To the right is the road map used for this trip. Our destinations are marked with letters on the map and will explained below:
Day #1=>The first day of this road trip was all driving to point "A" on the map, Barstow. After resting a bit at the motel we had a lovely dinner at DiNapoli's Firehouse Restaurant, excellent.
Day #2=>After Barstow we headed farther east to Lake Havasu, the Heat Hotel; point "B" on the map. It was 115F when we arrive so the a/c of the Heat Hotel was very much appreciated. We enjoyed the a/c as we watched the parade of boats passing under the London Bridge. Lake Havasu was only a one night.
Day #3 and #4=>On this day we headed for the Grand Canyon; point "C" on the map. Unfortunately there was a fire on the north rim so some of our pictures are not as clear as they should be. Even with the smoke our images still show the beauty of the Grand Canyon.
Day #5 and #6=>The morning we left the Grand Canyon the entire canyon was filled with smoke so it was a good time to move on. We headed along the Grand Canyon to the eastern exit from the park and then on to Page and Lake Powell; point "D" on the map. While in Page we took a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam and visited Horseshoe Bend. Another highlight was take-out barbecue from Big John's.
We took a cruised on Lake Powell to see the Rainbow Bridge and we visited Horseshoe Bend and more and got these great images.
We also toured Upper Antelope slot canyon. As you can see the images are stunning.
Day #7=>Leaving Page we headed to Mounment Valley; point "E" on the map. We only had one night in our view cabin at Monument Valley so to make the most of our time we took a backcountry private tour where we got most of these images. After that we enjoyed the sunset from our little porch.
Day #8, #9, #10 and #11=>Our next destination was our farthest point from home Moab; point "F" on the map. To get to Moab we drove the infamous Moki Dugway and also visited the Natural Bridges State Park. While in Moab we stayed outside of town in the beautiful Red Cliffs Lodge. Our days were very full as there is a LOT to see in and around Moab. We started with Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, then a float trip down the river, a hummer tour of Hell's Revenge and a ranger hike through the Fiery Furnace. Here are some of our better images from Moab. AND we visited a winery!
Day #12=>Our next destination was the Capital Reef Resort in the town of Torrey (point "G" on the map) but on the way we stopped at the Goblin State Park for a short visit. Walking around Goblin State Park it felt like you on a movie set for the Flintstones. The natural structures were so surreal you just had to get close and make sure they were real. See for yourself, and we also did a little touring of Capital Reef area(it was trying to rain on us).
Day #13=>Our next destination was the unbelievably beautiful Bryce Canyon; point "H" on the road trip map. But before we got there we had to travel the famously beautiful Highway 12. See a pattern here? When we arrived, it was raining but we went ahead and took the parks guided bus tour. The next morning the sun came out and we hiked into the canyon to capture some great images.
Day #14 and #15=>Our last national park for this trip was Zion National Park; point "I" on the road trip map. Zion had experienced some major flooding before we arrived so some of the hiking trails were closed. We did get to hike the Narrows for several hours one morning and it was great fun with the proper equipment. Here are some images from our two days at Zion.
Day #16=>We did our last morning hike in Zion and started the journey home with our overnight at Barstow again. We repeated dinner at the DiNapoli's Firehouse.
Day #17=>We hit the road early and drove straight home arriving about 3pm!!!!