7:45 am à Woke up in 45 degree weather (cold). Showered at the campground in really nice water (pressure and temperature). Left around 9 am.

9:10 am – 12:00 pm à Bryce Canyon National Park – It was cool and cloudy so not the best weather for a NP but it didn’t rain so that was good. And it wasn’t super croweded either so that helped out. We drove the entire 18-mile length of the park and worked our way back to stop off at certain viewpoints and hikes. We saw Rainbow Point, Natural Bridge, Thor’s Hammer, Sunset Point, and more. Once again, check the pics to see how beautiful this place was.

[huge_it_gallery id=”36″]

12:00 pm à Left for Zion National Park

1:15 pm à Stopped at Zion Trading Post right outside the park for a $2 slice of pizza.

1:30 pm – 5 pm à Zion National Park – This park is going to get some writing. I think this was the most beautiful place I’ve been in my life. It was like being in a Disney attraction. The breathtaking natural scenery, varied ecosystems, and abundant wildlife seemed artificial because it was no nearly perfect. We drove through a massive tunnel underneath a huge mountain to get to the main section of the park. When we first arrived we saw some wild muledeer (which became our spirit animals / trip mascots / good karma indicators) walking around on and near the main road. We took the park’s free shuttle the entire length of the park to preview all of the points of interest before committing to different hikes.

The first point we did was the Temple of Sinawava. It was a 2 mile roundtrip hike that took us by the river that flowed through the park, encountering cute squirrels eating acorns 2 feet away from us, a family of muledeer eating across the river, and the narrows, which are sections of the river in between mountains that the park is famous for. It was getting late at that point, so the only other hike we did was Weeping Rock, which was a ½ mile roundtrip hike that led us underneath a massive rock with a small but constant flow of rain. It seemed like we were in the rainforest. I can’t reiterate enough how incredibly beautiful Zion NP was.

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm à Drove to Jacob Lake, Arizona. 3 highlights:

1) Fredonia, Arizona is the first town next to the Utah border on the road we took. One of the first stores is a liquor store. We stopped in to pick up something for our stay at the campground that night. The woman who worked there must have been about 189 years old. I wasn’t sure if she was alive or not. She looked like one of the 3 fates from Greek mythology. She was really sweet, but looked like she would be able to tell us where would die if she pulled out her magic eyeball.

2) We filled up for gas in Fredonia too. I try to play a $1 scratch off lotto ticket in every state (shout out to Mike Tomenson!), so naturally I bought one. I thought of my dear friend Andy Philpot when I picked out the Aces scratch off…and I won $25!!! Good karma, most likely from the muledeer.

3) Somewhere on the drive to Jacob Lake it smelled like cinnamon outside. Unexpected but very nice.

7:30 pm à Dinner at the Jacon Lake Inn restaurant (counter portion, for cheap people like us). We both got bull burgers. Very tasty. I also got a soft serve milkshake, which is not as good as a regular ice cream shake, but still good. We sat next to a really nice couple from North Carolina who spoke to us about their travels and family and recommendations for us for the Grand Canyon.

8:30 pm à Kaibab Camping Grounds (in the Kaibab National Forest). This is where we found out we had changed time zone again from 8:40 pm to 7:40 pm after crossing into Arizona. Carl and Janet, the couple that ran the site, were super nice and helpful. Carl led us to our campsite, secluded from other campers and in close proximity to the toilets and sinks. We set up our tent and hung out under the stars. I whooped Alex in Uno after setting up some travel plans for the next couple days.

11:00 pm à Bed time for Jake, Alex stayed up later. Grand Canyon tomorrow!!!

[huge_it_gallery id=”38″]