Keep on Driving

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY


Yellowstone was quite an interesting place to visit! We ended up driving around the park for about eight hours to get from the east entrance to the west entrance on Wednesday. By the end of the day, it would be an understatement to say we were tired. Before going to Yellowstone we were most excited to see the wildlife (if you didn't know, we LOVE bears!). And did we ever see a bear! We saw a bear, plenty of deer, and buffalo/bison (did you know that buffalo and bison are actually the same thing)?

A Bear! 

A Bison!

An Elk! 

Our second day in Yellowstone was much more exciting - we saw old faithful and took a hike! Old faithful was awesome and we were pretty silly on our hike.

Hiding in a Cave

Jumping off a Log

Mom jumping off a Log

We also managed to get the cutest picture ever of the two of us! 

My mom and me at Yellowstone! 

After we left yellowstone we drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to have dinner through a little town called Moose, Wyoming. My mom and I have a little inside joke about moose from our first road trip my senior year of high school. Lucky for us, we saw moose in Moose!

Moose in Moose! 

We then spent then night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FRIDAY 

On Friday we ate at yet another Diner, Drive-In, and Dive. We ate lunch at The Red Iguana in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a mexican restaurant that is known for their seven variations of mole sauce. It was pretty good! We then drove to Bryce Canyon, Utah, which is in the southern part of the state. We got in early, but too late to really see anything, so we ate an early dinner and went to bed. 

SATURDAY

On Saturday we explore Bryce Canyon National Park and it was amazing! It might even be my favorite place that I have ever been! We did a three mile hike, then got lost, and ended up having to walk an additional two miles back to the visitors center to get back to our car - womp womp. 

Mom at Bryce

Me at Bryce

The sign for our hike!

My favorite thing about Bryce Canyon were the strange land formations known as Hoodoos. Hoodoos are strange formations that look like icicles sticking up from the ground made out of rock. They are bright orange and they are awesome! 

Hoodoos! 

After we explored Bryce we drove about two hours to St. George, Utah. In St. George we ate another incredible dinner by sheer luck and the help of the internet. We ate at Xetava Gardens Cafe which ended up being incredible! My mom and I shared an appetizer of fried avocado and fried artichoke hearts with a basil pesto sauce. It was amazing and I can totally replicate it if I bake it instead of fry it - panko crusted vegetables, so easy. For our entree we shared a New York Strip with avocado and potatoes with a veal demi glace. It was SO GOOD. 

yummm

We were the last customers in the restaurant, there an hour after the restaurant closed, and we really couldn't resist ordering dessert because we were so thrilled with our dinner. They are known for their bread pudding, but my mom and I are chocolate people, so we asked if we could have a half portion of two desserts. Our wonderful waitress said yes, but then surprised us and gave us two whole desserts and only charged us for one! And to let you know, it took us two separate occasions to finish all of this dessert.

Double yummm

TODAY/SUNDAY

Today was another amazing day. We drove forty-five minutes to Zion National Park from our hotel. My mom and I decided to be super courageous and go on a hike while through a river. We rented waling sticks and had a blast. We hiked one mile to the river, and one mile back. We think we made it about a half mile in to the river, and a half mile back. We wanted to go further but thunder started to roll in and we were urged to turn around due to a flash-flood warning. Regardless - it was the coolest thing we have ever done! 

Mom in the Water

Me in the Water

Mom Again

Me

Mom is so strong!

 We were even lucky enough to see some animals on our hike today!

Deer

Squirrel 

Tonight we had a pretty low-key time just hanging out in our hotel room. Tomorrow we are very excited to drive to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon! I will tell you about it tomorrow, hopefully.