horse shoe bend – Say Yes to Happy

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 :

I’m currently in Chicago until Monday night. Living it up with my family and friends for a few quick days. I’ll be back to commenting Tuesday, and I’ll have posts schedule during my absence. Anyway what fun things do you guys have planned for the weekend?

Here are my favorites from this week:I love the Bachelor franchise. I’ve been a fan for years and end up following past contestants on their blogs and social media. This week Jillian Harris posted about Life Before the Bachelor and what she’s learned being a public figure and being in the media. She also talks about cultivating your own personal brand, something all us bloggers can relate to. It’s a great read; love her!

On Tuesday I shared 3 of my current favorite travel bloggers: Kelley at Madeline in the City who chronicles life across the pond in London with her family, Courtney at Alkeks Abroad who has been living with her husband down under in Australia, and Abby from Abby’s Roads who has lived in Dubai and Australia with her husband.

One of my favorite things about reading other people’s blogs is getting to live vicariously through them and following along on their adventures abroad. I’d love to hear who your favorite travel bloggers are too!

Being home in Chicago, makes me oh so happy. I love, love, love, to travel, but Dorothy was so right when she said “There’s no place like home.” I mean just look at this city, it’s stunning.

The architecture is amazing. The lake is beautiful. People are friendly and so polite (hello Midwesterners) and the food is great. There’s so much to do. And it’s where most of my family and friends still live. It’s never enough time at home but I’ll take as much time as I can get. I hold this city and its people near and dear to my heart.

It makes me super sentimental being home and I couldn’t be happier. I’m going to thoroughly soak up and enjoy these few days home. One of these days I should do a post about my favorite Chicago spots and things to do. What are your favorite Chicago happenings?

Last year one of my favorite places we visited was Horse Shoe Bend in Arizona. It was more beautiful in person and pictures hardly do it justice. It was really cool to stand there and take it all in. I would love to go back there someday and spend some more time in the Grand Canyon. I’d love to hike the rim or part of it anyway. 🙂

Has anyone hiked in the Grand Canyon, did you love it?

Lastly I want to thank all of you readers lately, who have been so nice and friendly lately. I feel like I’ve finally found some really nice blogger friends and my own little cliche. It feels really good to feel like a part of the blogging community. It’s made blogging a lot more fulfilling and fun for me getting to know you guys better.

It’s so fun to get a peek into each other lives and encourage and support one another. Link ups have been a really awesome way to discover new blogs. So thank you all again for being so much fun to interact with and for the very kind words, it’s greatly appreciated.