The Long and Beautiful Road Home

The next morning we started our long trip home at the beautiful Kodachrome State Park. Our morning hike to the Grosvener Double Arch was other-worldly. It reminded me of the scene in Beetlejuice where Geena Davis and Alex Keaton leave their house and end up in another dimension with sand, bare trees, and sand snakes.




We took the long way home to check out Route 12, which goes through Capital Reef and Escalante. The views were unbelieveable!

We stopped to check out some cute roadside stands and to eat at the most interesting restaurant. It is a real house that has been remodeled to be a restaurant. The people there all seem to know each other, and the food was ridiculous! It was so crowded that we ended up sitting with a couple we didn't know. It turned out that we had a lot in common.


Before we knew it, we were home. It was so nice to have that weekend with just me and my best friend.

Zions to Bryce

After the awesome homemade breakfast at the Hogan (and playing in the costume shed), we hiked to the Emerald Pools and spent some more time exploring Zions.

It was hard to leave the park on such a beautiful day, but Bryce Canyon was waiting for us.

Unfortunately, my camera broke halfway up the first hike. Luckily, Min let me use her camera. I just wish I knew how to use it. I guess I'll just have to go back. :)

Bryce was unbelieveable! I have never seen anything like it. It was especially beautiful under the dusting of new snow. We couldn't help taking a hike around the rim.





The pictures don't do it justice!

We stayed at the Bryce Canyon Inn. The rooms weren't all that inviting. But luckily, after a big dinner of comfort food, we were so exhausted! We just went straight to sleep.

Welcome to Zions

Believe it or not, after living in Utah for almost ten years, I have never been to Zion's National Park. I'm not really sure why I waited. It is beautiful.

The only negative part of our whole day was that it was unseasonably cool. During our "hike"--the Riverside Walk--, it started raining and when we got off the bus--there are no cars allowed in most of Zions--to see The Court of Patriarchs, it started to blizzard!
After waiting for the bus in the snow, we were done exploring the park. We warmed ourselves over a bowl of curry and walked through the Fatalli gallery. Sufficiently warm, we headed to our Hogan, a mud hut with a fireplace in the middle. The drive was gorgeous.




Although we had previously been excited about our stay in a Hogan at the 10,000 Villages campsite right outside Zions, the mud hut was not the warmest option on a snowy night. We used all of our fire wood before we went to sleep! But luckily the drinks and s'mores we made before bed, kept the edge off the cold until we could sufficiently warm our sleeping bags.

It was just like old times staring up at the starry night, talking about what we want for the future.

Girl's Road Trip

Historically, I have limited this blog to my international travel. But, because I am getting out of the country less frequently now that I'm working, I've decided to expand. Last October, I was surprised to find that one of the coolest places I've ever traveled to was in my own backyard.

My best friend, Mindy, flew out from NYC for a ROAD TRIP! Our plan was to start in St. George--because it was the middle of Fall Break and there were no hotels available near Zion's Park, explore Zion's Park, explore Bryce Canyon, and hit up as many of the other state parks and other attractions as we had time for.

The ride to St. George was uneventful. Traffic wasn't too bad. Mindy and I had a great time catching up and introducing each other to new music. Before hitting up the Mongolian BBQ for dinner, we stopped next door to a Build a Safari Giraffe that we named Skylar. Skylar became our trip mascot.

After we checked into our hotel, we soaked in the hot tub, then settled in for a movie.