Afternoon: Hotel check-in after 3:00 PM. On site Northern Arizona University Road Scholar program registration between 4:30 - 5:15 PM in hotel lobby.

Dinner: Dinner at Sizzler Restaurant. Along with a hot entree selection enjoy Sizzler's famous endless Salad Bar with over 50 fresh items including seasonal and specialty salads, just picked vegetables and fresh fruits, soups, hot appetizers and cool desserts.

Evening: After dinner, your Northern Arizona University coordinator will lead an introduction and orientation session. With your fellow participants, you will review the week's itinerary, travel arrangements, sightseeing tips, etc., and there will be a question and answer session afterward. Everyone will leave knowing what to expect!

Lodging: Flagstaff La Quinta Inn & Suites

Meals Included: Dinner

Introduction to the Pre-History of the Colorado Plateau/Sinagua Ruins and Visitor Center at Walnut Canyon National Monument

Note: The paved, one mile (round trip) Island Trail at Walnut Canyon descends 185 feet by a series of 240 steps into the canyon. This trail affords access to many cliff dwellings and interpretive signs. At an elevation of 6,700 feet, park rangers do urge caution, since climbing the 240 steps back up can tax heart and lungs. The 3/4 mile Rim Trail is a paved and level trail with easy access to great canyon views and to a series of pueblo ruins and interpretive signs.

Breakfast: Deluxe continental breakfast at the hotel to include waffles, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruits, pastries, bagels, cereals, muffins, juices, milk and coffee.

Morning: To facilitate a better understanding of the "Chaco Phenomenon" and the pre-historic cultural development of the Southwest - enjoy a morning presentation by a local expert. This fascinating presentation will give you the geographic and cultural background to maximize your program experience as well as leave you excited to "hit the road"!

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Field trip to the Sinagua ruins, visitor center and museum at Walnut Canyon National Monument. A hike down into Walnut Canyon (with its 220 steps) will bring you face to face with ancient cliff dwellings. Walnut Canyon is a spectacular scenic attraction in its own right and contains diverse plant and animal communities to be enjoyed from all vantage points. For those that choose not to go into the canyon a lovely rim walk with excellent views and accessible Sinagua Ruins will be offered.

Dinner: Dinner at a festive local Greek restaurant with a variety of entree choices for all palates.

Evening: After dinner the NAU Road Scholar coordinator will conduct a meeting discussing the logistics of tomorrow's travel day. An introduction to the Hopi Reservation and Canyon de Chelly will be offered. NOTE: If you plan to drive to Gallup from Flagstaff in your own vehicle due to future travel plans, inform the leader at registration so that he/she can make group travel arrangements.

Lodging: Flagstaff La Quinta Inn & Suites

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hopi Cultural Center / Hopi Village / Arrive Chinle and Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Breakfast: Deluxe continental breakfast at the hotel to include waffles, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruits, pastries, bagels, cereals, muffins, juices, milk and coffee.

Morning: Depart Flagstaff for the Hopi mesas and the Cultural Center (2 hours). The Hopi trace their history in the Southwest to long before the Spanish arrived in 1540 and many villages have been occupied since the 1100s A.D. Enjoy a fascinating native arts demonstration (pottery making or katchina carving or other) presented by a Hopi tribal member and artisan upon arrival. Time to explore the exhibits and photographs in the Hopi Tribal Museum and time to check out the native arts and jewelry shops will be offered.

Lunch: A soup, salad and sandwich lunch buffet at the Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant will be offered.

Afternoon: In the afternoon, we will tour the ancient Hopi village of Old Oraibi. A Hopi guide will provide the group with insights into the rich cultural history and practices that connects the modern day Hopi people to their ancient puebloan ancestors. Mid-afternoon, drive through the Hopi and Navajo Nations to Chinle, the gateway to Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Check into Chinle Holiday Inn.

Dinner: Dinner will be served in the Holiday Inn Garcia's Restaurant. Dinner will include a nightly selection of entrees (some with a southwestern flare), a trip through the salad bar and dessert.

Evening: Free Evening.

Lodging: Canyon de Chelly / Chinle Holiday Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The optional White House Ruin Trail hike follows a well established trail. The trail is generally wide with no major drop-offs but does have some uneven terrain. The upper part of the trail is built on a sandstone surface so caution must be taken but footing is good overall. The lower part of the trail becomes more sandy as the grade decreases. The trail ends at the White House Ruin canyon viewpoint. NOTE: The entire group will return to this point on the afternoon jeep ride.

Breakfast: Enjoy a breakfast buffet at Garcia's, the hotel restaurant.The buffet includes, on alternating days: 2 types of eggs; pancakes or biscuits & gravy; corned beef hash or bacon/sausage; cream of wheat, whole/cut fruit, cereal.

Morning: Depart after breakfast for explorations in the national monument. Options will include a van tour along Canyon de Chelly's South Rim; viewpoints include White House Ruin Overlook and Spider Rock Overlook or a 2.5 mile (600 foot elevation loss/gain) hike on the White House Ruin Trail. A visit to the Canyon de Chelly National Monument Visitor Center will give additional valuable information to this national treasure and Navajo people.

