Just the Two of Us

Not including our Honeymoon, Clint and I have never taken a vacation all by ourselves. We have always been with either friends or family. Don't get me wrong, I love our family and friends and love to go on vacation with them. But, this year I wanted to do something with just Clint; no one else. Clint has to take 5 days off in a row, so we decided to go to Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zions National Parks. Mostly because Clint has never been to any of them, or if he has he doesn't remember them, and also because I had to write a report on a national park for the class I took this summer (all done!). Just a disclaimer: Because it was just the two of us on this trip, most, if not all, of the pictures on this post will be of Clint and me. :)

First stop: Bryce Canyon National Park! This is my favorite National Park in Utah (I haven't been to any outside of Utah, so I can't say). It wasn't too hot, which was oh so nice! In fact, it didn't get over 85 degrees while we were there. I think that's almost perfect! If you ever want to go somewhere out of the country, but don’t want to spend a lot of money, go to Bryce Canyon. There were so many people from out of the country that at times I felt like I was in Europe or Asia! Everyone was speaking anything but English.

Clint and Me

(It was a little bit of a challenge at times to get a good picture of us with no one else to take it.)

The one thing I really wanted to do was to go down into Bryce Canyon and hike among the red, orange, and white rock. I LOVED it! I wished we could have done it all day, but my feet hurt after awhile. Wow it's been a long time since I've actually hike!

(A very nice man, who barely spoke English, took our picture after seeing us struggle to take it ourselves!)

Clint gathering firewood like a real man!

We didn't want to camp in the campgrounds and we happened to see a friend of ours who is a Park Ranger, so she told us of a nice road to go on to find a spot to camp. It was PERFECT!! I think this was my favorite part of the entire trip! Although there wasn't a bathroom, the view and secludedness made up for it. We would just sit on our camping chairs and look around listening to the crickets in the trees (not sure what they were, but we called them 'our bugs'. They sounded a lot like crickets, but faster). We stayed here two nights because it was so nice. We were kind of sad to leave (kind of because I wanted a real bathroom!)

The view from our camping spot.  Georgeous!

Next stop, the Grand Canyon! So, I've been to the Grand Canyon on the North side, and I wasn't all that impressed. This is how it went my first time there: 'Oh cool! That is really far down. WOW! Ok, let's go.'  I told Clint this, but he still wanted to see it. I don't think he really believed me. He sure did when we got there! He said: 'This is it? I mean it's cool and all, but I thought it would be better.'

We did a short little hike, sat in the shade and watched people marvel at the Grand Canyon, took some pictures, and then we left. It sure is amazing! (but Bryce Canyon is better).

Yep!  Sure is Grand!

We were going to camp in a campground near Grand Canyon, but as we drove around it, we still couldn't get over how secluded it was at our last spot and how close together everyone was at this campground (no privacy at all!), so we didn't. We drove back to Kanab and stayed in a small campground just outside of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. There were people there, but they were on the other side of the campground and there were lots of trees, so it was nice. I think I only saw one person the whole time we were there. Plus, it was only $5!

And last, but not least, Zion National Park. It was so HOT!! But, I thought it was beautiful! One hike (it was really a walk) went right next to the river and ended at the river so you could get in and play. At first I didn't know this and I saw people with their swim suits on and I thought to myself: That is not good hiking attire! I was so confused, until we reached the end. The river was nice and refreshing! We took our socks and shoes off and waded in the freezing cold water. I sat down in it and I was dry by the time we got back to the shuttle bus; that is how hot it was! I would love to go back when it's not so hot and when I'm not so ready to take a shower!  Four days is a little too long for me to not take a shower.

(It took us awhile to get this picture!  Fourth time's the charm!)

The water was so cold and so nice!

I have to be honest; I was a little worried to go on a trip all by ourselves for this long. What if I didn’t like being with him for so long? Or what if we got sick of each other? But, I am happy to say, we didn’t. It was so nice to get away from TV, work, the internet, cell phones and especially the Xbox. I had Clint all to myself for 4 whole days, and it was so nice! Sometimes I wish we could do this every day. I guess if we did, it wouldn’t be called a vacation.