we took a road trip out to utah this summer with my parents.  my dad's favorite place on earth is bryce canyon and i wanted nate to experience it with my parents.  as a child living on the west coast we did a lot of road trips to all the different national parks.  i am so happy that my parents loved traveling and took me to so many places as a child.  i think it fostered a love for traveling that is still with me today.  hope to do the same with lucy.  

we stopped in moab and stayed for 2 nights, visited arches national park, canyon lands n. park. and the following day drove to bryce canyon n. park and spent the night.  bryce was cold and was overcast.  the hoodoos (tall thin spires) of bryce seemed washed out compared to the past.  it could've been the overcast.  the beauty of that place is the contrast of the red rocks next to the brilliant blue skies.  nate and i took a hike down into the canyon and my parents took a hike down a different one while we watched lucy.  we then drove a crazy amount from bryce to aspen stopping in grand junction for dinner.  grand junction is a cool little town i must say!  

we've never been to aspen other then in the winter.  sure was pretty!  the maroon bells were a sight to see!  my parents said it was the prettiest place of their whole trip out here.  i would like to go back sometime during the fall when the aspens are changing. 

it was ALOT of driving but all worth it and thinking back we hardly remember the time in the car.  so blessed to have such beauty all around within a few hours drive. 

mom and the famous delicate arch of utah

see nate with lucy on his back?

that little dot is nate

are you starting to see a trend here…nate putting my child in precarious situations that makes my heart pound 

there's a deep chasm he's looking into, he then proceeded to jump across, grrr drives me crazy

bryce canyon without the blue blue skies

this picture and the one below were taken by lucy =)

maroon bells

this is a "secret" place called false kiva in canyonlands n. park.  it is categorized as a class II site.  it is not on any maps or listed in any park publications.  i was completely obsessed with this place while we were there and wanted so much to look for it.  i had found directions online and they seemed sketchy and a bit dangerous.  it is literally a hole in the side of a cliff.  with a "kiva" a puebloan spiritual room.

these pictures i found online completely had me mesmerized especially the one with the milky way at night.  i made nate promise that we would go back there just the two of us one day and look for it.