Day 1- Page- Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend
So we started from my grandparents after some delicious pancakes “early” and headed strait towards Page in Northern Arizona. We were making good time until we hit Navajo land and the time changed, who knew they were on a different time zone. So that was a little confusing because Arizona does not follow daylight savings, but the reservation (connected to Utah and New Mexico) does. When we finally got to the office our phones had switched times numerous times so i awkwardly walked in and asked what time it was. The tour company did work on Az time even though it was on Navajo land, so we had plenty of time to walk around and grab lunch. After some lollygagging and Pizza hut we left for the tour. Ill let my pictures do most of the describing, but overall it was a pretty awesome experience. We hopped on these rigged pick-up trucks and drove out to the caverns. After a very bumpy and sandy ride we got out and followed our Guide to the entrance of the canyon. He was extremely nice, funny, and helpful. We had about an hour to walk through the amazing landscapes. The sand, wind, and water powerfully sculpted the sandstone into amazing formations we were able to walk through. The light breached through the top in amazing ways refracting sand and throwing color onto the walls. Every turn displayed a different shape and color. It was truly amazing to walk through, even with the sand pouring in from overhead. When we were done walking through we took the truck back to the tour location and drove to Horseshoe bend. A short hike (3/4 mile apparently) led us to a cliff displaying this famous bend. The bend was stunning with green like water and dramatic erosion once again. It really was an amazing look at how water can impact the environment. The hike in over sand (though annoying) gave the full experience of how fragile the rock was in relation to the water. It was freeing to stand on the edge and just feel the wind. It reminded me of a similar bend I encountered in South Africa. There was an incredible amount of European tourists, many of whom were gasping that I was sitting on the edge, it was pretty funny. (Steven wasn't too thrilled with the edge either) We hiked back out, uphill through sand, and traveled on to some gas and our next destination. I bought my sticker for AZ and we traversed across the border to stay closer to Zion national Park in Utah. We got there pretty late so we crashed and got ready for the next day.
Day 2- Zion national park
So again unfortunately I'm going to have to let my photos do most of the talking. We woke up early and drove strait to Zion. It was decently crowded but we were able to get in and park no problem. We parked by the visitors center and asked what they recommended for a day in Zion. After following their advice we hopped on the free shuttle bus around the park. I really enjoyed Zion because of its mixed environment. It had an amazing combination of forest, desert, sky high sandstone canyon, and river. The entire place was amazing to look at. We took the shuttle to our first hike to lower emerald pools. It was a short hike on a mostly paved path, but an awesome walk into the interior of the park. The pools were too amazing but we were able to see some wildlife (mostly deer) and some awesome panoramic shots of the tall canyons and the Virgin river. We took the shuttle to two more short hikes including the crying rock ( a small hanging garden) and the opening to the narrows. We walked the mile or so to the river on the last hike and then unfortunately had to stop. The Narrows is defiantly a hike on my to-do list whenever i get a chance to come back to Utah. It looked like an amazing hike but to do it fully you need a day or even longer. We waded a little bit up the trail but due to a lack of hiking Stevens shoes and my lack of change in socks we weren't able to go far. We walked back down and took the paved path back up to the shuttle, barefoot. The shuttle dropped us back at our cars and we changed our shoes. We watched a brief video on the history of the park and then got on our way. We exited the park through the Mount Carmel tunnel and highway. It was a pretty spectacular drive and a cool look into US history and the national park movements. The efforts to create the bridge and highway system were incredible so to drive through something so ingenious from the time was an awesome experience. We drove the hour towards Bryce and crashed again at our hotel for the night. (after some Arbys and drying our shoes in a campground laundry mat) Overall it was an awesome day and the drive was magnificent.
