SouthWest in April

[William Lindley]

I am planing to travel from San Francisco to the Dallas area of Texas during the first two weeks of April 2001. I hope to travel down through Nevada, across southern Arizona and New Mexico to the El Paso area and then acrosss Texas. I then will travel up to Oklahoma City and back to S.F. Cal. via the old "Route 66" Have any of you traveled this area at this time of year? What weather should I b e prepared for? What interesting sights might I look for other then the big tour ist spots? Any recomendations? Warnings? I will have only 2 weeks, and expect to visit with relations in Texas for a day or two. I am taking both 35mm anf 4x5 l arge format cameras.

[Anthony J. Kohler]

Bill, this is a lot of territory to cover in that amount of time, and you don't really give much information on what sorts of things you're looking for. But one place I could recommend east of Flagstaff, AZ is Walnut Canyon. It's a walk on a paved path (don't misunderstand; it's a serious hike with significant elevation changes) around a small canyon filled with old indian ruins that you can get into and around.

Don't bother with Meteor Crater. It's quite expensive and there's little to see except a hole in the ground.

There are lots of nice spots in Oak Creek Canyon, running south from Flagstaff to Sedona, but if you're trying to avoid the tourist spots, Sedona, where I live, is reputed to be one of the biggest tourist spots in AZ. But it sure is spectacular.