Kevin and I set out last Saturday at 5:30 AM from Las Vegas to see the Grand Canyon. Here we are at an overlook in Hurricane, Utah. (Late that night, on our long drive back to Las Vegas, we were pulled over in Hurricane, Utah for speeding, so we have all kinds of memories from that town!)
And here is a long horned steer--too cute!
We stopped by Zion National Park in Utah to see the incredible sandstone formations.
How amazing are these rocks? I have never seen anything like this before!
While we stopped to marvel at the sandstone, this adorable little lizared scurried by:
I love vintage 1960's signs so I always take pictures of them. (I have a bunch of cool sign pictures from Santa Cruz too.) I snapped this photo quickly, and it wasn't until I got home and was going through my pictures that I actually read what the sign said...um, is the economy really so stagnant that the ladies of the night have to bake pies in the morning just to make ends meet?
We were driving along towards the Grand Canyon when I spotted this sign and begged Kevin to pull over so we could take a tour. What an amazing place--I could have spent the rest of our vacation there! If you haven't heard of Best Friends, here's their website:
http://www.bestfriends.org/ 
After our tour, we got back on the road and drove into Arizona. (I was able to add 3 new states to my list of states I have visited: Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I still have Mississippi, Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii to visit. I definitely think Hawaii should be my top priority!) It was quite overcast by the time we reached the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We paid our $25, drove into the park, and it started pouring rain, thundering and lightening. We debated turning back, but since we had already paid (and driven more than 300 miles to get there) we decided to make the best of it. This was my first impression of the Grand Canyon, as I was shivering out on a ledge, being pelted with icy rain and trying to avoid being struck by lightening!
We hid in the car until the rain let up a little, then we ventured out again. We walked along this path to a couple of different vistas and absolutely fell in love with the fragrance. It was a blend of cedar, sage, juniper and cliff roses mixed with that fresh rain smell--I wish my blog was scratch-n-sniff, it was such an incredible scent! I'm kind of obsessed with finding a candle or potpourri or linen spray or something that smells like that now--I want to wake up to that fragrance every morning! (It wasn't just me going nuts over the scent, Kevin wouldn't shut up about it either!)
I got a few more shots of the Grand Canyon, but it was still very foggy and overcast, so I'm not very happy with any of my photos:
And here is a long horned steer--too cute!
We stopped by Zion National Park in Utah to see the incredible sandstone formations. 
How amazing are these rocks? I have never seen anything like this before!
While we stopped to marvel at the sandstone, this adorable little lizared scurried by:
I love vintage 1960's signs so I always take pictures of them. (I have a bunch of cool sign pictures from Santa Cruz too.) I snapped this photo quickly, and it wasn't until I got home and was going through my pictures that I actually read what the sign said...um, is the economy really so stagnant that the ladies of the night have to bake pies in the morning just to make ends meet?
We were driving along towards the Grand Canyon when I spotted this sign and begged Kevin to pull over so we could take a tour. What an amazing place--I could have spent the rest of our vacation there! If you haven't heard of Best Friends, here's their website: http://www.bestfriends.org/ 
After our tour, we got back on the road and drove into Arizona. (I was able to add 3 new states to my list of states I have visited: Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I still have Mississippi, Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii to visit. I definitely think Hawaii should be my top priority!) It was quite overcast by the time we reached the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We paid our $25, drove into the park, and it started pouring rain, thundering and lightening. We debated turning back, but since we had already paid (and driven more than 300 miles to get there) we decided to make the best of it. This was my first impression of the Grand Canyon, as I was shivering out on a ledge, being pelted with icy rain and trying to avoid being struck by lightening!
We hid in the car until the rain let up a little, then we ventured out again. We walked along this path to a couple of different vistas and absolutely fell in love with the fragrance. It was a blend of cedar, sage, juniper and cliff roses mixed with that fresh rain smell--I wish my blog was scratch-n-sniff, it was such an incredible scent! I'm kind of obsessed with finding a candle or potpourri or linen spray or something that smells like that now--I want to wake up to that fragrance every morning! (It wasn't just me going nuts over the scent, Kevin wouldn't shut up about it either!)
I got a few more shots of the Grand Canyon, but it was still very foggy and overcast, so I'm not very happy with any of my photos:
Anyway, despite the inclement weather and the speeding ticket, we had a wonderful road trip. I would definitely love to go back to the Grand Canyon and see the south rim (and the north rim in the sunshine). I'll write a bit about Las Vegas later...
7 comments:
Maybe that's how the town Hurricane got its name: After the way people drive through it. ;-)
Thanks for the travelogue, including vintage sign and lizard. And I, too, wish your blog was scratch-n-sniff because that after rain scent sounds heavenly!
Ditto on the scratch and sniff! I too love the pics, cant believe the size of that steers horns! 25 dollars seems like a lot to pay to go into a park, here it would be about 10 dollars
Emily..your pictures are AMAZING!!!!! I love the "ho-made" pie sign..very funny.. I saw the Grand Canyon many, many years ago...don't remember much about it, so I really enjoyed seeing it again..and the fog and mist give the pics an ethereal quality..like the old Doris Day movies..LOVE IT!! Can't wait to see Vegas.. :)
P.S.That cedar/juniper/rain scent sounds wonderful..maybe you can try to recreate it and bottle it..I'd buy it..for sure!!!
Hey Em - Looks like you guys had a great time. I posted some pics of our time in Colorado on MySpace - take a look when you get a chance. It's too bad we were w/ Steve's fam - we coulda met you at there and seen the Grand Canyon together. You've got a less to visit than me. Gotta get that Hawaii one checked off soon.....
Wow, Emily, your pictures are fantastic! I've been to the Grand Canyon a couple of times and your photos immediately brought back memories of its magnificence. Wow, does that make me miss home.
Love the snap of you and Kevin, and the Ho-Made sign! LOL! Sounds like y'all had such a nice holiday. Shame about the speeding ticket... Did the scary Utah sheriff make you miss Norwegian speed cameras? :-)
Great photos! I could almost smell the juniper and rain!! It rained the first time we saw Grand Canyon too. Given how infrequently it does, you had an experience that most other people never get. It was thundering and lightening when we were there. It was very dramatic looking - and scarey! We were looking down on the storm from the rim. Glad you got to go to Best Friends also.
That pie sign is hysterical!!
Keera, that could be, I can't think of any other reason a land-locked town would be named "Hurricane"!
Joanne, most parks here are free or $5 or $10, but the national parks are a lot more expensive--I'm sure the views are worth it when the sun is shining!
Rosemary, I'm still working on recreating that scent--I'll let you know if I figure it out!
Jen, I can't believe you guys were there too, what a coincidence! I wish we could have gotten togehter...we'll have to figure out a fun place to go together in the near future!
Michele, the sherriff was so not scary, he was young and sweet and so apologetic about giving us a ticket. We referred to him as "Opie" for the rest of the trip!
Robin, how funny that you saw the Grand Canyon in the rain too--it's a very different view than what is shown on all the postcards! And yes, Best Friends was fantastic!
Emily
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