Mount Rushmore & Western Discovery

Day 1: Leave the Valley early and travel through Payson and Heber to arrive in Holbrook where we will enjoy lunch (on your own). We will then continue on to Albuquerque, New Mexico to spend the night. This evening we will go into Old Town Albuquerque to enjoy a “welcome dinner” at an old Mexican restaurant. D 

 Day 2: This morning after breakfast at the hotel we will head for Colorado traveling along old Rt 66 through Pueblo into Colorado Springs for lunch (on your own) and a tour of the Air Force Academy. We will then continue on to our hotel in Denver. B 

 Day 3: Today we will spend the day on the road marveling at the grandeur of the West.. We will travel up through Cheyenne, Wyoming with magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains on our way to Rapid City, South Dakota to spend the next two nights.B 

 Day 4: This morning we will see Mt. Rushmore, a 14 year project with the faces of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt carved into the side of a granite mountain. After lunch in this area (on your own) We will visit the Crazy Horse Memorial, the world’s largest mountain carving honoring the Sioux Chief who during his short life was a great leader of his people. B 

 Day 5— Today we will travel to Custer State Park where we will enjoy a jeep safari where nearly 1500 buffalo roam. This afternoon we will travel to Deadwood, a National Historic Landmark and the toughest town in the Dakotas. Stroll amid the Victorian buildings in the famous footsteps of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Back to Rapid City for the night . B 

 Day 6  Today we will travel back into Wyoming for a close encounter with Devils Tower National Monument, an 865-foot column remnant of a volcanic intrusion. Native American legend says the claws of a giant bear caused the striations on the side of the tower. Then continue down to Cheyenne to overnight. B 

 Day 7: Get an early start today and travel through the beautiful state of Colorado and into New Mexico  and go through the Enchanted Forest Trail into Taos.  Here we will have a short time to look around and then continue on to Santa Fe to overnight B

 Day 8 This morning we will take some time to explore the downtown Santa Fe area before continuing on to Albuquerque. We will have about two hours in Albuquerque where we will take a tram which overlooks the Rio Grande Valley, and then lunch (on your own). We will depart for home, traveling through the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Snowflake, Show Low and the Salt River Canyon with a fast food dinner stop (on your own) along the way. We will arrive back in the Valley of the Sun in the late evening.  B