Our Route Across the Country – Part 12

Our year long road trip continues as we pack in as many national parks and natural wonders as we can across the USA! We left Santa Fe, NM and headed through Colorado for more spectacular sights throughout the Rocky Mountains on Part 12 of our cross country route. Our route summary and map are below!

If you’ve missed any earlier segments catch up with links to our routes and travel highlights here:

• Part 1 looped us from Ohio to Maine and back to Ohio.
• Part 2 carried us across the country from Ohio to Montana and to our adventures in and around Glacier National Park.
• Part 3 circled the Olympic Peninsula in and around Olympic National Park.
• Part 4 took us to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and Redwood National and State Parks in California
  • We also included our extended stay on the Oregon Coast over the holidays in Part 4, as we filled holiday orders for Destination Tree
• Part 5 traversed us through California including Napa Valley, Yosemite, King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks
• Part 6 brought us through the Southwest as we explored Joshua Tree National Park, Sedona, The Apache Trail outside of Phoenix, Tombstone and Bisbee.
• Part 7 introduced us to the enormous size and beauty of Texas…from Big Bend National Park to San Antonio, Austin and the Gulf Coast.
• Part 8 swung us through Sweet Home Aaaalabaaaama…
• Part 9 reconnected us with family and friends in Florida including Fort Lauderdale, Everglades National Park, Sanibel Island and St. Augustine.
• Part 10 backtracked us through the south with stops at Louisiana’s old plantations, New Orleans, and MORE fun in San Antonio with good friends.
• Part 11 opened our eyes to the history and beauty in the landscape of New Mexico including Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument, Chaco Canyon and Bandelier National Monument.

Next up…Colorado!

Part XII
June 1 – 10, 2016

Our drive from Santa Fe to Colorado was somewhat unexpected. As we descended from the mountains to the flat landscape of northeast New Mexico, it reminded us of Scotland. There were heavy clouds close to the ground, sporadic greenery, long stretches of empty road and occasional livestock dotting the vast open fields around us.

We enjoyed the early morning drive and celebrated as we crossed the state line into Colorful Colorado! Colorful indeed. Purple mountains, green trees, blue skies, white puffy clouds and red rocks.

We traversed Colorado from south to north, following along the east side of the Rocky Mountains. Our first base was in Manitou Springs, just outside of Colorado Springs, where we visited Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak and Royal Gorge. From there we went a little further north, near Castle Rock where we visited a very dear friend (Kelly!!!!!) and explored the nearby hiking trails and also caught up on a backlog of Destination Tree orders. From there, we continued north and based ourselves outside of Fort Collins at Horsetooth Reservoir, which was absolutely gorgeous. From here we also visited Rocky Mountain National Park and the small town of Estes Park, also the location of The Stanley Hotel. (Yes, THE Stanley Hotel, Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining…you better believe Matt will have a blog post about THIS!)

There is really so much to see and do in Colorado, and we packed in as much as we could in a short period of time. We would have loved to spend more time here, but we decided to fit in what we could and continue north to Wyoming where we plan to spend time at Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks before the height of summer crowds.

Our driving route through Colorado is below…click here for pictures and highlights of Colorful Colorado!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.