This is My Forties

First stop we made was the grocery store, which is always our first stop before a road trip. We hit Zion National Park almost immediately after that, snacks and drinks in hand.  The entrance we were nearest to was closed for re-construction so we hit the south entrance.  It took us a little further away from our normal route, but we wanted to see Zion after looking at pictures online.  The drive there was gorgeous of course. The park itself has very little to no parking and was full.  They have free shuttles that run throughout the park, but you have to walk to the stops first.  We found an overflow lot by the camping area (lucky us!), and started walking towards the visitor center/museum.  It was a loooong trail and it was already hot outside... especially for people who just came from a snowy mountain.  Great views though!!  It's definitely a gorgeous park. We saw a lot of lizards and interesting plants along the way.  Everyone was...

Our condo was part of a ski town, and there was a path and hiking trails that would take us to the tippy top of Brian Head Peak.  Yes, please!  We drove as far as we could, but the road was snowed in.  We kept walking further and further up, but the air was getting thinner and the clouds were looking pretty ominous so we had to turn back.   Do not be fooled by these smiling faces.  Everyone was fighting at this point.  We tried to joke ourselves out of it, but we were just done with all the togetherness I think.  The views were amazing though!  We wanted the exercise and the experience of the park so we picked a trail to take further down the road. Right around the corner from our condo was Cedar Breaks National Monument .  It was the look of Bryce, but with 0 people, a higher elevation, and lots of snow.  The overlook we stopped at boasted an elevation of 10,435ft.  Brennan stopped about halfway and refused to go anywhe...

After our luxurious day of nothing, we were ready to get out and get active again.  We took the drive out to Bryce Canyon National Park .  When we arrived, we realized we weren't the only ones who had the idea to hike the park on a Tuesday morning.  It was already crowded.  However, the crowds were mostly elderly people, people with small children, or physically unfit people.  We knew if we picked a strenuous enough path we'd have plenty of space all to ourselves AND we'd be able to hike it just fine.  We're thankful for our able bodies, and we should use them while we have them! We were right.  The longer, winding, moderate path was barely populated and gave us amazing scenery.  We actually sweat during a hike for the first time (on this trip).  We took our time on the way down to the "Tower Bridge". We hiked past the "Chinese Wall" and many other interesting hoodoo formations.  It looked like another planet there.  The tre...

We all woke up relatively early to make the 1.5hr drive to the South Rim entrance of the Grand Canyon.  We were hoping since it was early on a weekday we wouldn't have to contend with too many crowds.  Granted, we've never been to the Grand Canyon so I don't know what "busy" looks like to the park, but it seemed crowded.  Not so busy we didn't enjoy ourselves though!!!   The drive there was pretty, and I was able to capture a dust devil so that was fun.  Our friends had to turn around and go back into town to get gas since we were on a back country road through the Coconino National Forest , which doesn't have gas stations.  We took that opportunity to pick up more snacks and drinks.  No biggie, still found parking :)   Brennan was  not  going to go anywhere near the edge and I didn't want to force him.  He and his buddy ran around to find vegetation growing in unusual places.  They also were very interested in the over...