport. We'll spend a day and night at Grand Canyon. Santa Barbara is just a drive by his old neighborhood. If it ends up being too much, we'll not even go the full northern route.

I am bummed about not being able to take the bikes. But it is what it is.

Yea! Sounds like you know what you want to do, where you want to go, and how to pace yourselves. 😀 

I was just trying to help with alternative ideas, and totally not trying to derail your plans. It's just that I see many people planning big trips out west who are unfamiliar with the distances, and don't realize that it may take them much longer to get from one place to another. You already "know the drill" (lol!) so wishing you a wonderful trip!

Warm regards, Lori

Edited July 30, 2019 by Lori D.

[MEmama]

5 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I am bummed about not being able to take the bikes. But it is what it is.

You might consider looking into bike rentals. They are very common in most of the areas you’ll be.

There is a  (private, I think, but might be wrong) company in the Grand Canyon that rents bikes and gives (easy, family type) bike tours along the rim. We had planned to do the tour, but the Grand Canyon was one of many things that didn’t make our final, abbreviated list. :). Might be worth checking out!

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Lori D. said:

Yea! Sounds like you know what you want to do, where you want to go, and how to pace yourselves. 😀 

I was just trying to help with alternative ideas, and totally not trying to derail your plans. It's just I see many people planning big trips out west who are unfamiliar with the distances, and don't realize that it may take them much longer to get from one place to another. You already "know the drill" (lol!) so wishing you a wonderful trip!

Warm regards, Lori

Lori, thank you so much. And yes, you were super helpful. As I said, I'm fleshing it out, and we are in the preliminary planning stage. Your list was super duper wonderful because it does reveal the necessity of really prioritizing so the trip isn't overwhelming. That's a great thing!

And I'd forgotten about how hot and humid it might be. The thing is, I can walk, and I can walk a lot. I've taken my rocket team all over DC sightseeing. It's that by the end of the day, I'm in a lot of pain. The swelling gets really bad. I'm going back into physical therapy and doing some training for the trip and hope that will help. But I think that if we want to have this really enjoyable, wonderful trip, I need to be reasonable about how much of each day is spent walking. I like the idea of renting bikes. That never occurred to me. I could see more area if we took a couple of bike trips, 3 -4 miles each. My back lasts about that long without beginning to bark at me. We were going to do a lot of picnic food because fast food gets old. Since our food budget is very reasonable, we might be able to add bike rental. If the physical therapy goes well, I'd consider a horseback ride too. I miss horses.

[MEmama]

Lori, Sorry to hear the Salt Lake was so weird when you flew over! It was stunning when we went—we got lucky and missed the worst of the flies and mosquitoes. The colors were lovely, light blues and greens, and the mauzy air made it feel magical. I'm not sure any of that would be in the case in the middle of summer, though. I remember going in summer as a kid and it was smelly and awful. Not as gross as the Salton Sea, but almost. 

[Lori D.]

5 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Lori, Sorry to hear the Salt Lake was so weird when you flew over! It was stunning when we went—we got lucky and missed the worst of the flies and mosquitoes. The colors were lovely, light blues and greens, and the mauzy air made it feel magical. I'm not sure any of that would be in the case in the middle of summer, though. I remember going in summer as a kid and it was smelly and awful. Not as gross as the Salton Sea, but almost. 

It's also just possible that I've read/watched a few too many post-apocaclypic books/movies... ahem... 😉 

Your description sounds enchanting!

[MEmama]

http://bikegrandcanyon.com/

This is the tour we were looking at.

[Faith-manor]

2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

It's also just possible that I've read/watched a few too many post-apocaclypic books/movies... ahem... 😉 

Your description sounds enchanting!

LOL, I'm starting to form ideas in my head. Maybe we should just drive up, take a picture from the car, and move on before any harm comes to us! 😄

[mumto2]

I have never tried to be on holiday for longer than 6 days since the back surgery.  We are planning some longer trips next summer too but will most likely break them up into smaller chunks with a couple of weeks to recuperate in between because of mom’s back.  

Fwiw, here is what I have learned about my back and travels......

No more than two nights in any bed that is not my own is preferred.  When we switch hotels we try to do brand of hotel also in case bed brands are the same.  It doesn’t matter how posh, on that third or fourth night I am in pain.  It sounds like you have that covered.

Most of our distance travels have been in Europe in a very not luxurious car....a Ford Fiesta. 😂. I prefer to get the distance out of the way, so 4 or 5 hours in the morning and more casual drives between stops in the afternoon.  I am happy to crash in the hotel room with first dibs on the shower after dinner.  Frequently I take a couple of pain relievers and just don’t get out of bed until morning.  I do read, watch tv etc.......I am not taking anything stronger than Tylenol or Alieve.  Flat on my back is the best recovery position for me.  No more exploring places at night for me.

Just throwing this in here,  we had planned a full day at the Grand Canyon but decided to move on to some other places that were not on the official list because of time.  Keep things fluid and have a secondary list.....sometimes the things on the secondary turn out to be more fun.  I think we added Sedona on the way to Flagstaff for the night.  At some point we went to a national park with cave paintings and prairie dogs that trip.  Dh and I really can be happy with a quick look and photos and are willing to admit it!🤣

I really can bike much further with less pain the next day than walking a similar distance.  I can go at least 10 miles on a bike and feel fine for normal activity the next day after a good rest.  I am useless for the rest of the bike ride day but I am useless if I walk 10 miles too.  I would save your bike rentals for places you really want to go a distance.  Btw, We do use bikes on a pretty regular basis so it isn’t a physically new activity.

Trying to decide how to phrase this, if I am right about the type of company your Dh works for...... I am hoping you might get lucky with your assigned car when the time rolls around if your Dh makes it known very discretely that you have comfort issues for your trip.  Someone really nice might give you something nicer then expected, never know.  Hoping you get the heated seats.😉  Depends on how strict the current guidelines are.  I worked for similar company and part of the purpose of employees driving the cars is to learn about things like comfort levels in different situations and you have a situation to test.  In my day logs were filled out and handed in anytime we were given keys regarding handling etc.  

[DawnM]

Don't have any lodging recommendations.  My parents retired in Phoenix so I just stay there, and I have a cousin in Flagstaff so I have stayed there too.  But I wanted to say, "have fun!"

I also have a cousin in Pacific City, OR who lives in a home on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean (I saw whales from her house last time I was there!) and on the way back to Seattle we always stop at Tillamook.   Love that area.

[Beth S]

19 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

LOL, I'm starting to form ideas in my head. Maybe we should just drive up, take a picture from the car, and move on before any harm comes to us! 😄

This is all I could think of:

 

[Faith-manor]

Oh My Beth S, making me crack up!

[WendyLady]

I’ve heard that Williams AZ is a really cute town to stay on your way to visit the Grand Canyon - not too far from flagstaff. 

We are getting ready to move down that way, and I’m following a Facebook page where people occasionally ask for recommendations for traveling to the GC and Williams comes up frequently. Apparently there’s a train from willams to the Grand Canyon. https://www.thetrain.com/the-train/schedule-route/

I love a long road trip! Due to various military assignments from one side of the US to another, and back again, we’ve done a lot of roadtrip sight seeing. I think your itinerary is totally doable for a couple of adults! It sounds awesome!