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Showing posts from 2021

South-Western US Road Trip: 12/31/21

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 Day 15 Utah Today, our lodging had an included breakfast buffet, and our morning was spent eating until everyone was full. Then we got the call that our car was fixed, so we packed up and left Bryce headed for some caves we had heard about. Both caves ended up not being plowed so we continued on to Capitol Reef National Park. On our way, we saw some snowy horses in a field and interesting rock formations. Once in the park, our first two stops were Panorama Point Overlook and Goosenecks Overlook. Both spots had incredible views and Goosenecks had an interesting way of magnifying sound. Kade and Kye were able to hear everyone else’s conversation from a distance away. Next, we drove to the visitor center where Kade, Kye, and Jolie listened to a ranger talk about the geology of the park. After that, we followed the scenic road to Capitol Gorge and saw a rocky ‘jaw’ along the road. While walking through Capitol Gorge, we noticed old writing on many walls and decided to ask some people we c

South-Western US Road Trip: 12/30/21

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 Day 14 Utah We woke up planning to try and get a permit for The Wave but decided against it after a ranger said we wouldn't get out to it with the coming weather. After thinking about our experience the day before with the bad road, we continued on to Bryce Canyon National Park. After a beautiful drive through it, we stopped at Mossy Cave. It too had spectacular scenery and a sparkling creek with clear blue water. The cave itself was covered with icicles, and there was a small waterfall that had an ice "throne" underneath it. Kade and Jolie had lots of fun sliding down the trails and into the riverbed. After hiking back to our car, we attempted to leave the area but were almost immediately stopped when our car started overheating. We turned around and slowly worked our way back to an auto shop in the town of Bryce. We ended up needing a new radiator hose piece from out of town so we stayed across the street. We were so thankful the situation did not happen hours later wh

South-Western US Road Trip: 12/29/21

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Day 13 Utah After leaving St. George, we drove to Zion, the first National Park out of five in Utah. We got the information wrong about shuttles, so we ended up driving through a smaller section of the park, but still got plenty of amazing views. Next, we drove through Kanab to Wire Pass (the same trailhead as The Wave). The last section of the drive was far trickier than we had imagined due to a ton of mud from snowmelt (every car was filthy, and one got stuck). There was also a gully/wash that was so steep, we had to remove our hitch rack and stash it in the bushes to get across, and still scraped the bottom of our car. The drive was worth it in the end, and we left with plenty of pictures, videos, and memories of the experience. Luckily, the mud had mostly dried by the time we left, so we had an easier drive back to Kanab where we stayed the night.