The View From Here: Life with the Wardrips...: R-O-A-D T-R-I-P

It is time to catch up! This is sort of a monumental post because I had to whittle down 578 pictures to fit on the blog. Somehow I think I wound up with 99 pics on this post--whoa!

So, at the end of April, we went on a 10-day family road trip to Utah. It was our first time to visit this part of the country and it was AWESOME! Noah and I both agreed that the trip couldn't have gone any better and we had so much fun!

I'll do my best to tell the story in pictures...

We set off from SD on a Friday morning and drove a pretty long stretch--about 7.5 hours--to Zion. the drive actually wasn't too bad. We didn't feel rushed at all and took our time getting there. Keira had lots of activities in her bag that helped keep her occupied. This is a picture of the magnet tangram game a mom friend told me about days before we left. I quickly ordered it on Amazon so that we could take it with us--Keira LOVED it!

The finished product!

When we made it to Zion, we checked into our hotel and then it was time for dinner!

We found a great pizza place that had great food and outdoor seating.

Cheese!

The next morning, Noah went out early to do some "intense" hiking around Zion National Park. Keira and I discovered an awesome park just down the street from our hotel! Look at the views this playground offers--wow!!

These are some pics of Noah's exploration of Zion. He did a hike called "Angels Landing" that has knife-edge cliffs and at some places you have to hold on to a cable to hike up the mountain. This is why Keira and I opted for the more safe option of playing at the park!

That's a long way down!!

Interesting patch of clovers growing out of a rock

Around lunch time, Keira and I made our way into Zion and met up with Noah for lunch and some family hiking. It was a bit rough for Keira at first, probably because there were a lot of people on the shuttle/trail and she didn't seem to understand quite what we were doing just walking along the trail with the other people. Thankfully, the hike was short though and at the end was a river, which she LOVED throwing rocks into!

This is a second hike we did called "Emerald Pool." The pool was pretty small, but the waterfall was neat. We are standing just in front of the main part where the water is coming down.

Noah snapped this pic on our way out. Unfortunately, we weren't all 3 together at a good time to take a family pic by the sign! Our conclusion of Zion is that is is absolutely BEAUTIFUL (it's reminiscent of Yosemite) and one day is definitely not enough to explore it adequately! We'd love to come back here again!

After a busy afternoon of hiking, we were ready to eat! We found a yummy Mexican food place with yet another great view!!

Goodbye Zion!

After leaving Zion, we drove about 2 hours to go to Bryce Canyon.

We stayed at a hotel just outside the park. The town was really small and it was very quiet and deserted. We found out that it was still the "off-season" until mid-May, so the influx of tourists hadn't arrived yet. Yippee!!

Entering the park

Bryce Canyon is famous for it's unique rock formations, known as "hoo-doos." This is a good picture, but it still doesn't do it justice. These rocks are totally crazy and go on for as far as the eye can see!

Keira was such a trooper this day and she did all the hiking herself! She was so happy and really enjoyed walking along the trail. She loved to pick up rocks along the way and then throw them over the side of the cliff (not sure that was the best activity--oops!).

Elmo is wearing a sweater because it was a little chilly outside!

Gorgeous colors!

This was the last stop on the 18-mile driving loop. After hiking for a while at the beginning, we drove the loop and stopped off at each remaining vantage point. Noah got out and took pictures at every stop while Keira and I took a power nap and missed a few stops. :)

Jumping for joy after eating a yummy dinner at the Bryce Canyon Lodge!

Back at the hotel, Keira got to partake in a little more jumping!

A new vacation treat: jumping on the bed (since she doesn't get to do it at home!!).

After leaving Bryce Canyon, we drive about 5 hours to Moab.

The place we stayed at in Moab was a teeny-tiny cabin-like room and we were all crammed together in a very small space.

Keira didn't seem to mind as she got cozy in her bed next to us!

The next morning, Noah got up early and went out for a mountain bike ride (apparently the mountain biking in Moab is a prime destination for riders!) and Keira and I spent our time at the motel/cabin.

More jumping on the bed--yippee!

When we arrived the evening before, we discover the motel had a spa, which Keira LOVED! So, the next morning, when she woke up, she immediately said she wanted to go to the spa. After breakfast though, I saw that it didn't open til 10am and it was only 8 o'clock, so I asked her what she wanted to do while we waited. She turned down all my offers to go to the park, explore, etc and said she just wanted to stay in the room and wait for the spa! So, that's what we did--played The Ladybug Game, watched TV, etc.

Finally, 10am arrived!

After Noah's ride, we packed into the car and drove down the road to Arches National Park!

This place was incredible!!!!!

We ate a picnic lunch and then drove around and hiked around to see the different arches (rock formations) around the park.

There were lots of kid-friendly trails and Keira LOVED hiking around.

One other thing, the weather was absolutely PERFECT! Not too hot or too cold. Awesome!!

Those 2 tiny dots are Keira and I hiking up to the Windows Arch.

Almost there!

We made it!

Those tiny dots are Noah and Keira at the Double Arch.

This is one of the more famous arches called Delicate Arch.

It's the tiny thing straight out on the horizon.

A close up of Delicate Arch

This was a very kid-friendly hike to Sand Dune Arch and even Elmo got to come along!

Making our way through the sand!

Made it!

Yep, this is the classic vacation picture!

Lounging in jammies, snacks, Elmo, and remote in hand = perfect!

The next morning, we played at an awesome park before making the long drive to Park City (about 5 hours).

The park had all these awesome musical instruments that were real and sounded really cool!

She wanted to do this again and again and again!

Stretching her legs before the long journey!

In Park City, we stayed at a Marriott Timeshare Resort (using our timeshare exchange). Marriott has never ceased to amaze us with their accommodations and this place was no exception!

The hotel was located at the base of a ski resort (you could literally walk outside and go skiing if it was winter time).

Nice digs!

That's Keira in the other room, livin' it up in her own mini-suite!

The next day, we drove to Salt Lake City and met up with a family I lived with back in college. They had since moved to SLC and we got to spend the day exploring the sites around town!

This is a really beautiful botanical garden that we explored for a while. They had a really cute children's garden, which Keira loved to play in!

Keira touching THE Great Salt Lake!

Um, yeah, it was pretty stinky!

The next stop on our tour of SLC was this copper mine. This is a life-size version of the wheels on the trucks that haul the material to be mined.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but that's a huge hole that's been dug out after years and years of mining. Watching all the activity was like watching busy ants in an ant farm.