Escaping from my boring life on the best road trip ever. That’s what it felt like anyway. After months of working from home, staring at a computer screen, and being a good steward of public safety, I wanted and needed a break. My birthday was fast approaching and as an adventurer and adventure writer, my soul needed feeding.

The idea of the Grand Canyon arrived in the form of an email, offering a deep discount to the lodges at the Grand Canyon. But the available dates were for December 2020. Could I do it safely? 

Considering this would be a road trip, I figured yes. I would stick to the car on the way, wear a mask, bring hand sanitizer for stops, wear my mask in the hotel hallways and lobbies, don’t have anyone inside my room (so no room service/cleaning), and the rest of the time I’d be out on the trails. I figured I could be smart, be safe, and have an adventure. Plus, realizing that it was only a six hour drive away, it sounded like the perfect opportunity.

Next, I had to consider my budget. I had just paid the IRS my share of taxes, so money was a little tight. With the discount offered at the lodges, and planning on being creative with what food I brought, I figured I could do it. And, well, the lodges have a refrigerator but that’s it. No microwave. And, the only other food options there would be one restaurant, a walk up window with hot dogs and chips, or a fifteen minute drive to the nearby town for questionable Mexican food. So, really creative.

Many of the activities at the canyon were cancelled due to covid. No bus rides, no tours. However, the mule rides were open. Open air, plenty of space between mules. Totally up my alley. I had ridden a horse as a kid, and enjoyed a horseback ride in Costa Rica on my way to La Fortuna, so a mule should be good, right?

And, as luck would have it, my sister, Christine, was interested in going. A hard working mom with two jobs, she hadn’t had a vacation in years, so this five day break was really big for her. So the trip was a go!

And here we go on the best road trip ever!

She drops off her two small dogs at my Dad’s house, and I drop off my giant puppy Bo with a friend. I want to get out of town as soon as we can, and my sister works late on Thursday, so we leave Albuquerque at night. We have a car full of groceries, warm layers of clothes, camera equipment, and excitement. Our first stop on our road trip is the El Rancho hotel in Gallup, NM. 

It’s December 3, 2020 at 11:30 PM when we pull into the parking lot at the El Rancho. It’s bittersweet to see only a few cars in the parking lot. Good for me and being safe, but terrible for the hotel. I’m glad I’m here to spend some money with them. I’m also really glad we’re here late because no one’s going to be around in the lobby but us, right?

I walk into the lobby, mask-wearing signs everywhere, my own mask, a sugar skull cotton mask is on. The lobby here is huge and beautifully decorated for Christmas. A tall tree bedecked with lights and ornaments, lights and red and green colors on the twin stairs leading up to the second floor. I check in for my reservation at the front desk and lo and behold someone else enters the lobby.

She walks in, standing inside the front door thankfully about ten feet away with her mask on, but pulls it down to answer the desk clerk’s question. “Yes, I’m the one who just called.”

My left eyebrow goes up, my sister looks at me and shakes her head. The woman puts her mask back on. The clerk says nothing. 

I get it, there’s space, there’s just the few of us in this big lobby. But seriously, people can hear you through your mask. I move on. 

Christine and I are in the “Lucille Ball” room. Two beds, a postage stamp bathroom, but it’s warm and quiet and we’re halfway to the Grand Canyon. 

Early the next morning, I roll out of my comfy bed and grab my camera gear. Mask on, I venture around the hotel in the early hours in my PJs – pink pants that say “Start me Up” from a Women’s Startup Weekend, and a red fuzzy sweatshirt from Melenzana.

The lobby and hotel hallways are an eclectic mix of murals, giant purple geodes, old cigarette machines, Christmas decorations, a shoe shine station, and taxidermy mounts of deer and other creatures. I wander the second floor, checking out the walls of signed black and white photos from stars. Back in the day, you could send a request to your favorite star and ask for a signed photo. How many of these were requested and how many of them were from stars who stopped here?

It’s hard to imagine those celebrities here, in color, wandering the halls. Did they like the hotel? Was it up to their standards back then? Did Lucille Ball walk the stairs or take the rickety elevator that requires you to accurately shut the inside gate in order for it to function? Did she take coffee in her room or did she go down to the restaurant and chow down on a big breakfast? The dining room is empty now, not open, even during normal hours except to get a cup of coffee.

