Howdy, folks!  Where in the world did this trip come from?  We were not planning on going to the desert until the early Spring of 2008, but with Southwest deals the way they are, this one was just too good to pass up!  Fifty bucks!  A few weeks ago, Southwest was offering super low fares to almost every one of their cities, and since there was just so much to do in Arizona, we figured that we might as well split it up a bit.  So, we will be covering most of the major Arizona attractions this time around, and then next Spring we will concentrate on New Mexico and West Texas.  So many places to go, so little time!  Now, we already went to northern Arizona last year to see the Grand Canyon, and we had a 2-hour layover in Phoenix a couple years ago, but this time, we get to spend an entire weekend in the 100 degree desert!  So let's get started!
~ Ryan

All times are local to the particular city.  Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone, but they don't follow Daylight Saving Time, so it's actually going to be more like Pacific Time - 3 hours behind the East Coast.  For those on the Atlantic, we've added your time in [brackets] so you don't need to do any math!
 

Emergency Contact Information:
Phone (Ryan's Cell): 410-259-4180
Phone (Megan's Cell): 443-564-1301
E-mail: webmaster@ryanandmegan.net (will be checked as often as possible)

Vitals:

Flight:
OUTBOUND
Flight #1: Saturday, May 26, 2007 - TRACK IT!
Southwest Airlines - Flight 741 (Baltimore to Phoenix)
DEPART Baltimore, MD (BWI) at 6:45 AM [6:45 AM]
ARRIVE Phoenix, AZ (PHX) at 8:35 AM [11:35 AM]

Flight #2: Monday, May 28, 2007 - TRACK IT!
Southwest Airlines - Flight 1324 (Phoenix to Baltimore)
DEPART Phoenix, AZ (PHX) at 5:35 PM [8:35 PM]
ARRIVE Baltimore, MD (BWI) at 12:55 AM [12:55 AM]

Lodging:
Hotel: Night 1, May 26, 2007
Best Western Arizonian Inn
2508 Navajo Boulevard
Holbrook, Arizona  86025
Phone: 928-524-2611

Hotel: Night 2, May 27, 2007
Quality Inn at Lake Powell
287 N. Lake Powell Blvd.
Page, Arizona 86040
Phone: 928-645-8851

Transportation:
Car Rental: May 26 (8:30am) - May 28 (5:30pm)
Dollar Rent-a-Car
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
1805 E Sky Harbor Circle South
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Phone: 866-434-2226
 

Itinerary:

Note:  The numbers in the itinerary correspond to the map at the bottom.
 

Saturday, May 26:

We have an early morning flight out from Baltimore on Saturday morning, so if we have not left the house by 5am, we can pretty much call it quits on this trip.  Notwithstanding that, we will get to Arizona by 8:30am and will be out of the airport [1] by 9.  We will be heading immediately South towards Tucson to check out the large cacti in Saguaro National Park [2].  From there, we will grab a late lunch at Applebee's [3] in Tucson and then head North towards Miami and Christmas (seriously).  We'll make a stop in Hayden [4] for church and then drive through the desert to Winslow [5].  Yes, we'll be standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona (see Eagles - Take it Easy).  After that, it'll be time to check into our hotel (well before midnight!) in Holbrook [6].

Sunday, May 27:

The stuff we do today really depends on what time we get moving in the morning.  Our first stop will certainly be the Petrified Forest National Park [7] in the Painted Desert.  Then, without delay, we will take a long drive up towards Colorado to see Four Corners Monument [8].  That's the only place in the United States where you can be in four states at the same time.  Since it's on a Navajo Indian Reservation, they have hours of operation, and we completely missed out last time.  Not this time!  After grabbing some spoons and shot glasses, we'll be on our way to another "missed" destination: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument [9].  On our way to the Grand Canyon last year, we took a bad turn at night and ended up on one of the scariest roads ever.  This time we get to see what it looks like during the day!  It's not that impressive - Bill Clinton proclaimed it to be a National Monument more for political gain than anything else, but there you go.  We were originally thinking that we would go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon after that, but it's going to be far too late.  It'll be time for bed in Page [10].

Monday, May 28:

It's time to go already?  Quick weekend!  Our first stop today will be to Antelope Canyon near Page.  We have an 8:00 AM [11:00 AM] tour booked at this awesome slot canyon.  Our tour is too early in the morning to see the light beams that it is famous for, but we have to leave Page by 10:00 AM [1:00 PM] if we want to make our flight.  We pretty much have a straight drive down to the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix, where we are going to meet some of Megan's co-workers for lunch.  That's what happens when you work for a company with call centers throughout the country!  Then, we'll be off to the airport [11] in the late afternoon to fly back home.  It'll be an awesome night flight across the country where we should see some Memorial Day firework shows from 35,000 feet.  We get home early in the morning on Tuesday - and then go to work a few hours later!  Oh, joy!

Map:
Don't have time to read all my nonsense?  I don't blame you.  Just check out the map below to see our guesstimated route.

 

Flight Tracking:

As before, these are some links where you "might" be able to track our flight.  With all of these sites, be sure to hit refresh (F5) and click "Retry" as applicable to view the latest information.

• Trip.com (http://www.trip.com/trs/cheaptickets/galileo_flight_tracker/galileo_home.xsl)

• FlyteComm (http://www.flytecomm.com/cgi-bin/trackflight)

• Flight Explorer (http://fasttrack.flightexplorer.com/)

• RML Software (http://www.flightview.com/)