Utah

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So leaving Denver, Korina and I were pretty disappointed to realize that the drive to Arches National Park in Utah actually takes FIVE hours as opposed to the THREE that we had originally thought. Whoops! Maybe it was all the information that has been floating around in our heads on this journey that got us a little bit mixed up! Oh well, the drive through Colorado and into Utah was extremely scenic; we were up on mountains, going through mountains, and had the Colorado river alongside us for most of the time. We were in the midst of snow and snowcapped mountains - tons of huge rock faces and curvy mountain roads! We stopped for lunch in Vail, and continued on until we reached Utah! The sign for Utah was huge - Korina and I wanted to get a picture of it to mark our progress  The drive through Utah was scenic as well - red rocks and mountains (but more desert-y). We finally got to Arches National Park at around four, which was good because the park closes at 6. The pictures that I post of the park speak for themselves - but it was one of the most beautiful breathtaking natural rock formations that I’ve ever seen. Water, ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured arch scenery! We could have spent hours and hours hiking, taking pictures, and driving through all of the different areas of the park, but since we didn’t plan our time well in the morning we ran OUT of time and it was a four hour drive to Bryce Canyon - so we had to hit the road. Korina and I weren’t too thrilled about driving in the dark through bendy mountain roads through middle-of-nowhere areas of Utah, but we booked a hotel at Bryce Canyon so we didn’t want to lose our money AND we wanted to make sure we could get up early and see everything before we headed to the Grand Canyon. HOWEVER...Korina and I woke up this morning to an unexpected BLIZZARD (nothing on the weather for the past week said ANYTHING about snow) so there was no way that we could’ve gone into the park and seen anything  UGHHHHHHHHHH it was the most frustrating morning - we feel like we braved a dangerous drive and wasted money on a hotel…but you can’t expect everything to go perfectly on an adventure like this, and we are learning some really important lessons. So Bryce Canyon is unfortunately scrapped from the plans, and we are now headed to Arizona to go to the Grand Canyon!!! If the weather is bad there too (it’s supposed to be rainy) then Korina and I might take this opportunity to catch up on some rest and just relax…it’s been a fun but stressful week! If it’s nice we will snap some good pictures, check into the hotel, and wake up SUPER early tomorrow so that we can maybe catch some good sunrise pics of the canyon  It’s starting to clear up on this drive already…YAY!!

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