After we left Las Vegas we drove straight to Zion National Park in Utah. It was one of the places my mom most wanted to see, and it did not disappoint. One of the first signs that we were close to the park entrance was this gift shop, which is the only visible thing on this stretch of land and quite possibly the most well done place of its kind that I have ever seen. Gorgeous, with a sense of humor!

After you pass the gift shop you enter the town of Springdale, which is the most adorable place I’ve ever been. Hyperbole, but it’s true. If we’d had more time I could have jumped out of the car, walked the entire length of the main street, and taken pictures of every single amazing house and resort. If you can make out the house behind the tree in the “Field of Dreams” picture below, you’ll get an idea of what they were all like. Absolute perfection.

By the time we made it into the actual park it was already 6:00 PM or so and Bambi wasn’t allowed on any of the trails, so I took the shuttle to the shortest hike while Mom hung back at the visitor’s center. It was a quick paved trek to a waterfall. Beautiful, and only a small slice of the massive park grounds. I will be honest and say that I really struggled with editing these photos. All of that orange, green and blue…very difficult to get right and I’m not sure I succeeded. Going to keep working on them!

What we’d wished we’d known before I went on the hike by myself and before Bambi got attacked by a deer in the parking lot (that’s another story) is that the drive OUT of Zion is the most beautiful part! I took so many photos on the road out that I think I could make a stop-motion film. These images don’t nearly do it justice. We oohed and aahed around every turn as the color of the rocks and the light changed.

We came to stop behind several cars at the top of a hill. Noticing that the drivers were all standing outside of their vehicles with their cameras, I grabbed mine and jumped out to join them. I rounded to the corner to see a herd of 30 or 40 mountain goats just above us on the rocks. They were calm and friendly and no further than a few yards away. It was a truly unforgettable sight and experience.

As dusk drew closer we made our way towards Bryce Canyon, where we’d be staying for the night, just making one last stop at this ranch to see the horses. Couldn’t resist.