This year, our family vacation came with lots and lots and lots of hours of planning and preparing, but it all paid off with a week of amazing adventures in the southwest! We have all wanted to travel out that way for quite awhile, so this year we decided to make it happen. The logistics were a bit trickier than usual because we chose to fly out there and rent a car. We usually have the luxury of taking our own vehicle and rooftop carrier, but the drive out there and back was just a bit too long for a one week vacation.
Our trip started with a SUPER early flight to Phoenix. We landed and got our rental car right away. We made a quick stop for coffee and then headed north to Sedona. We hiked the Devil's Bridge Trail, which was beautiful! The only downside was the long hike from the parking lot to the trailhead (adding almost two extra miles to the hike). Nyla was the only one brave enough to venture out onto the bridge for a picture, but we all deserve an applause for surviving this first (fairly strenuous) hike on very little sleep! After our hike, we made a quick stop for ice cream and the world's only blue McDonalds. Apparently the typical yellow arches would clash with the red rocks of Sedona, so they have a blue sign instead. After our ice cream stop, we drove around the VERY busy town to take in more scenery and then headed up to Flagstaff for the night.
Day two began with a drive to the Grand Canyon. We got there and enjoyed the majestic views before hopping on a shuttle bus to our hike. The hike to Ooh Aah Point was great, but there were some spots that were a bit scary for the people in our family who are afraid of heights! After our hike, we drove to another viewpoint and took in one last glimpse of the canyon. We drove off to the east and made a stop at the 4 Corners monument. Our night ended in Cortez, Colorado.
On day three, we woke up and headed into Mesa Verde National Park. It was a beautiful park and seeing the cliff dwellings was so cool. After we left, we headed to Moab to check into our next hotel and unload. We then made our way into Arches National Park for the afternoon. Driving into the park felt like a drive into a completely different world! Our first stop was to the trailhead to Delicate Arch. The hike was tough and hot, but well worth it! We made our way back and then visited a few more arches before heading out. We enjoyed a fun dinner at the Moab food truck park before heading back to the hotel.
Day four started with a long and scenic drive into Canyonlands National Park. We loved seeing the herds of cattle just roaming around! This park was huge and pretty quiet. We enjoyed a quick hike to Mesa Arch and then took another hike on the White Rim Overlook Trail. After leaving Canyonlands, we headed to Capitol Reef. We entered the park and hiked the Hickman Bridge Trail, which was really cool! We headed down into the main part of the park, but one of the main roads was closed, so our day ended earlier than expected. We were also bummed that the Gifford House (part of a small, very old settlement village in the park) had already sold out of their famous pies for the day! As luck would have it (or maybe not) we found another pie place on our way to the AirBnB that night. While driving through the tiny towns, we came across one restaurant that had a sign for "World Famous Pies". We decided to stop in and grab a few slices. We quickly learned that "World Famous" doesn't always mean good! It made for a good laugh though. We moved on and made our way to Loa, where we spent the night at an adorable AirBnB.
Day five was spent enjoying Bryce Canyon. We drove from Loa down to Bryce Canyon and immediately started with our hike on the Queen's Garden/Navajo Loop/Wall Street Trail. It was a beautiful hike and we enjoyed it, but unfortunately, Leah tripped and twisted her ankle about halfway through the hike. Thankfully, she worked up the strength to make her way back to the top! We made one more stop to the Mossy Cave Trail and really enjoyed the scenery and waterfall on that hike! After an exhausting day, we spent the evening relaxing at our AirBnB in Panguitch.
On day six, we headed to Zion National Park. The drive in was breathtaking and we truly felt like we entered a different world. We headed to a local store to rent gear for the day and are SO glad we decided to spend the money on the socks, shoes, and hiking sticks needed for the hike. We spent the day hiking the infamous Narrows and it was a physically and mentally exhausting hike. For three hours, we made our way through the giant rocks and rushing river to the Wall Street area of the Narrows. The scenery along the way was like nothing we've ever seen and we truly enjoyed it! The worst part was realizing that three hours of hiking in meant three hours of hiking back! We pushed through and made our way back and felt so relieved to be back on flat ground. After returning our gear, we headed off to our final hotel in St. George.
Our final day began with a drive to see Hoover Dam. It was amazing to see in person and much more grand than expected. After our quick visit to Hoover Dam, we headed into Las Vegas. We spent the day walking along the strip and taking in the sites and sounds of Vegas. It was quite hot and we were definitely thankful for stops along that way that included air conditioning. We went into a few hotels/casinos, visited the Coca Cola store, and stopped in at the M&M store. After a long and hot day, we made our way to the airport to begin the journey home. We had a great flight home (not even close to full, so we had plenty of room to stretch out). We landed in Chicago around 11:30pm and finally made it home by about 1:00. It was an absolutely amazing week, but it sure felt great to be home!
