American Road Trip March 2023
Wednesday, March 15
Early this morning we arrived in Las Vegas, Everly did an amazing job with the red eye flight from Toronto and was even more of a trooper as we figured out our car rental and made it to our Air BnB at 3 a.m. We had a short, yet restful 3 hour sleep and decided to fill our bellies with a very American breakfast at IHOP before hitting ‘the strip’. We began our American road trip at the iconic, “Welcome to Las Vegas'' sign and continued on our way down the strip with the sunshine in tow. Everly missed most of the sights and sounds due to her heavy eyelids, but it was just as well as mommy and daddy got to enjoy some ice cream, beer, and chit chat while gazing at the Eiffel Tower, Pyramids, Lady Liberty, and the Bellagio fountain. We then made our journey westward to Utah and after a brisk, rainy game of disc golf for daddy. We settled into our cozy, countryside home in the small town of Hurricane, 35 minutes west of Zion Park.
Thursday, March 16
This morning we headed north and encountered some snow in Bryce Canyon National Park. We bundled up and went on some smaller hikes to marvel at the hoodoos (tall, skinny rock formations). There were 1000s of hoodoos in our sight line and each time we turned a corner it seemed that we had a better vista. The snow made it a little challenging to carry Everly on our back so we stuck to the flat hikes. We completed Sunrise to Sunset, Bryce Point, and Mossy Cave Trail. The latter was our fave because we could go up to and explore/touch the hoodoos. This made it even more mind boggling for how they are formed, which is weathering and erosion. Our first day of exploration was a success!
Friday, March 17
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We waited to celebrate with beer and prickly pear lemonade until after our hikes at Zion Canyon National Park. We LOVED this place, it seemed right up our alley for its natural beauty and choose your own adventure opportunities. After a visit to the Visitor’s Centre (Center - we’re in the US!) we hopped onto the shuttle bus (which Everly loved riding by the way). First stop was the highly anticipated Scout Lookout (which led to Angels Landing summit). We were not able to apply for the Angels Landing trail as it is a dangerous scramble; but we made it up the rim along the Walter’s Wiggles, the 23 switchback turns to Scout Lookout and were rewarded with an incredible vista and a rainbow in the falling water. Everly didn’t feel the quad burn nor see the lookout, but she did enjoy the rocking back and forth on mommy’s back which put her to sleep. On the way down we saw a porcupine in the tree, a beautiful song bird, and touched the cold Virgin River that flows through the canyon. Later we did the Riverside Walk and saw the beginning of the Virgin River Narrows hike, which can be done in the shallow river in the summertime. Lastly, we ascended the switchback roads via car to the Canyon Overlook trail which took us up a steep part of the canyon, but the climb was worth it! We saw the most beautiful scenery and sat in the sunshine for a while, while Everly made friends with a ‘raccoon’ running by our feet (aka a chipmunk). That did it! It was time to celebrate at the Brewpub in Springdale (the town that is beside Zion Park), wore our green accessories, and rested our sore limbs with food, bevies, and ice cream!
Saturday, March 18
Although Everly loved all of the new found toys at the Air BnB (pots and pans, wicker baskets and Keurig cups) we did leave to check out the rest of Zion’s beauties. We began our day by ascending the canyon again to the lower, middle, and upper emerald pools and got to walk behind the water falling below. Once again Everly missed some beautiful sights due to an unplanned morning nap, but as per usual she just loves the feeling of daddy’s gentle rocking in the backpack. We got a couple of soakers as we crossed some of the stream water and got sprayed by the falling water, but the sun’s warmth made up for it. After passing the grotto and low lying cacti, Everly finally woke up and we hit the shuttle bus again to the next stop which was, Weeping Rock. Here we had a very short ascension to another, larger waterfall. We got to go behind it and have a different view of the canyon which was spectacular. Our final hike that day was up the Watchman Trail, which bent along the canyon in a unique way and afforded us a view of the town, Springdale and beyond. We even caught part of the St. Patrick’s Day parade from way above; well, not Everly who was snoozing in preparation for more delicious lemonade at the Brew Pub. After climbing down in the heat we both agreed that drinks and pub fries were in order. We walked across the bridge into town and basked in the sunshine on the patio with huckleberry lemonade and a flight of beer for daddy. Just before heading ‘home’, we took the shuttle one final time to the stops we’d missed; the 3 patriarch peaks and the museum. No doubt we slept well after a warm meal and bath/shower!
