Southwest Vacation - Utah Part 1, enjoying our condo in Brian Head
To give you a general idea of where we were, here's a map. Our condo was in Brian Head, which was a nice launch point for all the other red rectangles. As you can see, it lies in the Dixie National Forest, which means roads do not cut through this space so you have to drive around to get to anything on the other side, which really wasn't too bad at all.
Something else to know. We went from dry desert heat to cold mountaintop in one day of travel.
When we got closer to our destination we saw snowbanks and were all really excited about it! Brian Head sits about 11,000ft above sea level. The altitude seems easier to handle when it's cold and moist air though. Since I knew we would have such a packed travel day, I left the day after completely empty for recovery. Best idea ever!!
When we woke up it was snowing, which was cool. It didn't last very long or stick, but it was still fun to see. We stuck to the condo all day to recover from the trip and absorb everything we had already seen. We watched Enchanted, played games, Josh made a chicken pot pie. There was an XBox for the kids to play minecraft. They had their own little loft with queen-size bunk beds, their own TV, and a full bathroom. Josh, Noah, and I watched a lot of Star Trek Voyager episodes (because we just finished all of TNG).
We finally left the house, but just to check out all the condo complex amenities, which were right across the street: game room, sauna & hot tub. Everywhere we went we had it all to ourselves because it's the off season. The place was like a ghost town. It was mildly eerie, but mostly AWESOME. I'm not a fan of crowds.
We had a perfect little down day and we all needed it. Our next adventure was about an hour away and would require more hiking. Also, forgot to mention. Back when we hit the very first park, one of the rangers happened to ask Josh if he was a service-disabled veteran, which he is. Josh was given a lifetime free pass to all national and state parks!! We saved a lot of money with this park pass. I'm glad they do stuff like this :)
Our next chapter: Utah Part 2, hiking at Bryce Canyon
When we got closer to our destination we saw snowbanks and were all really excited about it! Brian Head sits about 11,000ft above sea level. The altitude seems easier to handle when it's cold and moist air though. Since I knew we would have such a packed travel day, I left the day after completely empty for recovery. Best idea ever!!
When we woke up it was snowing, which was cool. It didn't last very long or stick, but it was still fun to see. We stuck to the condo all day to recover from the trip and absorb everything we had already seen. We watched Enchanted, played games, Josh made a chicken pot pie. There was an XBox for the kids to play minecraft. They had their own little loft with queen-size bunk beds, their own TV, and a full bathroom. Josh, Noah, and I watched a lot of Star Trek Voyager episodes (because we just finished all of TNG).
We finally left the house, but just to check out all the condo complex amenities, which were right across the street: game room, sauna & hot tub. Everywhere we went we had it all to ourselves because it's the off season. The place was like a ghost town. It was mildly eerie, but mostly AWESOME. I'm not a fan of crowds.
We had a perfect little down day and we all needed it. Our next adventure was about an hour away and would require more hiking. Also, forgot to mention. Back when we hit the very first park, one of the rangers happened to ask Josh if he was a service-disabled veteran, which he is. Josh was given a lifetime free pass to all national and state parks!! We saved a lot of money with this park pass. I'm glad they do stuff like this :)
Our next chapter: Utah Part 2, hiking at Bryce Canyon
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