Our Road Trip Recap

Here is a quick recap of our road trip with two of our best friends from Chicago. We were all over the map and had the best time.

Our road trip started in Arizona, visiting our old roommate in Tucson on Thursday of last week. Then the next morning we picked up our friends Melissa and Nico at the Phoenix airport. Then we grocery shopped at Trader Joe’s and then hit the road for the Grand Canyon. We camped there overnight.

The next morning, we took off for a tour of Antelope Canyon.

We stopped at Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona after lunch.

Then we drove to Zion National Park, and did our usual jumping pose. 😉

We spent 2 days in Zion National Park. We went hiking and camping and my brother and his fiancé joined us too.

It was a dream road trip and I’ll fill you all in with more details asap! Happy weekend everyone!

As always I’m linking up with these lovelies:

Hill Collection and Running 4 Cupcakes

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Travel Thursdays: A Week Out West Part 2

In case you missed my post last week on Thursday, I shared pictures from the first part of our week on our week long road trip out West. You can read it here. We drove from LA to Glendale, Arizona to Taos, New Mexico, then to a wedding in Albuquerque. Today I’m going over the second half of our trip:

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Day 4 – We had plans to meet up with some friends for brunch at the Grove, which has a huge menu. It was a great place for brunch and I would recommend this place if you’re in town.

Afterwards we went to BJ’s and hung out with our friends to watch the World Cup (remember this trip was from July last year.) I don’t keep up with soccer on a regular basis but I do enjoy going to a bar and hanging out with friends. It’s fun to have everyone cheering and clapping.

After the game we went back to our hotel and got ready for the wedding of our friends who are currently living in the UK, so it was great to see them. It was an intimate wedding of 100 people and even though it was drizzling for a few seconds it quickly passed and it was a night full of love and laughter.

Drove from Albuquerque to Zion National Park 

Day 5 – Our friends flew in from Chicago to meet us in Albuquerque. We drove with them for 8 hours to Zion National Park in Utah.

So from Albuquerque to Zion National Park, is about an 8 hour drive. We left Albuquerque early in the morning and made to to Zion early evening. 

On the way to Zion we stopped at Horse Shoe Bend in Arizona and it was breathtaking! So gorgeous. I did more of a recap here.

When we arrived at Zion, we got so lucky and got a camping spot in the Watchman campground. It was pretty hot so the people who had originally reserved the spot left early. People book campsites in the summer as early as January, so we really did get lucky to nab a spot.

There is a market right outside the South entrance where we rented our gear. We got shoes with grip, wet socks, and a walking stick. It was $21 all together.

We set up our tents and then headed out to dinner. We ate at the Flying Monkey. It was not my favorite but it did the trick for the night.

Day 6 – We spent the day hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park and I blogged about that trip here.

That night after our awesome hike we ate dinner right outside the park. To be honest I don’t remember the name of the restaurant we went to (it’s been over a year!) But it was good, but nothing super memorable. After dinner we drove home to LA which is a 7 hour drive. We thought about staying the night in Vegas but decided to push through to make it home.

It was such a great trip and we got to see so many cool things, our friends, and I’ll never say no to a road trip 🙂

Hope you’re all having a great Thursday!

Linking up today with :

Travel Thursday – A Week Out West Part 1

So I should have blogged about this trip a long time ago. It’s from July 2014, so exactly a little over a year ago. (Blogger of the Year award!) I had it saved in my draft folder and never got around to it. 🙂 It’s just the way it goes sometimes, let’s be real. I have good intentions they just aren’t always executed correctly or in a timely manner.

Last July we were invited to wedding in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We’d only ever driven through it, so it was fun to spend a little time there this time. We decided since we had a little free time, to make a trip out of the wedding. So we planned a little time with friends in different states, went camping, and hiking.

Day 1 – We drove from LA to Glendale, Arizona to visit one of my best friends, Vi, and the other half of Say Yes to Happy. We ate at True Food Kitchen and then had frozen yogurt at Menchie’s.

Day 2 – We drove from Glendale, Arizona to Taos, New Mexico. We met up with our friends from Denver, Colorado at a roadside campsite in the Carson National Forest. (They were my first participants of my Interview Series!)

Our view in the morning.

Day 3 – After waking up to the sound of the flowing river, we packed up our tent and headed into town. We ate at the Bear Claw which was delicious. I highly recommend it, it’s a cute little cafe. Then we were off to go for a hike. We got a recommendation from the waitress.

It started drizzling while we started hiking. We hiked for about an hour and then had to head out to Albuquerque for a rehearsal dinner for the wedding we were attending.

The sunset that night was so gorgeous and the scenery was great. I’ve only driven through New Mexico so it was nice to spend some time there and see what Albuquerque is all about.

And next week on Travel Thursday I will share part two of our week out West, including the rest of our Albuquerque trip and Zion National Park.

Have you been to these areas, what did I miss and should check out next time?

Linking up today with :

Travel Thursdays: Horse Shoe Bend, Arizona

July of 2014, we had a wedding to attend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our good friends Ryan and Casey were planning to visit us in California, so we thought it’d be fun to do a road trip with them and hike the Narrows in Zion National Park.

They flew into Albuquerque and met us. The Sunday after the wedding we took off for Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona. I’d see pictures of it on Pinterest and wanted to incorporate it into our road trip. Luckily it was close to Zion.

It was really epic and beautiful in person. It was also super hot that day on our little hike down there from the parking lot.

I mean, how gorgeous is that?!

Ryan safely checking out the ledge. It can be pretty scary and dangerous, especially if you have kids. There’s no gate or fence to keep you from falling, so definitely be careful when you’re here!

Of course we took a jumping photo here 🙂

Next Thursday I’ll share the Zion part of our trip with the amazing Narrows hike.

Today I’m linking up with Stuff & Things with Kadar Hower and Hodges Podges:

Sunrise at Toroweap. North Rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona