When we first started to plan this trip, we were not planning on going into Utah and Arizona, but when we decided to take our own car and drive all the way, we figured we would just see as much as we could while we were out on the road. I have to admit, by this time we were growing weary. We considered briefly, and I do mean briefly, to just come home from Yellowstone, but we had seen so many wonderful things, we did not want to miss out, so we headed South.
Our first stop was Park City, Utah. We made a point to avoid any large cities, as it was just not that type of trip. My college roommate’s oldest daughter lives in Park City and I was able to enjoy a breakfast with her and it was so nice to see her all grown up. We had wanted to try and eat at places that had been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, but never managed to look up and find up, but low and behold there was one right near our hotel in Park Cities. Sammy’s Bistro was a winner winner, Salmon Dinner! I love grilled Salmon and theirs did not disappoint. Poor Paul was struggling with the high attitude (we were over 9000 feet) so this stop was not his best.
On to Arches National Park in Moab. We did a sunset tour, which was perfect. The weather was not too hot and the sunset was breathtaking. Our guide found the best spot to watch from. It was amazing to me how time and water and mother nature can create the arches and the formations, I know it took hundreds if not thousands of years, but what beauty. We traveled on to Monument Valley, little known to us, we would be on the road that was used in the Forrest Grump movie (when he was running across the USA).
Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park, and thus all tours are done by Navajo guides. We stayed in the Park at The View Hotel, which was also run by the Navajo. We did another sunset tour, and the history of that area was fascinating. To hear how the Navajo got there and how they lived, all the way up to John Ford making several John Wayne movies in the Park. Our guide, who drove a sort of open-air jeep/truck, was a wealth of information and at one point played his flute as part of a sunset. Our room had a balcony, so we set our alarm and watched the sunrise that next morning. Both Arches and Monument have many things alike, but are different in so many ways, make sure to do them both.
Next stop was Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon. We had planned on taking the train from Williams into the Grand Canyon but did not want to spend that much time getting there as the time in the Canyon was not much. We were there while the fire was going on, but we had only planned to do the South Rim, and the North Rim was the area affected by the fire. We loved the Grand Canyon, with its splendor and history. I would love to go down into the canyon, but at this age those days have passed. That is the problem with bucket lists, when you are young you are physical able to do so much more, but don’t have time or money, as you age, you can handle the money and time, but the old body won’t let you do as much and we are not known for being in the best of shape!
We stopped in Lubbock on our way home and then finished the trip with the long drive home (10 hours). In the end we did over 7000 miles and loved every one of them. I know a lot more about planning a trip like this now, but not sure we will do another one this big again. We have many pictures and magnets from all of the places we visited. We brought some neat pictures to frame of several places, but when we got home discovered that the pictures we had taken with the iPhone were just as good. I bought way too many t-shirts, but love them all. I am a rock person (I don’t study them, I just love to have them in my garden). Poor Paul had to move them all when I moved from West Texas. I have rocks from Big Bend National Park and all sorts of other places, now I have many more to add. Since we had taken our own car, I just got a rock whenever I wanted one. I guess my son will have to figure out what to do with all of my rocks LOL! This was my hubby’s bucket list and so now I am working on mine (Italy and Greece both planned). I think the hubby will sit these out as he just does not like international travel, but he is very supportive of my wandering soul and I leave lots of meals in the freezer!