We hop in the car, eager to get to our destination. However, I always love a roadside stop. We pull off the highway to check out the Petrified Forest National Park. At the entrance, my sister and I can’t believe it costs twenty five dollars to enter. At each stop in the park we ooooh and aaaah at the views of colorful hills, an old Inn, an ancient pueblo, and piles of petrified wood shining in the sunlight. By the time we exit, a few hours later, we decide that the money was well worth it. 

Now it’s a race to get to the Grand Canyon before sundown. Well, when I say race, my sister’s pretty by the book. She goes the speed limit. But it feels like a race. 

I feel slightly deflated as we arrive after sunset at the gates to the park, but we’re here! Step one, find Bright Angel Lodge and check-in before 6 PM for our mule ride that’s tomorrow morning. It’s 5:35 PM and we’ve never been here before. 

It takes us a while to figure out the roads and the directions but we check into our ride at 5:45 PM. They weigh each of us on a big scale and I see the number flash across the screen. Yeesh, I’ve gained some weight during covid and I’m totally embarrassed by the number, definitely different than what I said on my form, but luckily I’m not over the limit. They hand us our leather water bags. Small consolation for the weight trauma I just went through.

Step two, now for our hotel room. There are few lights here and there’s no moon out. Pitch black. Find our next stop. The El Tovar Hotel. It’s beautiful! All dark wood interior and dressed for the holidays. I wish we were staying here, but this is just our check-in. We’re next store in the sparse Kachina Lodge. The young woman behind the counter goes through the paces of checking us in, then we hit a snag. The bill is much higher than I had figured out, plus they tell me that, oh by the way, we’re going to take $300 out of your account for incidentals. You know, in case I decide to steal the refrigerator or something. 

Because, doesn’t everyone pile on extra money in their bank account for just such things? Nope. Not this budget focused traveler. I probably looked like I was about to cry, because I was. Mentally, I was trying to calculate where I had gone wrong with the total number, wondering why they didn’t tell me about that price for incidentals, and trying to figure out if we could even stay here one night. We’d have to go back to the town outside the park and find a motel room. After all this work to get here and our excitement to walk out our door in the morning and see the canyon, I didn’t want to go, and I didn’t want to disappoint my sister. 

The young woman hands me off to her boss, Craig. I will forever love Craig. He has a wedding ring on though, so it’s platonic. He pulls me aside and starts tapping away at the keyboard. By the time he’s done, he has made magic happen. Full payment for the hotel room without a huge incidental nip at my slim budget.

I feel some tears in my eyes again, but I have a smile on my face. Thank you Craig. 

Our hotel is a modern take on hotels in the seventies. Nothing fancy, but the bathroom is bigger than a postage stamp, the beds are soft, and although we can’t see it, the Grand Canyon is just beyond. After unpacking, I dive into the numbers again and realize the room total misunderstanding was totally my mistake, but the incidental surprise was never mentioned in the emails from the hotel. I feel guilty and relieved at the same time. More bittersweet moments.

Early morning my sister runs out to the car to grab something and comes back in. “My gosh, it’s right there!” She’s so excited and so am I. It’s a cold morning and we’ll be riding the mules today. We put on several layers of clothes and venture out, and there it is. The vast canyon in all its glory. Too much to take in in just a few moments. but we don’t have time to explore yet. We hop into the car and head for the mule barn.

We arrive at the mule barn and Bob is one of the riders today. His first question to my sister and I is “So, this Coronivirus, what do you think?” In this day and age, that’s like asking someone what political party they follow. Everyone is required to wear their mask before getting on the mules, so his is on. Is he a masker, an anti-masker, does he think the virus is a hoax (which if you’ve seen a morgue truck parked at your local hospital you’d know it’s not)? No thanks. Both my sister and are noncommittal on that question. 

The mule wranglers welcome us and introduce us to their friendly mules. Our group includes a young couple, an older couple (Bob and his wife), and a group of young women traveling together, plus our plucky guide who moved from the midwest to hang out with mules in the most beautiful place on earth. 

