Road Trip! (also, Arizona Dopers check-in)

Ahh, it’s that time again. I sure do love a good drive in the summer. Here’s my suggested route (subject to change, but my mom (my travelling buddy this go 'round) seems to be agreeable to this one, so…):

Pine City, MN to Des Moines, IA via I-35
Des Moines, IA to Denver, CO via I-80
Denver, CO to Richfield, UT via I-70 (stopping somewhere (most likely Glenwood Springs, CO) to sleep)
Richfield, UT to Flagstaff, AZ via Hwy (I think it’s a highway) 89

I wasn’t really planning on going as far as Tucson, but I guess I have family there and my mom wants to go so we’ll probably hop on 17 and, after spending a night in Flagstaff, we’re looking to arrive at about 8am (date is still TBD) and spend the day/night there. I figure I can spend a few hours with this family, catching the sites around the area (something about an airplace graveyard, which sounds cool), having lunch whatever, and then I can cut out for a bit without feeling too guilty. I can leave The Boy with Grandma I’m sure, so we can have happy hour or somethin’.

So where was I? Oh yeah…

Huh, I guess that’s as far as I’ve gotten in the planning. I was going to go from Flagstaff to Albuquerque via I-40 and head back to Denver on I-25 because going to OKC would just take too long. But now that I’m going as far south as Tucson, I haven’t really figured out how I’m going to get back home.

How many AZ Dopers are there anyway?

As an aside, are there any particularily cool things along that route that I probably don’t want to miss? Plus, how should I get home (back to Pine City, that is)?

I previewed twice!

Airplane graveyard. PlaNe. WTH is an airplace anyway?

:tap, tap:

Is this thing on?

If you end up coming through Albuquerque, I’d love to meet you! I’ll try to remember to keep checking this thread, but you’re also welcome to email me after you nail your plans down a little more. I think the Doper population is pretty thin around here, but it would be great to set up some kind of meeting.

There was an attempt to get a Dopefest going a couple weeks ago. Quite a few responded, but didn’t work out. I’d love to have a fest in Tucson if it should happen.