Day 3- Bryce Canyon
We woke up and got to the park the same time as the day before. Bryce was much less crowded and available. We passed a few rock sections on our way in but overall did not have an inclination on what to expect. After breakfast at a weird fast food diner thing we headed towards the visitors center and again asked what they recommended. Because it wasn't crowded we drove our car from look-out to look-out and didn't have to worry about the shuttles. We were instructed to take a connecting hike look about 3 miles called Queens something to Navajo something. Overall it was an amazing hike though the up part at the end was only about half a mile for the two and a half miles we had hiked down (so it was pretty steep). The canyon was amazing, full of different shaded red hoodoos, these chimney like dagger looking formations. It was amazing and almost indescribable. The hike down was cool and we didn't take off our sweatshirts until the bottom. It looped down into the canyon, through small tunnels and carvers of rock. The hike down was slightly more enjoyable, less crowded, and lets face it, downhill. But overall the entire hike was pretty great. When we were done with the hike we got back in the car and drove the entirety of the park stopping at a few more outlooks such as rainbow point and natural bridge. We drove back down from the over 9000 feet elevation, stopped for my stickers, and headed out of the park. We got a quick lunch/ dinner at the “original” inn for the park and headed towards the scenic drive to Eastern Utah. The Scenic Byway 12 was absolutely incredible. I really enjoyed driving it for its entirety and would recommend it to anybody traveling in the region. Unfortunately Steven wasn't feeling well and he fell asleep but there was something incredibly peaceful and incredible about the drive. The scenery changed dramatically from red rocks, to white cliffs, from high mountains, to low valleys, from deserts to forest and more. The car ate up a ton of gas going up and down but it was amazing. Motorcycles must love this road. It wasn't crowded and you could basically go whatever speed you felt comfortable in. Every section i went through felt better and better. From incurable tunnels to blasted rocks its hard to describe. The most breathtaking moment for me was at the top of a mountain section. When we had finally gotten to the top of the turning road it seamed like we were flying. the sides of the mountain fell away basically at the sondes of the roads shoulder. For about a mile the road literally traveled atop this amazing valley with no trees our mountain on the outside. It was incredible, i wish i had turned on my video camera but i was so taken aback by it i didn't even think to do anything. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Steven woke up by the time we got the forest section and was able to enjoy the next two hours or so on the drive towards Arches. The road turned into another scenic road and eventually the throughway, but not before going through another national park and these weird sand/dirt looking mounds which were really unpressed sandstone i guess? still havent fully figured it out. They looked like they would provide some awesome ATV trails, ill have to keep that in mind. I pulled over to check but none of my questions were really answered, though i did pull the car forward a few times so Steven couldn't get back in. I did eventually stop and we kept moving to out Motel six for the night.
Unfortunately I fell behind in keeping up with my blog for the roadtrip and have forgotten the details. After Bryce we went on to Arches national park. It was pretty amazing and not overly crowded. We spent a few hours there and then moved on to Colorado. The landscape was amazing, even though Steven drove for most of it. We were able to see some awesome hieroglyphics on the way and passed through some small rainstorms. The drive to Colorado took us through the mountains and along the river. It was all pretty amazing and there was even snow on the ground still. We met up with our friend Dom and stayed with him for two nights. It was really awesome to see him and his new puppy! We had a pretty relaxing day, went to a brewery and then boulder were we ate at an awesome burger joint called the sink. It was a really nice college town and Im glad we got to experience it. After we got back we saw 22 jump street, which was hilarious, and got ready to leave in the morning. We played with the puppy some more and when Dom got back from practice we headed to a breakfast place my cousin recommended. Had some awesome pancakes and hit the road for our long stretch.
Our next stop was driving along farmland. We didn't stop for much besides stickers and gas but at least we had good company. We stayed in Topeka Kansas and stopped in St. Louis the next day. We stopped by the arch and spent some time there. It was nice weather and we even were able to go to the top in these small elevator things. We quickly moved on stopped for the night a little further on our route and continued. The next day we stopped at Ohio state and ended in Pittsburg. We weren't able to stop long due to the rain but we did drive through the campus and check out the bookstore for our friend Cara. We got in pretty late to Pittsburg but we were able to get some awesome food at a Thai restaurant i had googled. The next morning we explored Pitt in the rain a little bit. We meant to meet up with our friend from ASU but she wasn't answering her phone :P. We took a view from Mt. Washington and went to the park on the river. We explored this old fort house and then drove around the campus of Pitt. Went into an amazing church and eventually heard from our friend. We decided to meet up for lunch/ the soccer game. The bar was pretty lame but we were able to see both our friend (Whose birthday it apparently was, happy birthday haha) and my friend from Semester at Sea. It was pretty awesome meeting up with people but right after lunch we headed out for Maryland.
We got into Maryland in time for Dinner with some of Stevens old friends. They were all really nice and we had some awesome food at this local bar/restaurant. Steven gave me a tour of his old town and we stayed the next two nights with his friend Travis. The next day we took the train into D.C. with Travis and went to the Holocaust museum. It was very touching and in depth. I would have liked to stay there longer but we had other museums to visit ect. We were abe to also go to the air and space museum and the museum of American history. When we finished we headed to watch the soccer game. Everywhere was pretty packed and we were only able to go to a very crowded restaurant bar. But overall the experience was awesome because of how involved everyone was in the game, though we ultimately tied :/. Our plan was to then go to the monuments but Travis’s sister actually went into labor so we left early so he could make it back. Ultimately we were not late and she delivered in the middle of the night. The next day we left for New York after Travis had left for work. We visited one more of Stevens friends for crab cakes and hanging out before we left. We then drove up to PA to visit Jamie for dinner. It was pretty awesome because i havent seen him in a year so i was glad to see him before going back to somers. We left dinner late and drove strait to Somers, getting there pretty late.
