Hike the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon.  Or at least part of it. Amazing views. Not for the out of shape individual.  I hiked down a short distance since my family looked at me crazy when I asked them to join me.....
 

 
This is the view from the top, at the lodge....
 

 
A short distance down the trail and if you look at the very bottom of the photo, you can see some green trees in a grove, and the trail is to their left. They say there is a very nice campground down there and a river too..... I didn't have the time to explore very far down the trail. We were on a schedule.
 

 
Some friends I know did hike this all the way down and back up.... many hours and they came back with more stuff than they started with. Apparently people carry all sorts of things down the trail.... but when coming back up, they are too out of shape to carry things any further so they leave backpacks and tents and other stuff on the trail.....
 
Be sure to carry lots of water if you do this hike.  Its a good full day worth of fun.

Guitarhacker
Hike the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon.  Or at least part of it. Amazing views. Not for the out of shape individual.  I hiked down a short distance since my family looked at me crazy when I asked them to join me.....
 
 
Be sure to carry lots of water if you do this hike.  Its a good full day worth of fun.

my idea of fun is slightly different than what Herb's definition is....
 
just sayin...

It'll test you for sure..... my wife and family don't enjoy hiking on anything with big hills. We go to a state park with a 2 mile trail that runs through it.... several times I have hiked it end to end..... no one wanted to accompany me. They have, however, hiked some of the sections of that trail.

I TOTALLY agree with others here. Where you are living is central to MANY natural wonders, Mesa Verde, Bryce, Grand Canyon, 4 Corners, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest... and that is just off the top of my head. Frankly, I think you should read some of the history of the area and go see some of the places. A lot of history was made in the SW. It is an amazing place to be.
Have you ever seen a sand storm about 10,000 ft high? Saw that in death valley... go in the desert in the afternoon, drive down the road and look at all the little animals and birds lined up in the shadow of each telephone pole.
 
You live in a really rich part of the world for day trips... then there are always the casinos, lol. Oh, Gallup New Mexico is cool too. It is a Navajo town. You can get yourself one of those big black wide rimmed Navajo/cowboy hats! If you gold let me know. My cousin lives in Las Vegas. He used to organize PGA tours, now he sets op private golfing tours all over the world. He is a great guy too. I grew up next door to his dad Bucky who is an artist. I think I have shared his site but it is buckybowles.com (Mike... you will likely recognize the land in his paintings, it is all costal plain woodlands). He also did a series called "Riverboats of the Chattahoochee... but I digress.
Rain, if you want to golf get in touch with Scott. You can tell him I sent you... he should be able to get you in somewhere really nice. I had to give up golf, I could never get past the windmill...
 
Shoot... no, don't shoot... but get a ZOOM handheld recorder or an R-8 and take it out into the land with your guitar.. sit on a hill and be inspired. Check around the crown of hilltops for minerals, never know what you night find. In Cripple Creek, CO. you can walk around the hilltops and pick up turquoise most anytime. The land there has no trees, they cut them all down for cabins and mine timbers.
The Lincoln County War was not far from you. Billy the Kid and the regulators?

Lincoln County courthouse, now a museum.
Billy:
 
Have some dang fun dadgummit !!!
 
Julien

Guitarhacker
Hike the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon.  Or at least part of it. Amazing views. Not for the out of shape individual.  I hiked down a short distance since my family looked at me crazy when I asked them to join me.....
 

 
This is the view from the top, at the lodge....
 

 
A short distance down the trail and if you look at the very bottom of the photo, you can see some green trees in a grove, and the trail is to their left. They say there is a very nice campground down there and a river too..... I didn't have the time to explore very far down the trail. We were on a schedule.
 

 
Some friends I know did hike this all the way down and back up.... many hours and they came back with more stuff than they started with. Apparently people carry all sorts of things down the trail.... but when coming back up, they are too out of shape to carry things any further so they leave backpacks and tents and other stuff on the trail.....
 
Be sure to carry lots of water if you do this hike.  Its a good full day worth of fun.

Herb, I made it out to Bright Angel Point and back... I was a teen and it was no trouble for me, I was not overweight by any means however it was really funny watching people lightly walking down the trail and dragging them selves back up to the top. That was the year after we visited D.C. and I ran all the way to the top of the Washington Monument... you could do pretty much whatever you wanted to do back in the 60s as lng as you didn't willfully break things or bother other people.. these days everyone wants to mind everyone elses business... remember the steel dashboards and sitting on the armrest or laying on the rear dashboard on road trips? There really were some good old days I think.
Sorry to ramble on...
BTW... no way would I try that hike now. I would be calling the helicopter. I'd ride a burro though, if they still do that.
 
Herb... you are the most interesting man in the Coffee House... do you drink Dos Equis ?
 
 
J

Guitarhacker
 
 

 
That looks the mark of Drunk Zorro
 

I think Zorro was the name of the Mule I rode down that trail in 1976.
 
 

We're talking about Rain here guys!  Don't you know where there might be a bat cave or something around there?

Carlsbad?
 
The Bridge in Austin?

Yeah... Carlsbad, never been there. Have you driven up through Kentucky lately... lot of caves of course but now they are advertising underground ziplines... not sure about that...
 
J