My wife and I are planning a road trip in our new MCS (May 05 delivery). It’s our 35th wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than by driving 5000 miles over 24 days in a MINI!

I have read the posts in the travel stories forums and made note of the travel tips. What I need now are other ideas, things we should see, great driving roads, etc. Part II of the trip is fairly well set, as we have made our reservations in all the National Parks, including the mule trip to Phantom Ranch. However, once we pass Mesa Verde, it’s wide open and subject to change by the members of this forum. We really need to hear from those who have traveled or live on the West side of town. :smile:

Thanks in advance for your comments;

Part I – Looking for old alignments of the Mother Road (Route 66), four days.
Leave Detroit on I 94 turn left at Chicago.
Follow I 55 south to St. Louis.
In St. Louis, stop and walk the Chain of Rock Bridge, Get Custard at Drew’s.
I 44 to Catoosa, Oklahoma, lunch at the Blue Whale.
I 40 to Holbrook Arizona, overnight at the Wigwam (night 3)
See, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, then to Grand Canyon village.

Part II – Southwest National Parks
Three nights at Grand Canyon, one each at Brite Angel lodge, Phantom Ranch, El Tovar.
Sight see our way north on alt 89 to Kanab, overnight there.
43 miles to Zion, hike Angels Landing, overnight at the Zion lodge.
Hike the some of Narrows, then up to Kalob spend the rest of the day there.
Arrive late in Cedar City.
From Cedar City, 80 miles, to overnight at the lodge in Bryce Canyon.
Bryce Canyon follow 98, 160, 163 to Goulding’s motel in Monument valley.
Monument Valley, 163, 262, 41 and lunch stop at the Four Corners, then on to Mesa Verde with overnight at Far View Lodge.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...cat=618&page=1

Part III – Mountain Time
No more reservations at this point. Everyone get creative here!
Leave Mesa Verde, 160 to Durango, north on 550, San Juan Skyway though Silverton on to Ouray. Overnight there, see Box Canyon.
North on 550 to Ridgeway, left on 62, north on 145 at Placerville.
145 to Uravan, follow Y11 over to 90 and on to Moab.
Visit Arches National Park. Then follow 128 south of Arches, stop by Dewey, then up to I 70.
At Grand Junction, follow 50 south to Montrose through Gunnison over to Poncha Springs.
285, 24 North to Leadville.
91, I 70, 9, 15, 40, 34 to Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain Nation Park.
Drive like hell on 34 through the RMNP to Estes Park.
34 to I 25. East at Cheyenne on I 80.
I 80 to Chicago, then I 94 to Home.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...cat=618&page=1

Total Miles 4890
Thanks for your help. :smile:

 

Hey mark! i also made the same type trip last feb. i did a whole write up here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ight=trip+west

but all the photo links and write up didn't make the migration from MCO to NAM so i hope to update it it again some day soon. i have lots of tips if you need any. three days at the canyon is good, it was very cool! let me know if i can help.


chad

 

The Cumbres & Toltec steam train between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO is just awesome.

I would take the scenic route from Taos to Chama which is just a beautiful drive and stay a night or two at Chama.

train info: http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/

I also have a few pix posted on webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/philwayne

 

Mark,

Don't know if you're a union man or not. If so, you might be interested in the Mother Jones Monument in Mt. Olive, Illinois.
You should also stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I stopped there a couple of summers ago on my way to Chicago from L.A. (in my MINI) You can check out a few photographs I shot while there at this address: http://blu-iguana.us/trek/ok/

Oh, just for farts and giggles, you might include a quick side trip to Cadillac Ranch while passing through Amarillo, TX.

-Juan

P/S: Congratulations to you and your wife, in advance, on your 35th anniversary!

 

Sounds like a great trip! Hint for when you're at Grand Canyon. Make sure to have BREAKFAST in the restaurant at the El Tovar. Dinner there is overrated and over priced. But the breakfast is fantastic - a WONDERFUL selection for about $10 and no advance reservation needed - you won't be hungry for quite awhile. For dinner, we like the place adjacent to the Bright Angel Lodge. Forget the name, but it is kind of a SouthWest theme - GREAT SOUPS there, among other things. We were at GC last fall. Stayed at El Tovar 4 nites and Phantom ranch 2 nights (walked down). The steak dinner down there is actually quite good also - especially after you burn 5000 calories getting there!


Have a great time!
... Craig

 

Mark,
Sounds like a wonderful trip. Having our 45th Wedding anniversary next summer and are planning a trip to Colorado, four corners, Arizona and return through New Mexico.
We are in Southern Florida and expext to put on 6000miles+and will visit nearly all the same places you are.
We went to Canada this summer and home through all the New Enland states and did 5500 miles.
Have a wonderful trip in your Mini.
The Older Man :smile:
Hans

 

Mark picking mine up from Classic in May and driving back to Seattle thru Indy and Pikes Peak then down thru SoCal for a race and finally back to Seattle. I'll keep an eye here for some of the suggestions. Thanks

 

Chad, followed the link, but it must have been truncated during the move. Only the first day of your trip is there. If you still have the text, I would like to see it. Otherwise, I probably see you a one of the MichiganMINI get togethers.