Sunday, March 19
It was time to say goodbye to Utah and onto Arizona. We went between time zones a couple of times as Arizona is on Mountain Time, but a sliver of the state does not recognize daylight’s savings so we went back to PST - which we did not know. This granted us one free hour once we arrived at the town of Page for daddy to play some disc golf and Everly and mommy to stretch their legs at the desert park. Next we toured the most picturesque slot canyon I could ever imagine, Antelope Canyon. This is within Navajo Nation and the canyon is on indigenous land. Our tour guide was Navajo and gave us some really neat information on how the canyon was formed and explained how he and others have to go down into the canyon after flash floods and clear the water out with 5 gallon pails, then fill it with red sand from above. This famous slot canyon and others in the desert, are formed when rock is eroded periodically by water and carves the sandstone into swoopy formations. This specific canyon was estimated to be formed about 175 million years ago during the Jurassic period and is made of Navajo sandstone. All that said, I would call it the ‘wave canyon’ because once you descend into the depths via ladder, you meander through narrow passages and everywhere you turn you have swoopy, red waves of stone stared down at you. We went around 12:00 noon so the sunshine beams coming in the openings above made for the most unique spectacles ever. We just couldn’t believe our eyes every time we turned a narrow corner. The photos make it look like we were in a scene from Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars, or Charlie and Chocolate Factory! We were so glad we chose this tour of the lower Antelope Canyon tour and would 10/10 recommend this to anyone visiting Arizona. After that we hit up the Horseshoe Bend, a really cool curve in the Colorado River that you can see from atop! Next stop? Another brewery for daddy’s Untappd check ins and to enjoy a home cooked meal! We ended our day at the Grand Canyon Brewery in Page and settled into our new Air BnB for a short and sweet overnight. No pots and pans this time, but Everly thoroughly enjoyed playing hide and seek under the kitchen sink.
Monday, March 20
Today we headed south to the Grand Canyon. We entered through the east gate, only to discover that a big snow/ice storm the day before had caused the closing of the road into the corridor. No doubt this storm system brought freezing temps and wicked wind. Luckily we got to see the Grand Canyon from the Watchman’s Tour lookout! It was stunning, vast, and lives up to its name - grand! The Colorado River flowed ferociously, ravens soared, snow fell, and gray clouds rolled by. Despite the cold temperatures, we got to enjoy the amazing lookout and climbed to the top of the tower to have an even better view. We continued onto Flagstaff and parted ways to play disc golf and go to a childrens’ museum. The populous downtown of Flagstaff allowed for us to visit more breweries (with a band!) and explore the cute, historic town - and bonus, less car time for Everly than we had planned! Our cottage within the city was a perfect place to rest our heads for our final night of vacation. Everly’s new found toys included: sticky notes, toilet paper rolls, and a first aid kit.
Tuesday, March 21
SNOW! We woke up to the white stuff that we knew we were heading home to later that day … but, at 7000 feet in elevation, Flagstaff was a target for wicked weather. After allowing some time for the snow to fall and plows to clear it, we headed westbound to Vegas for our evening flight home. Daddy did an incredible job of navigating the snow in our Toyota Camry without snow tires and eventually once we made it down to 4000 feet in elevation the precipitation turned to rain. We took a pitstop in the town of Kingman, which is on the historic Route 66. Back in Vegas, daddy checked out old Vegas while mommy and Everly went to a childrens’ science centre. Everly had the BEST time exploring music, water, electricity, building blocks, and car tracks. We finished our amazing road trip at the Cheesecake Factory, where Everly enjoyed helping herself to mommy’s angel hair pasta by grabbing it from her plate to self-serve. It was a delicious and filling meal for all 3 of us and we headed to the airport to begin our journey back home. What an amazing and successful trip with a toddler, go Everly!
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
EVERLY'S FAVE TOYS AND DRINKS
