June 28, 2011 5:49 p.m.

Recently I performed a Feasibility Study to see whether we could manage another West trip next year.  I checked climate date, mileage, campgrounds, National Park maps, and road maps (atlas) and determined that yes, we can!  We can manage a West trip that would last about the same number of days of last year’s trip (23-24 days), see different places, and take in at least a dozen destinations.  We would head out West via the I-70 corridor, and return East via the I-40 corridor, more or less.

Here are the sights we might be able to see…

1. U.S. Air Force Academy – a tour of the campus, that might just inspire somebody.  Hey, you never know.

2. Mesa Verde National Park, in Cortez, Colorado.  This is where some of the Anasazi cliff dwellings are.

3. Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah.  The scenery says it all.

4. Arches National Park, Moab, Utah. So red, so amazing.

5. Capital Reef National Park, Utah. A picture says 1000 words.

6. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Brilliant.

7. Zion National Park, Utah (in October, when the leaves have turned!)

8. Las Vegas, Nevada.  We have never been there.

9.  Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Nevada.

10. Grand Canyon South Rim, Arizona.

11. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Flagstaff, Arizona.

12. Petrified Forest, Arizona, and the Painted Desert.

13. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.

Wow!  Thirteen destinations!  So stay tuned.  We are considering this for October, 2012.