Honeymoon Road Trip: Day 1

Even though Vince and I got married almost a year ago in September, we are just now taking our honeymoon. Between school full time and work full time, it just hasn't been able to happen until now! To celebrate, we are taking a 15 day road trip from Flagstaff up to Seattle, then slowly down the coast. I will post about each day, though not necessarily on that day! I feel like breaking it up will be the only way I'll actually post about the trip because it's a lot less daunting. Some pictures are taken with the iPhone and the other with my Canon Rebel T2i.

Vince and I somehow survived NINETEEN HOURS together in a car and didn't get into a single fight. For real. That never happens on long drives! He usually tells me a wrong direction, I call him stupid, and we both panic because we're going 80 miles per hour and I'm yelling at him. This time I accepted the fact that I would get wrong directions but we would still arrive at our destination. I'm kind of turning into a grown-up. Unsurprisingly, it made the trip much more pleasant and easy.

On Thursday morning after I had my final for my statistics class, I came home to clean the house for the wonderful people watching the dog/fish/house (thanks Melissa and Zach!) and finish packing. I was running around all crazy but somehow managed to get everything we needed done. I even decorated the car with window crayons!


We left town around 2:30 and hit the road for what we thought was going to be our camp at Yuba Lake State Park. Shortly into the drive it started raining and was wonderful.



I've driven through the reservation many times and while I think it's beautiful, it's only beautiful for so long. This time, though, it was breathtaking. I couldn't believe it could be so gorgeous. The clouds were so richly colored and there was lightning everywhere. The sand/dirt is usually a light pink, but since it was wet it was a deep rich red. Needless to say, I fell in love with rain in the desert. (Vince took these pictures on my phone, by the way, I was driving!)

I wanted to make the drive fun and relaxing, so we made frequent stops. The main exciting place was The Glen Canyon Dam, which made Vince nervous because of the height!




We drove across the 'new' bridge for the first time as well. For those of you who don't know, you used to drive across the dam, but because of national security and the fear of someone blowing it up, they built a fancy new bridge. It's such an odd thing for me because I've always driven over the dam and it's sad to think my kids won't get that kind of experience!

Since Vince had never been before, we also went in the visitors center.



When we got to Zion National Park, which I thought our campground was close to, I told Vince I'd drive another 10 miles before I stopped at a gas station to ask if our camp was close because I felt like we should have been there by then. After not finding it, I asked a lady that worked at a gas station if Yuba Lake was close and she said, "If you think 3 hours is close, then yes." I almost started crying. Vince and I were both really hungry and expected our drive to only be 4 1/2 hours so we could set up camp before dark. We ended up calling my dad (instead of using our phones...doh!) and he said we were indeed 3 hours away from where we wanted to be. So instead of driving the 3 hours, we drove an hour to the next camp site in Panguitch, Utah.

We got to the Hitch & