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Southwest 2015 – Zion, Images of a Winter Dreamland
Monday, December 14th, 2015 Julia and I awoke on what would be our very last day in the town of Springdale. For the last few days, we waited patiently for a snow storm to hit that we had been hearing about all week long, but it never came, that is until we looked out the window this morning. It was snowing and the mountains were covered in it! This seriously could not have been better timed. Rather than pack up, check out, and go home, we stayed for the day and spent our last hours here exploring through a new snow covered Zion. With our camera gear mounted up and…
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Southwest 2015 – Lazy Sunday at the Virgin River
Sunday, December 13th, 2015 Julia and I woke up super late today. We were very sore from all the resistance hiking through The Narrows yesterday so today was definitely going to be a lazy Sunday for us. Our knees were aching, but our attitudes remained positive as we slowly made our way out of the hotel and on to another small venture for the day. We didn’t want anything too crazy, so we settled on a casual walk along the Virgin River just south of the main entrance to the park. It was practically lunch, so we grabbed a quick bite at Cafe Soleil since it would be our last…
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Southwest 2015 – Journey Into the Narrows of Zion
Saturday, December 12th, 2015 When the alarm went off this morning, we wasted no time in getting breakfast, showering up, and gathering all our camera gear for today’s adventure. This was not the typical day of hiking or photo venturing, it was an epic voyage into the Narrows of Zion. Julia was excited and so was I. Once we had all our stuff together, we drove to the Zion Adventure Company to get a crash course on the Narrows including navigation and what to do in case the water level rises suddenly due to a flash flood. After watching the short video brief, we got all our rental gear and suited…
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Southwest 2015 – Secret Petroglyphs and Slot Canyons
Friday, December 11th, 2015 This morning we awoke to some pretty ominous clouds in the sky and wondered if the snow storm was coming in a bit early. Julia and I didn’t want to waste any time so we got ourselves some breakfast downstairs and then got cleaned up and ready to hit the road. We wanted to stop off at the Zion Adventure Company for some general questions about the Narrows tomorrow. The girl we spoke to said that there was the possibility of a flash flood today and so booking ourselves for the next day was a good idea. I wanted to explore the region of the park…
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Southwest 2015 – Riverside Walk and Journey to the Overlook
Thursday, December 10th, 2015 After the long drive from Page via U.S. Route 89A, Julia and I were exhausted so we crashed pretty hard last night and woke up a bit on the tired side, but that didn’t stop us from heading downstairs at 6:30 a.m. to get our mittens on some of the Holiday Inn Express’ complimentary breakfast which I have to say was not that bad at all compared to some of the more awful complimentary breakfast options I’ve experienced at other places I’ve lodged at. We didn’t have much in mind for today, so Julia and I talked about what we should do. She had mentioned the…
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Southwest 2015 – Old State Route 89A to Zion National Park
Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 Today we get to load up the Starship and check out of our room at the Holiday Inn Express in Page, Arizona. We will be leaving the Navajo Nation for Springdale, Utah by way of Arizona State Route 89A, a section of highway that traverses the regions of the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. Neither Julia or myself have ever traveled that way so this was going to be a really cool day of pure highway exploration. We grabbed ourselves a quick breakfast and hit the road immediately out of town. Traveling Route 89 south to the 89A junction provided some really fantastic views of…
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Southwest 2015 – The Land of Towering Sandstone
Monday, December 7th, 2015 Julia and I got hopping to another awesome adventure that would have us traveling eastbound through the Great Navajo Nation today. We had a light breakfast, showered up, then packed all our camera gear and equipment into the Starship. We had a long drive ahead of us and no time to spare. We left our hotel in Page, Az and started our drive along Highway 98 to Monument Valley. About 30 minutes into our drive, I saw a hitchhiker which I typically avoid, but something compelled me to pick him up. I hit the brakes as we approached and stopped to pick him up. Our new…