Juan, the Mother Jones monument is exactly the type of thing Irene and I are looking for. Thanks, it’s on the list. As for the Cadillac Ranch, That goes without saying.

Hans, if you mean this coming summer, it might be cool to wave if we cross paths. :smile:

To all, I have been researching twisty roads and found some great links, try this one.

http://alavigne.net/newHomePage/Outd...=bestroadslist
Also, have been e-mailing a guy I found on the MG site. He has been a wealth of information on the Four Corners area. I’ll post some of his comments here.

 

If you're staying in Holbrook, make sure you do the drive through the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park too. Did that, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu (home of the original London Bridge) and Hoover Dam just after New Years with my Mother. Very fun trip except for the blizzard.

 

My wife and I made that Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion loop many years ago.

We stayed at the North rim. I've never been to the South rim, but I understand that its more developed and touristy. We had a cabin for 2-3 days, it was beautiful. We did a 'float' down the Colorado on one of those days. There was a bus that took you to the foot of the Glen Canyon dam. You then rafted (no rapids), to Lee's Ferry, which is where the real Grand Canyon raft trips begin. It was a nice day-trip, lunch was catered, and I recommend it, if its available and you have time.

We had similar cabin accomodations at Zion, which I actually enjoyed more than the Grand Canyon. The scale of the Grand Canyon is such, that once I'd sat, and admired it for a while, and said 'Wow,' I felt like I was about done with it. Its beautiful, but my sense was that I could walk for miles in any direction and not have the view change very much.

At Zion we found several trail loops that made great half-day excursions, and took us through water falls, streams, valleys. In the late afternoon, we could sit on the porch of our cabin, put our feet up on the rail, and watch the sun dissappear behind the cliffs.

Its all good though, you'll have a wonderful time. BTW, I don't remember if you listed it, but if you pass by Cedar Breaks, its worth a stop. The purple-white cliffs are pretty cool.

Good luck, enjoy...

 

No, our trip will be next year and by that time I will be the OLDER MAN since I date back to 1935.
My New MCS is a lot more enjoyabel than my old Cooper S classic but looking to do a few performance mods, never too old for that.
Danish

 

I greatly suggest that after Bryce you head up to 12 to Capitol Reef. Then head east on 24 to southeast on 95 to the four corners area. You won't regret the drive. Stop in at the Kiva Cafe for a great espresso and enjoy the music, view and good company out in the middle of somewhere!

 

IMO it would be a good idea to have the dealer make up a compact spare using the the same tire/wheel/stem (parts #'s) as come's w/ the Cooper:Although the runflats are ok in proximity to a city it's not going to help should you shread a tire (road debris or worse) out in the desert.
-The compact spare fits nicely behind the passengers seat & there are even tote bags to dress it up a bit.
-I make a comparable trip ever year (in an E46 M3 or our MCS) and would not do it sans a real spare tire!. I also have experienced a tire related break down S. Utah & N Arizona and it was a time wasting hassel.
- The trip sounds excellent: have you ever been in Sedona, Ariz. via Oak Creek canyon (S.from Flagstaff.) It's a worthwhile side trip.
Best of luck!

 

Danish, you got my by a couple of years, but I could not agree more. Hopefully none of us get “too old”.

Andromcs, Took a closer look at your suggestion. Perfect; hwy 12 to Capital Reef looks to be one of the top roads in the US. Definitely added to the schedule.

Agro, Holbrook is a stop, thinking about staying at

http://www.galerie-kokopelli.com/wigwam/

Any experience with this place?

As for a spare, now you have me thinking. If I did get one and lugged it along it would absolutely guarantee no tire problems.

 

I stayed a couple of places down the road from the Wigwam, and took a couple of pics of it the next morning. Looked nice enough from the outside.

Holbrook is absolutely packed with motels (and former motels) as the place you stay if you're seeing the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. It is a very nice 30 mile drive through some absolutely spectacular scenery. Worth doing, especially if you're going to be right there anyway. Since you're doing all those parks, get yourself a 1 year pass for $50. I got mine online. I put "MYFORD" in the promo code box and got it for $40 with free postage. It's good for any national park for 1 year from the 1st use.

Sounds like a great trip!

 

If you're coming as far west as San Diego county California I've got a few magical roads for you.

Montezuma Grade up out of the desert
East Grade up Palomar mountain and then;
hold onto your shorts
The South Grade down

Check out the link here
http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/Palomar.htm

Hit the roads on the weekdays and you won't have too many motorcycle nuts out there.
Mother's Kitchen at the top is a great place for a bite.

 

Agro, Excellent tip. Ordered my 2005 National Park Pass on-line, saved $13.95 with the free shipping. :smile: :smile: :smile:

https://buy.nationalparks.org/


Can't make it all the way to California this trip, but very cool 3d map on that link. :smile: