This trip has been in the planning stages for at least a year. We will end up in Tucson, AZ at our niece’s high school graduation. Since we had to be out west anyway (we live in VA), we may as well capitalize on the opportunity and scratch off some national parks! It’s been a tough year in our family and this trip had a high possibility of being canceled, but in the end things came together for us to be able to go and we are very thankful for that (thanks Debbie!).

We hadn’t flown anywhere since Feb/Mar 2020 and based on the experiences we’d heard about really didn’t know what to expect. Bob found us a direct flight from Charlotte to Vegas, so we drove to Charlotte Thursday to spend the night and fly out Friday. We did find a great place for dinner in Charlotte – The Olde Mechlenberg Brewery and had a really nice meal. If you’re in the area, check it out!

Thankfully, the flight to Vegas was uneventful and since it was just a stopover and we decided to hang out at the hotel (Embassy Suites). We’ve been there, done the Vegas things.

I forgot to mention, Bob found a fabulous deal on a rental car through Fox Rent a Car. One way rentals are always more expensive and even though some of the reviews were not great, he decided to risk it. The car is fine but the lady behind the counter needs a personality transplant. Oh the BS she tried to sell him – like he was a 20 something who had never done this before. But she was so nasty, he called our insurance agent to clarify some things (the opposite of what she was telling him) and taking pictures and video of the car for our proof of the condition before we drove off the lot. It was that bad. Needless to say there will be yet another nasty review left regarding that place.

I didn’t sleep good and woke up feeling pretty wonky Saturday morning, but you do what you gotta do, so packed up grabbed some breakfast downstairs and headed out. Our first stop on the way to Valley of Fire State Park was a Walmart to pick up some necessities. We always stock up with staples on a road trip so if there are no places for a decent meal we won’t starve. Hahahaha. But seriously, for us it works. The Valley of Fire was a little bit of a detour but not too much. We’re glad we did it, but wouldn’t need to do it again. There were some neat formations to see, photograph, hike – but that was about it. There was a hike we wanted to do but since it’s a small state park and not much to do, the parking area was packed and we didn’t want to wait around for an opening. Plus I really wasn’t feeling good at that point anyway, so we checked that box and headed to Bryce.

It’s been ten years since we’ve been here and it’s every bit as beautiful as we remembered. Maybe more. We took our time getting moving in the morning, grabbed some breakfast in the room and trying to give ourselves some time to acclimate to 8,000 feet. Coming from 1,900 feet it’s a real adjustment. We are huffing and puffing with the best of ‘em. But the views from the rim in the morning? Incredible. After walking the rim and taking all kinds of images, we got some lunch in the lodge. It was pretty much what we expected – mediocre. I ordered the soup of the day – chicken and dumplins’. Flavor was good, but there was no substance – I have no idea where the chicken or the dumplins’ were. It was just a bowl of gravy for the most part. Bob got a grilled chicken sandwich that was okay. So we’re opting for noshing in our room for dinner tonight. No point in paying expensive prices for meals that are mediocre.

We went out for sunset since the sky was clear, but came in disappointed. The sun sets behind the trees so the canyon was already in shadows. It still gets cold up here this time of year. It will be 34 in the morning for sunrise. So we opted to come back to the room tonight and regroup since we’re packing up and heading out to Capitol Reef in the morning. Hoping for a beautiful sunrise.

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