Ashleigh and I were lucky enough to take an amazing road trip this summer. I was ending one position at work and had a few weeks before my new one was going to start so my work could easily be managed from the road and Ash is doing online college. It was the perfect opportunity to see some of the country and also fulfill some of my New Years Resolution. I resolved this year to reconnect with people outside of social media. It seems like its so easy to think we know what is going on in each others lives by the image we present on social media but when you have an actual conversation its so eye-opening and you may find out that their lives are exactly as it seems or you may find that they are going through a very difficult time and are so happy to have a friend to tell it to. If you have time I can’t even begin to explain how great it is to sit in front of a friend and hear their story. Life is too short to waste it all in front of the computer.
Our trip begins on a Monday morning, after a check of work/school emails we were off in our rented Ford Fusion hybrid (awesome car and 41mpg on average the entire trip). Our first stop was in Washington Wine Country…because…why not! We tasted a couple of wines and bought a few bottles to bring as gifts along the way. Ashleigh had class that night so we ended our night in Pendleton, OR. After a couple hours of working and class we went outside for a walk along the river.
Our pattern each day of the trip with the exception of a few times where I did take the entire day off was to get up early and work, then if we were not driving we would do an activity in the morning and evening and spend the heat of the day working/homework. This proved to be an excellent way to fit everything in our day.
Our next stop was Boise where I had found a few fun things to do. We started off with Tapas and frozen Sangria at the Basque Market followed a cool but creepy self guided tour of the Idaho State Penitentiary
“The Old Idaho Penitentiary opened its doors in 1872 to some of the West’s most desperate criminals. Today, visitors can experience over 100 years of Idaho’s unique prison history with a visit to Solitary Confinement, cell blocks, and the Gallows. The site features thirty historic buildings and special exhibits including the J. Curtis Earl Memorial Exhibit, a collection of historic weaponry.” – from historical society website
We spent about an hour here reading through the inmate stories and walking through the building. It was sad to see how young some of the inmates were.
Behind the penitentiary is Table Rock, we wanted to hike it right then but it was much to hot out so we checked in at the hotel. Later that evening we decided to go have dinner and do the hike afterwards (FYI I do not recommend hiking on a full stomach haha). We had dinner at Fork in downtown Boise. Dinner was amazing but seriously if you get the chance to eat there you must try the Warm Butter Cake (we blame this on our being so full).
After dinner we threw on our hiking gear and headed to Table Rock. Warning, there is no shade at all and its full of switchbacks so as soon as you think you are at the top, you are not. This is probably a much easier trail that we made it (full bellies) at 4 miles and 900 elevation gain and is totally worth the view at the top. We arrived a little before sunset so while we didn’t stay for the entire sunset we got some great shots of the sun beginning its decent.
In the morning we made a quick stop at the World Center for Birds of Prey where we met Cody, the Harris Hawk. Then we were off on our drive to Utah were we did a quick overnight before the start of our National Park adventure.
It was beautiful out when we set off for the day and we had a few hours of free time before we had to be in Springdale so we made a detour to Bryce Canyon. There was a bit of landslide removal going on so while we were stopped we took advantage of the views of Red Canyon. Not a bad way to spend a half an hour.
Then we were off to Bryce Canyon, we knew we didn’t have time to do any hiking here but we were able to stop at many of the viewpoints including Rainbow Point, Agua Canyon, Natural Bridge and Sunrise Point. I think our favorite was the Natural Bridge – just beautiful – and Ash made friends with a Raven/Crow. There are some great hikes here so we hope to come back another time and actually get to try out one or two of them.
We came into Zion from the East and it felt like we were the only people for miles. It took our breath away and we began to fall in love. The colors were magical, like a painter brushed lines on the rock formations and they soared up to the heavens. We could not wait to begin exploring but Ash had class that night so we grabbed Chinese food and hunkered down for the night knowing we had an early morning of hiking at our hotel located in the middle of Springdale, Pioneer Lodge.
Woke up bright and early and headed out to meet with our guide for a private hiking tour with Zion Rock and Mountain. In our reservation I had let them know that Ash is just starting to hike and had been in a wheelchair only a handful of years ago and that I have a bad hip from having Polio as a child…I am sure they thought we were crazy! They assigned Jeff to be our guide At first he asked if we wanted to do Angels Landing, which is what most people want to do or Scout which is just below it. I then gave him more detail on our situation and then he joked that he was the oldest guide they have which is probably why they had him paired with us. He asked what we would like to do and I gave him a list that seemed impossible…not crowded (in one of the most popular National parks), have some shade in places, and end with a pretty view. He totally delivered and chose Water Canyon and it was PERFECT! This canyon is not inside of the park but in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness which made it much less crowded, in fact we only saw three other groups of people and that was in passing. The landscape is very similar to the park so it was gorgeous and it had plenty of shade in places. Ash got a great lesson in scramble hiking (not too strenuous though), as we looked up we saw an arch bridge on the very top of the mountain with the sun peeking through and we climbed up some slippery boulders to a beautiful setting with small waterfalls (we did not hike past this part so our hike was 3 miles with 1200 elevation gain). We had a picnic lunch here all to ourselves, there were a few people canyoneering above us but we could not really see them. I cannot believe how lucky we were to get Jeff as our guide and have him take us to this amazing location. Ash now wants us to go back next year and go canyoneering here. We shall see! On our way out we stopped at a little shed called Finney Farm. It is run by a family that was/is (I am not sure) part of the polygamous group under Warren Jeffs. It was interesting to drive through the community and see how it still resembles a commune of sorts. Regardless of their beliefs, they make phenomenal raw milk cheese, bread and frozen yogurt (we bought all three). Sad to say goodbye to Jeff but we will see him again, of that I am sure.
