Dear Traveler,
Although I grew up in Alaska, I spent 13 years living in Arizona and touring through the desert southwest. I know from first-hand experience how awesome a sight it is to see the skies above Albuquerque filled with hot air balloons. I also know that our Balloon Fiesta & Southwestern Tour is much, much more than that.
There is so much packed into this 15-day tour that I hardly know where to start!
One approach I considered for this note was to focus on the National Parks. This tour includes a visit to the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and Carlsbad Caverns. Respectively, the largest canyon in America; the largest collection of prehistoric trees in America; and the largest cave in America.
My second idea was to focus on the places that are iconic in the tales of America's southwest: Route 66; the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe; tales of Buffalo Soldiers and Billy the Kid in New Mexico; Tombstone, the town too tough to die complete with the OK Corral, Crystal Palace and Boothill Graveyard; and Mission San Xavier del Bac founded in 1692 by Padre Eusibio Kino near Tucson.
I also considered the nuclear age approach: a visit to Los Alamos, site of the Manhattan project and creation of the atomic bomb; Roswell and the UFO Musesum & Research Center; and White Sands where America's missile systems were tested and an alternative Space Shuttle landing area.
There was also the Native American cultural angle: learning about cliff dwellers at Montezuma's Castle; visiting pawn shops filled with Navajo & Zuni handicrafts in Gallup and Santa Fe; the Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque and Bandelier National Monument nearby; and Casa Grande National Monument just south of Phoenix.
And there was still the flora and fauna of the desert southwest, amazing art created by some of America's best fine artists, and the constant eye-candy of amazing mountains, deserts and plateaus that define this part of our country - plus, of course, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
Call 888-507-8054 to book the September 28 departure,
and save $300 per person!
Ultimately, I couldn't pick just one angle because this tour has it all. It is a complete roundup of the American Southwest and it has something for everyone. We only offer this trip three times each year. The weather is spectacular, the skies are clear and the experience rewarding.
I hope you will join us and experience all of the Southwest this Fall.
Tom Garrett
VP Marketing
YMT Vacations
PS - There are only a few seats remaining on each departure, so call 888-507-8054 today and mention promo code E6029 to save $300 per person!! For details the tour, click the itinerary below!
