My daughter and I left our home on Friday, August 17, at 5:15AM as we wanted to miss the LA traffic.
On day one we drove on the I-15 and made a couple of pit stops in Victorville, and in Las Vegas. We spent our first night in Springdale, UT, just outside of Zion National Park.
We arrived to Springdale, in the late afternoon, we then took the shuttle bus and visited the beautiful Zion National Park. We were too tired and hot so we didn’t do any hiking but enjoyed the amazing red sandstone cliffs. We spend the night at Driftwood Lodge. Thanks Chani for this recommendation!
The following morning (day 2) we drove on Hwy 9 through the Zion National Park and were completely amazed by the spectacular scenery. We then drove to Bryce Canyon National Park where we also rode on the bus shuttle and visited all the scenic spots; Bryce Point, Inspiration Point, Sunset and Sunrise Points; all truly magnificent!
Afterwards, I’d considered taking the scenic route, via Hwy12 toward Torrey, but decided against it since it would have taken much longer and we’d stayed in Bryce longer than expected, so we backtracked to Hwy 89 and drove all the way North to I-70.
Driving on Hwy 89 was beautiful but a bit nerve wrecking as we didn’t have cell phone service and the highway was deserted except for a semi truck here and there. Fortunately our car didn’t give us any trouble and we always refilled the gas tank at every opportunity.
Once we got to the I-70, it was a similar experience in terms of no cell phone coverage and also deserted. We made a pit spot at a rest area that was very deserted except for a few trucks.
We arrived to Green River right before sunset, which was amazing, as the sun looked like a great big orange. We stayed at the River Terrace Inn. Thanks Dick for this recommendation! I had reserved a room facing the river but the lock didn’t work, so we ended up in a room with a view of the parking lot. We were so tired that the only thing that mattered was that the room was clean and it had comfortable beds.
On day three, our last day of our road trip, we stopped in Vail, Colorado for lunch. We’d not visited Vail before and my daughter and I enjoyed our short visit very much. Since it was a Sunday, we were rewarded with a Farmer’s Market. Parking was free and we enjoyed a delicious pulled pork sandwich while sitting by the small creek that runs through the town. We then ordered a milkshake for dessert and took on the road.
We hit a ton of traffic a few miles from Vail but the scenery was excellent as we drove through the beautiful verdant Colorado mountains.
We finally arrived to our hotel in Boulder just in time for dinner. We went to bed early once again as we were exhausted.
The following morning, Monday, we slept in, skipped the hotel’s breakfast (which ended at 9AM) Later that day we drove to my daughter’s apartment, signed her lease and received her keys. We unpacked all her stuff and headed to Target for last minute necessities.
We were surprised to see so many empty shelves in the store. We were told that the previous day (Sunday) had been exceptionally crowded. The cashier said; “the crowds were worse than Black Friday!” Hard to imagine as I don’t shop on “Black Friday”
Our car didn’t like all the braking we did while driving downhill, so we took the car into an auto shop recommended by Andi (Thanks Andi!) and they fixed the problem at a reasonable price.
All in all we had a wonderful road trip, we talked, we laughed, we listened to music and sang along, and we greatly enjoyed visiting Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks along the way. Her tiny apartment is cute.
She began her classes today and she sounded a bit stressed but happy when I talked with her this afternoon.
Thank you all for your amazing suggestions and help!
