For the third time, we are going back to the States.

Well, not quite. It will indeed be our third trip documented on this site but, counting properly, it will be Marie's fourth and my twelfth, at least. And we still can't get bored.

Somehow watered down by unstable weather two years ago on the East Coast, this time we choose the Southwest for several reasons, including its warm, dry and stable weather ... hopefully. From Dallas to Dallas, thru Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and back, we are going to discover a lot of new places, and visit again some we already know.

Dallas by night

• Texas : until now, we stayed a mere four hours in the second largest state of the Union, for a stopover in Dallas 5 years ago. Of course, this beautifully diverse state deserves a lot more.
  

Rio Grande Gorge

• Taos and the Rio Grande Gorge : we have a hot air balloon flight on our schedule. And now that we know how to use the GoPro, we should get some interesting videos.
  

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Mesa Verde National Park

• Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde, two Colorado parks we have not yet visited.
  

Durango-Silverton railroad

• The Durango-Silverton Railroad : I remember reading an article about it when I was 10 or 12, it has stuck in my mind ever since.
  

Hovenweep National Monument

• Hovenweep National Monument and its rich pre-Colombian heritage.

Raft trip on Westwater Canyon

• A raft trip on the Colorado near Moab ... with a professional guide, of course !
  

Canyonlands National Park, The Needles

Rainbow Bridge

Antelope Canyon

Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge

• Canyonlands, Lake Powell and Grand Canyon, thru places we have not yet visited.
  

Canyon de Chelly

• Canyon de Chelly, for more pre-Columbian history.
  

Petrified Forest

• Petrified Forest.
  

Get your kicks ... on Route 66 !

• Route 66, or whatever remains of it : a popular game consists in finding as many remains as you can of the Mother Road.
  

Sedona

Apache Trail

• Sedona, Apache Trail, and other parts of Central Arizona.
  

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson

Saguaro National Park

Tombstone, AZ

• Tucson and its surroundings, mining cities, parks, giant cacti, ghost towns, western landscapes.
  

White Sands National Monument

Carlsbad Caverns

• Then back into south New Mexico, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns.
  

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Big Bend National Park

• Texas again, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend National Park.
  

San Antonio, the Alamo

• San Antonio, the Alamo, the Mission Trail, and the many traces of the Spanish presence in the area.
  

Dallas, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial

• Then back to Dallas, on the trail of JFK's last trip.
  

That sounds a lot, doesn't it ? Well, it's just the headlines ! The program looks dense, but we are in no hurry. We have four weeks to visit all this, and more.

This new trip is a mix of natural sites, historical places, roads and personal choices. It is also an harmonious balance between very popular and less traveled places.

Of course, we rent a car for the trip. Want to know what kind of car ? Click on the icon !

Originally, we were scheduled to travel in May-June, but we had to postpone the trip. Believe it or not, when we made our first reservations last fall, some hotels we absolutely wanted were already booked out ! The upside is that we have had a lot more time to prepare the trip, adding more visits, more activities and, well, a few more days.

We now long to be August 27th !