Lunch: Enjoy a traditional Navajo lunch buffet at the hotel restaurant. Navajo Tacos, Posole (hominy) soup, steamed vegetables, blue corn mush, and vegetable soup and more will be offered.

Afternoon: After lunch, participants will travel to the Thunderbird Lodge and the start of the canyon tour. Board 4-wheel drive tour trucks for a "jeep" trip into Canyon de Chelly with certified Navajo guides. The afternoon tour will include two canyons - Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. During the tour there will be stops at cliff dwellings, homesteads and petroglyph sites for pictures and shared stories of the "Ancient Ones" by knowledgeable Navajo guides. There will be Native American craft and jewelry vendors at two rest stops during the tour.

Dinner: Dinner will be served in the Holiday Inn Garcia's Restaurant. Dinner will include a nightly selection of entrees (some with a southwestern flare), a trip through the salad bar and dessert.

Evening: Evening program related to Navajo culture will be offered.

Lodging: Canyon de Chelly / Chinle Holiday Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Enjoy a breakfast buffet at Garcia's, the hotel restaurant.The buffet includes, on alternating days: 2 types of eggs; pancakes or biscuits & gravy; corned beef hash or bacon/sausage; cream of wheat, whole/cut fruit, cereal.

Morning: Following breakfast at the hotel, load vans and travel to Gallup, New Mexico. Our first stop will be at the Hubble Trading Post National Historic Site. We will step back in time to recount the important and influential trading post era on the Navajo reservation. Enjoy an informative guided tour of the Lorenzo Hubble house and time to explore the still active historic trading post. Continue to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation and the Window Rock Veterans Memorial Park. Highlights include the "Window Rock" geologic formation and the touching memorial tribute to the World War II Navajo Code Talkers. For fans of Tony Hillerman mystery novels, Window Rock is the heart of "Hillerman Country".

Lunch: Enjoy a buffet lunch at the Window Rock Quality Inn - a favorite meeting place of the local population.

Afternoon: Early afternoon check in at our Gallup hotel. Enjoy free time relaxing at hotel or take advantage of an optional shuttle to downtown Gallup to explore museums, the Gallup Cultural Center, famous pawn shops and Route 66 sites.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Evening: An evening presentation on Chaco Canyon will supply you with information in preparation for your next day's trip to Chaco Canyon.

Lodging: Comfort Inn Gallup

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Access to the Great House ruins at Chaco Canyon is by gravel paths with only minor elevation changes. Prepare to be out in the elements and on your feet for one to two hours at a time as the group explores the myriad features and highlights of the Chaco Great Houses.

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: After an early breakfast, embark on a full day field trip to Chaco Canyon. Chaco Culture National Historical Park preserves one of America's most significant and fascinating cultural and historic areas. Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1150. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area - unlike anything before or since. Please note that this will be a very full day with an early departure and late return. At Chaco Canyon your knowledgeable field guide will conduct a walking tour of Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl, two of the parks "Great Houses". Pueblo Bonito represents the zenith of "Anasazi" culture and is the largest and most famous ruin in Chaco Canyon. Pueblo Bonito reached five stories in height along its back wall and may have contained as many as 800 rooms. Pueblo Bonito stood as the largest structure in North America until the 1800's. There will also be the opportunity to explore the Petroglyph Trail with its many fascinating and often whimsical rock art images. IMPORTANT NOTE: Access to Chaco Canyon is by a 21 mile dirt road and weather permitted. In the event of heavy rains the road will become completely impassable. In this rare instance we will substitute Chaco Canyon with another interesting destination.

Lunch: Enjoy a sack lunch on the grounds of the Visitor Center. Bathrooms and drinking water are available.

Afternoon: After lunch we will visit the ruins of Chetro Ketl - one of the largest pueblos in Chaco Canyon. This pueblo contained over 500 rooms and 12 kivas including a Great Kiva within the central plaza.The walls of Chetro Ketl are embedded with ancient wooden vigas, or beams - which had to be carried from distant forests by hand and prepared with stone tools. It is estimated that over 5,000 trees were cut for Chetro Ketl alone. Chacoan "banded masonry", the meso-american influenced "colonnade", painted room plaster and "key hole" kivas are just a few of the architectural gems contained in Chetro Ketl. The afternoon tour continues with a stop at Casa Rinconada, which stands as the largest "Great Kiva" in the southwest! Casa Rinconada is believed to be the impressive venue for ceremonial activities of old. A visit to the park visitor center museum, bookstore and exhibits will be planned.

Dinner: After returning to motel around 5:30 pm, we will have a later dinner at a popular, local Mexican restaurant. Enjoy time to relax and reflect on the weeks events with your new found friends.

Evening: After dinner we will gather for a program wrap-up, impressions from the week and final reflections.

Lodging: Comfort Inn Gallup

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Check out of hotel. Load vans, depart Gallup for return trip to Flagstaff (185 miles and approximately 3.5 hours). Drop offs in Flagstaff will be made at the starting hotel, the Flagstaff Amtrak / Visitor Center and the Flagstaff Airport (Pulliam Field). The program ends in Flagstaff. IMPORTANT NOTE: Vans will arrive Flagstaff by 10:45 AM in time to connect with the Arizona Shuttle to Phoenix.

Meals Included: Breakfast