As oldies, we were looking for warm hiking and photography weather when visiting the Grand Canyon and Page, Arizona.  It was important to us to arrive before summer vacation crowds so we planned our trip for April and early May. But, where to stay?   Our best advice is to start planning early!   OUR LODGING PRIORITIES   Our first priority was finding a place to stay while at the Grand Canyon. Since we want to follow whatever roads interest us, we only made hotel reservations in three high traffic locations for our cross-country road trip-Grand Canyon; Page, Arizona; and New Orleans.   Trip Advisor and Expedia are  our go-to resources for…