From Vail, we continued heading west into Utah (and then eventually south). We were headed to Zion National Park, a place both of us couldn’t wait to get to! I love the outdoors and for me, I was excited to explore, hike, and climb. While Laura felt the same way, I’m pretty sure the cabin with the little porch where she could drink morning coffee was a top priority. But first, an eight hour trip through Colorado and Utah. From Vail, you start heading down in elevation. It was a scenic trip as the interstate follows a river. Laura was so excited to capture the landscape as we drove. I think my ‘noise’ may have interrupted… http://youtu.be/yUHYAz2bozo Once you come down from the Rocky Mountains, it becomes a little bare after Grand Junction, CO.

We were able to stop in Utah along the way a few times and check out a few scenic points. Even though it’s pretty bare and a desert, there were some great views. We knew we were being tourists when we stop at consecutive viewpoints miles apart and we saw the same family at each place. But we didn’t care – this was our adventure and we wanted to take it all in.   While we wanted to see everything and do everything along the way, we both were still anxious to get to Zion by sunset – and for a surprise birthday dinner! (She told me the morning of because I wanted to stop at every national park along the way.)

I had been driving and just over half way, Laura took over. Whenever it was Laura’s turn to drive, something seemed to happen. In Ohio, heavy rain. In Kentucky, very heavy rain. From Kansas City, tornado and high wind. We thought nothing of it at the the time of switching but of course, she had one more obstacle to avoid. Literally, a flying object obstacle. We were following a truck pulling a camper trailer when suddenly I see this object flying through the air. I gasped and pointed at this white circular object with broken straps hanging off it. It appeared to be a vent cap of some sort and was headed straight for the passenger side windshield. Thankfully, my awesome driver braked and swerved in time. Left, right, left! Going 80 on a highway and having to swerve isn’t easy. You overcompensate just a little and the car flips. The vent still clipped the front side bumper but much better then windshield. It took a few miles to get her heart back in her chest but she handled it like a champ.

We survived and still moving. BUTTTT, we were nearing Zion and the sun was setting. We took it all in from the car. It was pretty amazing to see different rock formations and colors mix with the sun and clouds.

 

From the desert scenery with awesome views, dodging flying obstacles, and taking in the sunset, we were still in good spirits and excited to get to Zion.

Pictures of our amazing hike coming next, but really, who’s the better singer?