Start your cultural encounter with New Mexico in its warm heart - Albuquerque. Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening for a Welcome Reception.

Trace centuries-old stories etched in stone by Ancestral Puebloan peoples and early Spanish settlers at the Petroglyph National Monument in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Continue to Acoma Sky City Cultural Center & Haak'u Museum for a guided insight into one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy at leisure.

You’ll love this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®  Experience along your Southwest Journey as you visit the Chaco Canyon inside Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Head on a field trip with your Local Specialist to Pueblo Bonito, an important “Great House” in modern day culture. This evening you will have dinner on historic Route 66 (Should weather conditions render the dirt road to Chaco Canyon unsafe, your Travel Director will arrange visits to more accessible destinations of historical and cultural significance.) Tonight, your Stays With Stories is historic El Rancho Hotel, home to many starlets in the 'Westerns' genre during the 1930s - 40s.

This morning, stop at Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, where you'll see the Window Rock geologic formation and the World War II Navajo Code Talkers' Memorial and learn how Navajos helped the United States win WWII. Take a step back in time and visit the Hubbell Trading Post National Historical Site, and learn how the Navajo and settlers once traded. Delve into the story of Lorenzo Hubbell, who had a major influence on Navajo rug weaving and silversmithing. After a visit to the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center, meet your certified Navajo Local Specialist and board your 6X6 vehicle to marvel at the stunning scenery with sandstone cliffs, canyons, and beautiful artwork in the forms of pictographs, petroglyphs and ruins in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.

See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire. Enter Monument Valley National Tribal Park, a symbol of the American West with its iconic landscape of enormous rock features, including mesas, cliffs, and buttes made famous as the location for dozens of films stretching back almost a century. Meet your Navajo Local Specialist for a private guided excursion of Monument Valley in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®  Experience. Continue deeper into the valley while experiencing the sights of Monument Valley through the eyes of your Navajo guide. Travel along backroads and trails unavailable to the public while learning the history and local culture of the Dineh people. Visit an authentic hogan, the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house.

Head to Hovenweep National Monument, an intriguing prehistoric settlement. As you travel through the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, stop at Southwest Colorado's leading archeological museum at the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Then have an insightful viewing of the Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites at Mesa Verde National Park. From the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, you can see the park's third largest cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House. This evening your Stays With Stories is at the historic Strater Hotel in Durango.

Spend your day at leisure and explore the historic town of Durango. Perhaps, enjoy a truly unforgettable step back in time on an optional ride aboard the coal-fired, steam-powered, narrow-gauge train. The train chugs along rails that were originally laid at the end of the 19th century. Winding through a spectacular wilderness which would be inaccessible by car. If you are feeling more adventurous opt for a white water rafting trip on the Animas River.

Make your way through the mountains and into New Mexico, arriving at the Rio Gorge, a geological feature where the watercourse of the Rio Grande follows a tectonic chasm. Cap off your morning tour by crossing the Taos Landmark Site of Rio Grande Bridge. Standing roughly 600 feet above the Rio Grande, this steel arch bridge is one of the highest in the United States. Your afternoon Dive Into Culture in charming Taos begins at Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark an artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants and 21 landmarks. You will tour Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage Center and National Historic Landmark, with Local Specialists. Connect with Locals who call the Pueblo home learning about these iconic, multi-storied adobe buildings, built roughly 1,000 years ago. A piece of the past in the present, about 150 Puebloans still live within the pueblo full time. You will leave with stories one can only hear from locals.

Start the day by taking the High Road, from Taos to Santa Fe. Next visit Trujillo's weaving shop. You’ll see and learn firsthand how these eighth-generation weavers use one of a kind handwoven techniques. You'll then continue to Bandelier National Monument. Learn about the history of the people that inhabited this area 1,000 years ago. Designated as one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, City of Design, and City of Crafts and Folk Art.

Enjoy a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience that takes you to Allan Houser Sculpture Garden, where you will meet with the museum’s director. The 50-acre property on a private tour with local specialist to see some of his most amazing works surrounded by juniper trees. This afternoon you’ll love this eye-opening MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience where you'll meet Emigdio Ballon, the agricultural director at the Tesuque Pueblo Community Farm. Learn about this Indigenous community and their efforts to achieve food sovereignty by preserving heirloom seeds and growing their own food. Then we make our way to a Nambe Village where you will enjoy a traditional feast day meal at the Robinson Property prepared by elders, which include traditional stews and deserts. Learn more about Nambe culture and enjoy a meal with an active indigenous community located at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the Rio Grande River.

Say a fond farewell to Santa Fe and make your way to the Santa Fe Airport at your leisure.