Full disclosure.. I have started this entry THREE times, once on my phone, once in Colorado Springs and now in Nashville. 3rd time a charm..right?
I am sitting in our Airbnb in Nashville, basking in the air conditioning and reflecting on the past 21 days. I’m not entirely sure how we have even made it to 21 days, time sure does fly. The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of feelings, emotions, experiences and hot weather.
I’m not sure that I have processed that after this we will not be returning to our condo in Mission Valley. Sometimes while laying in the bed in the back of our truck I feel myself thinking “oh man, can’t wait to snug on the mattress and our pillows after camping.” Then realized that scenario is very very far off. Right now it just feels like a slightly longer than normal vacation. I’m still glancing at my phone trying to figure out how many days until I return to work because surely its on Monday, right?
The first part of the trip we focused on the great outdoors and camping. We were scheduled for 8 nights of camping punctuated with 2 nights in Colorado Springs in an Airbnb and then 4 more nights of camping. On the afternoon of the 8th night, while sitting in our campsite on another day at 102 degrees with some flies as our best friends, and Toretto wrapped in a towel.. we upgraded to a cabin. Still no kitchen or bathroom, but heyyyy A.C. How you doin’? After a brief stint of A.C. we did resume the truck camping.
We spent a lot of our time exploring Utah. We went to Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Capitol Reef National Park (go, its often overlooked), and our last stop in Utah was Arches National Park. I’m not entirely sure why we are spending so much money and time trying to get people to Mars, when you can go drive through Utah, its 100 degrees and everything is red. With that said it is absolutely gorgeous and amazing and you need to go.
From Utah we ventured to Colorado to visit Erin and Wayne. We had great dinners with them, watched some movies and caught up. The last time I had seen Erin and Wayne was their wedding 2 years ago! They took us on a lovely hike, and let us do laundry. YAY laundry! <3. I shall never take showers, and clean underwear for granted ever again. We spent a short time there and than hauled our butts to Rocky Mountain National Park and then even more butt hauling to The Badlands!
Here are some highlights of all the parks we stopped at.
In Zion, you spend a lot of time looking up at the beauty of the park. Our campsite had phenomenal views, they could not be beat. We have Toretto with us so we were unable to see a majority of the park due to needing to shuttle everywhere, but one of the hiking routes they did allow dogs on. It ran along the river so we took that. We used a lot of time to relax, read, and try the local coffee (FeelLove Coffee).
Top 3 experiences in Zion
1. Driving through the tunnel
2. The walk along the river, that was dog friendly 
3. THE VIEW FROM OUR SITE
In Bryce we spent a lot of time on the “shared path” it covered a lot of the park and took you by the hoodoos, and through the woods! They also have great ranger talks that you can catch all about the geology of the park. You learn some very cool things about dinosaurs and rocks.
Top 3 experiences in Bryce
1. Hoodoos! Oh man oh man I love a hoodoo
2. Trees! So many tall pines to wander through.
3. For those with a dog, its an exceptionally dog friendly park. We were able to take the Shared Path through most of the park, and it didn’t lack any views or stops.
Capitol Reef was unexpected. We had read that it is often overlooked and that is the truth! The campground in the park itself is nestled between a mountain and orchards! You can literally go fruit picking. Running by the orchards is a river, and the deer in the area hide between the trees. We attended multiple ranger talks while we were there and in the evening the deer nestled under the fruit trees in groups of 10+. It was a site to behold. Also marmots. We saw a few of those too.
Top 3 experiences in Capitol Reef
1. Beautiful! The beauty there is totally unexpected. It’s like an oasis in the desert.
2. The wildlife is abundant. We had deer “join” us for dinner one evening.
3. Pie, pie, pie. They are famous for pie.
4. I’m adding a 4th because I can; it is an International Dark Sky Park so the star gazing is top notch.
When we went to Arches we stayed outside of the Park in Moab. It was hot. So flippin’ hot. We spent the morning hiking to Delicate Arch, and seeing the petroglyphs. Just an fyi, Delicate Arch is what graces Utah’s license plates. We drove around the park to escape the heat, and ended at our campsite in the pool later in the day. It was awesome.
Top 3 experiences in Arches
1. Hike to Delicate Arch. – Seriously do it, and do it in the morning when the sun is rising.
2. Beautiful surprises around every twist and turn.
3. Moab is super cute. — Pasta Jay’s is the bomb.
Holy moly! This was my favorite park. The first day we did a half day in the park and walked around Lily Lake. Bugs the size of my head, but totally worth it. You were required timed entry passes to enter and it was worth getting one for a half day, and then bright and early the next morning. The trees, the river, the mountains were something to behold. The sites are something that I will never forget. We stayed outside of the park in Estes Park and it was worth it for the wildlife watching.
Top 3 experiences in Rocky Mountains
1. Its cooler! So cool– in temp. Also trees, trees and more trees.
2. The little paths off the river that you can pop down and explore are amazing.
3. Trail Ridge Parkway is something that you must do. 12,000 feet in elevation, and you see some of the most amazing scenery. Bring binoculars and eat at the parking at 11,500 feet.
The Badlands were our last and final National Park on the trip. We went for 75 degree weather back to 90+, but it was worth it. The rock has been worn down into the craziest of shapes. It’s truly beautiful. You would be up high and then take a look over the prairies. Something totally different than anything I have ever seen before. Also bison and prairie dogs. I love them both so much. We also lucked out and saw big horn sheep as well as two mountain goats!
Top 3 in the Badlands.
1. Bison! Oh man I love bison!
2. Super cute little accessible hikes for when you don’t want to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to beat the heat.
3. Bird watching in The Badlands is top notch. We had swallows all over the campsite!
Hi, I’m Zoe. We’re all going through something crazy right now, and what better way than to write about it and mental health and keeping yourself sane. Lets realize we’re all in the same boat. It’s ok to just be “ok” and stuck in some sort of emotional limbo. Here are my Pandemic Ramblings.
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