Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Capitol Reef National Park/Dixie National Forest

This past weekend my In-law's were visiting from Texas. We wanted to show them some great parts of Utah so we went camping in Southern Utah in the Dixie National Forest. 





The second day into our trip, we took the 10-15 mile drive to Capitol Reef National Park!

After the day at Capitol Reef, Kyle and I took about a 2 mile hike that started at our campsite and lead to a beautiful hidden waterfall! 




It was such a fun trip. We have now (Kyle and I) been to 3 out of the 5 National Parks in Utah. Our goal before next spring is to visit all of the National Parks and most of the state! 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Spring Break 2013: Southern Utah

For our first spring break spent in Utah, Kyle and I wanted to explore the beautiful National Parks in our great state! 

We left on a Friday morning, and headed south! Before we left we had been checking the weather constantly for a week! They were calling for snow on and off, and when the day arrived, the snow was called off...(again). We were both ecstatic! Off we drove for our week long adventure! 

We approached Fillmore, UT and couldn't go any further due to...you guessed it...the snow. I made Kyle pull over and we stopped at the Maverick off  I-15 where we were able to talk to some friendly Utah State Troopers. They said it had been snowing all morning and they had been directing accidents all day. Then we proceeded to have a Utah weather channel bash session. 

Kyle and I didn't want to go back and drive through the snow, but we didn't want to go forward either. We were puzzled. So what did we decide to do? LAS VEGAS! At least for a few days until the weather cleared up in southern Utah. 

We camped right outside of Las Vegas and enjoyed the weirdness of Nevada!

                                        After a few days we headed to Zion National Park!


My favorite part of the Zion NP trip was hiking the "Hidden Canyon" It's a 2.2 mile round trip hike to the the canyon entrance, then an additional mile into the canyon to see the hidden arch within the canyon only accessible by foot! 

It was such a neat experience for me! I have never felt so invigorated knowing that I accomplished this hike! It was a strenuous hike that included scaling on the edge of a canyon rim, scaling over huge rocks, holding onto nothing but chains bolted into the sides of the mountains. It was such a thrill! 
On the way to the hidden canyon!

The Hidden Canyon Entrance! 2.2 miles later!
Walking inside the canyon. It was so beautiful.
We found the hidden natural arch!!!
Annnnd we reached to a point we couldn't go on. 
   After our wonderful adventure at Zion, we spent a few days in Bryce Canyon National Park about an hour away!

Before we reached Bryce, Kyle and I decided to stop at this diner. A diner that the area considers a landmark.
So the story behind this, is that this diner was started by this ma and pop and they couldn't afford all the letters they wanted on the sign (this was back in the 40's) so they took out the "M" and "E" without fully realizing the subliminal message portrayed. Because of this, they have made themselves a landmark. I couldn't help but ask Kyle to stop. I love eating at diners, but this one just took the cake!

Now, back to Bryce Canyon! 

Our campsite
Thors Hammer!

The "Natural Bridge"
We took the short drive to Grand Escalante Staircase National Park and wanted to hike the Calf Creek Falls trail, with no idea it would lead to such a beauty in the middle of the Utah desert!
Calf Creek 
Calf Creek Falls



It was such a fun trip! I had a blast. It was the best spring break yet! I look forward to exploring Utah more and more! 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Turner Falls, Oklahoma!

On a beautiful fall day in Texas, Kyle packed us a picnic lunch and we took the hour and a half drive to  Turner Falls Park, Oklahoma! 

In this beautiful park, there is castle, named Collings Castle. It was built in the Great Depression era. It is dark, mysterious and rumored to be haunted. I had a blast exploring every inch of it! 
Here is a link to learn more Collings Castle: http://ndepth.newsok.com/collings-castle
After exploring the Castle, we decided to hike up the highest point in Turner Falls, and what a view it was! It was so beautiful we decided that this was the spot to have our long awaited picnic! 
After that amazing hike, and lunch with a view, we wanted to get wet! So we took off our shoes and went "creek walking" but I call it waterfall hiking. It was intense! 

New Mexico!

Kyle and I have now been to New Mexico at least three times and we LOVE it here! The food is amazing and there isn't anything else like it. The first time I went and actually explored New Mexico was in 2010. Kyle and I explored Petroglyph National Monument and saw some great historic things in the beautiful state of New Mexico!

 It was such a beautiful view once we hiked the top of one of the monuments! 
We also had the privelage of seeing the Albuquerque, New Mexico LDS Temple. I had not seen any outside of Texas at that point, so it was an amazing experience for me.