Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico - December 2025
Posted January 6, 2026 - 43 Photos. For Christmas 2025, we paid a visit to Rick’s stepmom, Sandy, in Sierra Vista, Arizona. We drove there and back in order to see more of the USA’s beautiful southwestern landscape. It was a whirlwind 8-day adventure, covering about 2,200 miles while visiting several national parks — Arches, Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest. We enjoyed fantastic weather and we had a very nice visit with Sandy.
01 - We didn't see much snow driving through the Colorado Rockies, and we saw even less in the other states we visited.
02 - Driving through Colorado's Glenwood Canyon is always a treat. The canyon road is a spectacular, engineering marvel along the Colorado River, known for its tunnels, bridges, and environmental integration.
03 - The drive into Moab, Utah is pretty spectacular too, as it winds along the Colorado River.
04 - The breathtaking views in this area are never-ending.
05 - The abundance of good views made it very difficult deciding which photos to post!
06 - The Colorado River, near the entrance to Arches National Park.
07 - Lots of amazing rock formations in Arches.
08 - It's like a different world inside the park.
09 - Rick, enjoying "The Windows" area.
10 - Driving the next day, we saw countless beautiful mesas.
11 - Visiting iconic Monument Valley at the Utah/Arizona border.
12 - Julie strikes a pose in Monument Valley. Did you know the valley isn't a national park?It's a Navajo Nation Tribal Park!
13 - Monument Valley is a sacred landscape of towering sandstone buttes, serving as a deeply spiritual place and cultural heart for the Navajo people.
14 - Our first view of the Grand Canyon did not disappoint.
15 - Photos cannot do the canyon justice, but they do alright with people.
16 - The afternoon sun combined with the shadows made for an interesting sight.
17 - The sun was muted by the clouds the next day, but the view was still spectacular.
18 - We hiked a bit on a trail going down into the canyon. We would definitely like to make the trek to the bottom some day!
19 - Just a couple hundred feet down, we were already getting better views into the canyon.
20 - Back up top, Julie snapped an amazing photo of a baby mountain goat.
21 - When we encounter wild animals at national parks, we usually also run into very stupid people.
22 - It was cool to see the Colorado River rushing through the canyon.
23 - A parting shot before we start making our way to the deep south of Arizona.
24 - During the drive south from the Grand Canyon we saw tons of saguaro cactus!
25 - Christmas Eve lunch with Sandy at a nice Italian restaurant near Sierra Vista.
26 - Exchanging gifts on Christmas morning. We were glad that we could be with Sandy on Christmas this year.
27 - Serving ourselves lunch -- honey-baked ham and mac n cheese from Costco. Both were yummmmmy!
28 - Back on the road again, after about 48 hours in Sierra Vista. This is the amazing Salt River Canyon in northwest Arizona.
29 - At the bottom of the Salt River Canyon.
30 - Back on the road to see the Petrified Forest National Park
31 - This place was a prehistoric forest back in the day, but now all the tree trunks are stone! How the heck does a tree turn into stone instead of rotting?
32 - Ask and ye shall receive.
33 - The park makes it abundantly clear that stealing petrified pieces of wood is a no-no. This note shows how stealing can lead to some pretty bad luck.
34 - It's mind-blowing to think that all these rocks were tree trunks.
35 - We call these petrified sand dunes.
36 - This rock still looks like wood!
37 - "Newspaper Rock." These petroglyphs were created by ancestral Puebloan people living, farming, and hunting along the Puerco River between 650 and 2,000 years ago.
38 - Moving on to the "Painted Desert" part of the park, we realized that we were running out of time and wouldn't be able to make it to our next planned stop on-time. Oh well, we'll see the Bisti Badlands next time through.
39 - Time for a photo of the painted desert before we hit the road for Farmington, New Mexico. Isn't that beautiful?!
40 - We were up bright and early for our last day of driving, as we expected it would take at least 7-8 hours to get home.
41 - We stumbled upon this monstrosity in the small hamlet of Antonito, New Mexico. "Cano's Castle" a massive, eclectic folk-art structure made from beer cans, hubcaps, and tires. Glad we live in a neighborhood with restrictive covenants!
42 - We ran into snow and ice as we crossed the San Juan Mountains at the Colorado/New Mexico border. It slowed us down a bit, but it wasn't serious snow.
43 - Almost home as we drive through southern Colorado. Those are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background.