On the trail, we keep our mules close together. It’s not hard. At times they walk slowly and other times they trot to keep up with each other. I had imagined that we’d be climbing down into the canyon, but it turns out this is a rim trail ride. When we get close enough to see the canyon I have a hard time looking away. Thank goodness Dusty, my trusty mule, knows exactly where she’s going so there’s no need for me to direct her. Whenever the trail veers away from the Grand Canyon I’m always trying to peer through the trees to see it. I also had no idea there were so many trees next to the canyon.

After the trek, my sister and I talk to our mules. We’re the only ones, but I’m betting our guide talks to her mule when no one is watching. 

“Thanks for the ride, Dusty. It was memorable.”

Then it’s off for lunch (we might have made grilled cheese sandwiches in our hotel room with my waffle iron), then we wander along the rim of the canyon. We find the perfect spot for sunset photos and I set up my camera, sitting on the cold stone ridge that runs along the touristy part of the canyon. Christine finds the walk-up cafe and gets me some coffee. Hot, strong and exactly what I need. It’s going to be a long time until sunset and I have a lot of photos to take.

Finally, that day we decide to try out the El Tovar restaurant. It’s expensive, but we split the meal which is plenty for us and it’s my birthday, so we splurge on desert. Cranberry and orange creme brûlée. The flavors explode on my tongue, the crispy outer shell with the creamy inside. Can I live on creme brûlée? I’d like to try.

Monday morning, bright and early. We forage through our refrigerator for breakfast: cereal, milk, oranges, yogurt, and a piece of fried chicken. Then we head out and walk past the spot I was using last night for my photos. The place feels so empty and I feel so lucky. We’ve come here at the perfect time. We find the Bright Angel Hiking Trail and start off. We’re hiking into the Grand Canyon! 

Christine nods happily as we start down the trail. “I’m so glad this air is cold. It’s like an ice pack for my butt.” And, indeed, the cold air soon numbed our butts, sore from the mule rides.

Our goal today is to get three miles down the trail and come back up before the sun goes down, but this hike is amazing no matter how far you go. At noon, we take a break for lunch and I’m worried that we should start back up. My sister, who rarely goes hiking, is insistent we keep going. I look up at that long, steep trail we’ll have to do to get up before 5pm (because we’re on winter hours) and I give her a deadline. We have to turn around at 1 PM.

We don’t quite make it to 3 miles by 1, more like 2.5 miles. My sister reluctantly turns around and I’m okay with it. We’ve just had an amazing hike and we have plenty of time to get to the top again. As we get to the top, I can tell my sister is tired. We stop at the end of each switchback to take a breath (we’re at a higher elevation here than in Albuquerque). We’re getting closer to the top and she looks up and says, “Hey, we’re almost at the first cave hole.” AKA a small tunnel.

We have a good long laugh at that then keep going. We reach the top around 4:20 PM. Better time than I thought and we go to the room to decompress, and I check online to see if we can get a reservation at the restaurant. No grilled cheese tonight.

We share a meal again, and it’s so filling I go to loosen my belt, only I realize I’m wearing my stretchy pants. Between this and the weigh-in the other day, I’ve decided I’m losing weight when I get home.

Our last morning, we get up before dawn to get some sunrise pictures. Again, this place feels like a ghost town. Only a handful of people are out to watch the golden light touch the reds and oranges of the canyon. We hit the road after nabbing a bratwurst at the stand (not recommended), and say farewell. 

Maybe not farewell though, hopefully this is ‘see you later Grand Canyon’ because I might want to escape again.

Are you considering a trip to the Grand Canyon? I highly suggest it. Sign up for emails from Xanterra (they run the hotels at the Grand Canyon and other parks) for discounts, be sure to travel safely and be smart about not spreading COVID, and be prepared for cold weather. I’d love to hear if you go, or if this encourages you to go on your own best road trip ever!

If you want to read more about my travels, you can check out my South American travel posts. Or if you’d rather have your escape by reading an adventure novel, my five star rated novel is Toy of the Gods.