The Phoenix-area is a great launching point for 2-3 day weekend road trip "mini-vacations." With a young daughter we try to minimize the driving and include more hands-on experiences that appeal to a toddler. Like everyone else, we prefer a short drive, to a not-too-crowded camping area, where it's scenic and there's something fun to do nearby.

That's not too much to ask, right?

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Just how do you tell a mere 2.5-year-old blond that she gets to go see a 700-year-old house carved into a hole of a limestone canyon wall and make it sound fun?

Can she possibly understand it? Not really. So here's what we did: "Chloe, do you want to go camping and throw little rocks into a river and climb on big rocks?"

And . . . she's . . . sold.

JPFreek Adventure Magazine Logo --- what's real? What's not?
I loaded up the Jeep with a backpack, a few vittles, a camera, and a GPS with the idea of landing myself in Guadalupe Mountains National Park for a number of days. This was my first solo trip in years, and preparing for it felt as foreign as walking on the moon. Just me and the Jeep, no family this time. 535 miles and four days. And somewhere out there at a campgound in the Chihuahuan Desert, a few friends awaited in a huddle around a campfire. They'd be waiting a while.

I didn't get there until 2:00 am. Strange things happened out there on the road.