American Southwest Travel Album
Near the end of the summer, Charles and I took an engagementmoon to the Southwest US! I think that having an engagementmoon might be a little self indulgent, but I had been planning this trip since before we got engaged, and I was so happy to make our way through the Southwest US while our engagement was still mostly a secret. However, in the crazy of getting engaged…we forgot to actually make reservations…so…this was a mostly winging-it trip. Either way, we had an amazing time, even without much planning. It was so beautiful, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Our plan:
Grand Junction, CO
I felt like Grand Junction was the coolest place I’vve ever been that no one knows about. It has great hiking, beautiful scenery, and no people. We had no issue nailing down a reservation at a camp site and waking up to spectacular mesa views.
Arches National Park & Moab, UT
Arches was my favorite place that we went, hands down. I loved every second of it. Moab is a fun small town, with lots of quirky stores and charming restaurants. Arches itself is wonderful. The one place that I loved the most was the Fiery Furnace. We got there at 6am and hiked for seven hours scrabbling over rocks and through narrow canyons. I busted up my knee and definitely had a full-body workout, but it was totally worth it. I would recommend doing that hike any time. Go early, bring water, and have a BLAST.
Monument Valley
This was a drive-by for us. On our way to the Grand Canyon we stopped to see the OG roadside attraction. We stopped at Forrest Gump Hill, where he finally stopped “a-runnan” before we continued on to the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon, South Rim
The Grand Canyon…it was majestic and I’m happy we went, but it’s not easy to explore, unlike all the other places that we went. I wish it was easier to explore, and a little less busy.
Zion National Park
Zion had the opposite problem. It was too accessible. We went on a “hard” hike and were still competing with families with little kids. There was zero opportunity to “explore the wilderness” because it just didn’t have any wilderness. It was beautiful, but I think we’ll head back there on the off-season for a better experience.
Salt Lake City
For the record — I’m not a Mormon. But I was interested in seeing Temple Square downtown. We did! We went and had a great time exploring the area. I will say…we had thought about moving there, but after visiting, it is probably better left as a vacation destination. Still, a fun weekend!
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