Highway 12: Day 1

A move to MN being imminent, Dave and I decided we needed to take advantage of our time left in UT by road-tripping to see some of the beautiful national parks. We zeroed in on Highway 12, mainly because neither of us had been down there and in April it was listed as one of the top 10 most scenic road trips in the world in this article, and  shoot, the road begins only about four hours from us! We planned to camp and be real rustic but then the forecast was calling for freezing night temperatures, and I suddenly remembered I never liked camping, so we prudently reserved a hotel room. That being done, we had only to pack three days' worth of clothes, food, and hiking gear and on May 9th we took off, road trip music blaring and camera at the ready.

Riley loves that road trip food.

We took 89 down. That road is COUNTRY - lots of farms and old  houses and livestock, with the most beautiful background there in the mountains. We just drove and drank it in, the whole time, chatting about interesting things like Dave's beard.

(D: Did you know I'm getting white patches in my beard? H: How exciting for you! D:You're crazy.)

Glad I included that little gem, aren't you? But the conversational gems and inside jokes are one of the reasons I love road tripping.

The babies slept till almost Manti, where we stopped to stretch our legs (chase the babies around so they would nap again) and take in the gorgeous temple that, incidentally, my parents were married at.

I think the Manti Temple is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It is in a tiny farming community (of course) but when you come around the bend and see it nestled on a hill among giant fir trees, you feel like you are at a castle.

The sight that I got MOST excited about: I accidentally woke the kids in my excitement when I saw this adorableness.

Hang in there, Momma! I relate a little.

When you hit the arches you know you've arrived at canyon land. This might have been Dave's most exciting moment of the trip. It was like me with the goats all over again.

We stayed at Best Western. I'd recommend it - it was clean and up-to-date and the price was reasonable. Though I must say, the cafe attached was mediocre and there aren't a lot of other places to eat. Luckily, we brought a ton of food with us so we no one starved, but it might be a while before I want another Twizzler...

Our vaca castle, Antelope Lodge; oh how we loved you.

We checked in at 4 and then headed right into Bryce Canyon. We had high expectations.

It lived up to every one of them. 

Eventually it started raining so we only got a short hike to Sunrise Point in and then got in the car to drive around and feel out the rest of the canyon.  

We got as far as Natural Bridge before the babies had enough. It was cold and people were tired so we went to our hotel, had some sandwiches, put Joe down and snuggled into bed with Riley.