That evening we took the shuttle into the park to the very end (stop 9) and walked the Riverwalk to the Narrows which was closed due to high waters. Nice and easy 2 miles to end our day.
We fell into bed feeling exhausted but accomplished. Woke up early again for an UTV ride to Gooseberry Mesa with Mild2Wild Rhino Tours. We chose to have a guide drive us so we could enjoy the scenery around us. There were only 3 vehicles in our tour which was great. We rode up and down so many boulders, at one point we were pointed nose first down one of them. We stopped at a few scenic locations before arriving to the top of the mountain. Our guide had us look over the edge and there was a truck that had driven over the edge (sadly this was intentional). There is no way to get the truck out with the terrain as rough as it is. We then did a short hike out to the point to see the amazing view from 5500 elevation. After the tour Ash and I drove through the abandoned “town” of Grafton. It really is simply a small cemetery, church and few houses.
That evening we again took the shuttle into the park up to stop 5 where we then walked back along the Grotto Trail to stop 4 where you can hike to the Emerald Pools. We had hoped to go to the Middle Pool but they were closed due to high waters so we only went as far as the Lower Pool, because it was around 6pm there were not too many hikers on the trail. It is an easy one at just over a mile round trip.
Sadly we had to depart Zion and do the 2 hour or so drive to Page, Arizona. I know everyone wants to do Antelope Canyon but we prefer to do private or small group tours so I did some research and found Horseshoe Bend Slot Canyon (aka Secret Canyon)Tours that have exclusive access to this particular canyon and a Horseshoe Bend overlook. We were the only group in the canyon and had plenty of time to wander on our own and when we reached the end we were able to climb up the outer side and look down into the canyon. I have seen pictures of Antelope Canyon and I cannot see much difference at all except that ours was 10 people with no other groups going in at the same time. I know some people need iconic but I prefer private and beautiful so its up to you to decide.
We ended our day in Page with a boat cruise through part of Antelope Canyon on Lake Powell. It was a gray and somewhat drizzly evening but the boat was under cover and we had a small group of about 10 people. The views were beautiful and of course being on the water is always a plus.
Now we move on to the relaxing part with a few days in the sun, drinking yummy drinks and laying in the pool in Phoenix with my friend Wendee and my Mom flew down from Seattle to join us. We stayed at a great airbnb home perfect for 6-8 people in 3 bedrooms, huge living space and lovely pool.
Our next sunny destination was Hermosa Beach where we stayed at a Hotel Hermosa a boutique hotel about a 20 minute walk to the beach. We had a loft room with a view of the ocean. We were able to visit two friends Charity and Jen while we were there. We stopped along the way to visit The Kroft Anaheim to indulge in Ash’s guilty pleasure, Poutine…what a fantastic location. Its in an old warehouse that is now converted into a sort of indoor food truck venue. wandered through Santa Monica’s Promenade on Friday night with Charity, then met Jen for brunch at Le Pain Quotidien which was delish! Ash and I walked down to the beach and from Hermosa to Manhattan Beach with a stop for lunch at Rock N’ Fish. Spent about an hour lounging in the sun on the beach before walking back to the hotel. Walked about 8 miles that day, in flip flops.
Our southern California trip ended with an overnight at my friend Nancie’s house with a visit to Ojai for wine tasting and a walk around the creek.
We had a bit of a drive to meet up with my friend Marlo at her airbnb in Groveland CA outside of Yosemite. We decided to do an evening hike along the Carlon Falls Trail (fyi bring bug spray), its a relatively easy hike (3 miles RT) with a rolling waterfall as your reward at the end. We enjoyed dinner in Groveland at the opening night of a local restaurant, Charlotte Tavern followed by hot-tubbing and too much wine.
In the morning we took off early for Yosemite. We had plans to hike but parking was crazy so did a few scenic stops. Our first stop was at Tunnel View with the spectacular view that Ansel Adams made famous of El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls. Next was at Glacier Point with its breathtaking views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and the Valley. We were able to find parking after a long wait at Bridalveil Falls so took the short walk and got misted on at the base of the falls. Following lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel (formerly the Majestic) we drove through as much of the park as possible before heading back to Groveland.
We decided to try one more time to hike but by the time we reached Hetch Hetchy Reservoir it was getting too late so we walked across the dam and marveled in the power of the waterfall below us. Next time we will hike through the tunnel to the waterfalls on the reservoir. This ended our California portion of the trip except for the long drive into Oregon.
We arrived in Portland and did two of the must do’s, visit Powell Books and eat donuts at Voodoo Doughnuts – we ate way to many but it was so hard to decide. Our stay at the Benson Hotel and our dinner and wine at the bar were fabulous as was our bartender Jonah!
Our last part of the trip was to pick up Jac’s at the airport and drive back into Washington to Long Beach for the weekend. We stayed at the Adrift Hotel and enjoyed dinner at the Pickled Fish, took an electric bike ride down the Discovery Trail, ate Devil Dogs at Cottage Bakery, walked through Marsh’s Free Museum and had cocktails with my friend Ragan.
Sunset at the beach ends this epic adventure. I hope our journey will inspire you to take one of your own.
Happy Travels!