Utah - The Land of Red Rocks

I've been meaning to write this post for 6 months now and I've just never gotten around to it. So here it is - my summer vacation coming to relieve you from the winter blues!

My parents love to travel and they have made it possible for me to go to so many places as a child. I've always really appreciated that and obviously grown to love traveling myself. But my travel companions didn't forsake me once I was married and I was able to tag along on their vacation just last July. My brother got married in Idaho and well, you could just say we took the scenic route home - for about a week!

Idaho to Utah

Our caravan consisted of my parents, myself and my two year old daughter. After spending just under a week at a hotel for the wedding we ventured off into wonderland to camp and hike and eat good food!

Our first stop was the Great Salt Lake. It was salty!! My legs burned from the salt and it made me incredibly itchy. Thank goodness for an outdoor shower to wash all of that salt off!

Next we stopped at BYU - Brigham Young University. No we are not mormon but I love watching their wholesome television shows, especially Studio C! It was Sunday so everything was closed but I got a few pictures to make my husband jealous. 

Thank you Utah for the random petting zoo at the truck stop. My daughter really needed that! 

Zion National Park

This was by far my favorite park. Just look at our view of the outside of Zion National Park from our campsite! We spent the most time here, hiking different trails each day. We attempted one called Angel's Landing but the 2 year old on our shoulders, not being used to rapid elevation change, and choosing to do it our last day there added up to an incomplete hike. We all decided that we must come back someday and hike to the top.  My favorite hike by far was walking up the river in the valley of the park, I don't have any pictures because we were nervous about taking our phones through the water. 

View from our campsite picnic table.

happy hiker!

3 Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Bryce Canyon National Park

Our second park took us 8, 000 ft above sea level and in a tent that can get pretty chilly! Emma and I snuggled down together in my sleeping back and shivered all night. The evening we arrived we drove around the top rim and enjoyed looking out over the unique formations. After raining a while we saw a gorgeous full double rainbow over the valley. The hike at Bryce was much different than Zion; You take a steep trail down to the bottom, weave through the valley and switchback up the other side. We experienced a torrential downpour and hail as we worked our way back to the top. I'll never joke about Missouri's weather again, at Bryce Canyon I got it all, hail, rain, freezing, and sweating. After some delicous over priced ice cream we moved on to a warmer place. 

Arches National Park

By the time we made it here, we were tired. We drove most of this sprawling park and then hiked a large trail at the back. Due to a baby on our back we did not take the difficult trail, but still enjoyed some beautiful rocks. This was by far the hottest park. Open and flat with no trees or hills to block the sun. After almost a week of hiking around, the little princess decided to descend from her carriage and enjoyed climbing all over rocks, and running and playing. We were thrilled!

Just outside the park and not far from our campsite was a unique restaurant perched up on a hill overlooking the town. It was set up inside a house built by a man who discovered uranium and became a millionaire. There was a lot history and a lot of amazing food! The second day at Arches we were hit with another bad rainstorm which sent our old and beloved tent into the dumpster. 

Through Colorado - on to Home

We enjoyed a familiar ride through Colorado, ate at the unique Casa Bonita and took a train ride at Georgetown Railroad Loop. I think the divers at Casa Bonita and the train made this part of the trip a toddlers delight. 

Conclusion:

We all enjoyed the lack of humidity and the abundance of fresh air and exercise. I think I know what my parents will be doing when they retire! After leaving Idaho for our trip to Utah we stopped at a Costco and bought some fun foods for camping. We ate at weird times and we ate strange combinations, we also enjoyed unique restaurants and a lot of homemade, hand scooped ice-cream. We swam when there was a pool available, and we stopped for handmade chocolates and fudge. Spoiled, out of the normal, and fun! Good thing we don't do that all the time!

Where have you been? What was your most memorable family vacation?

Sarah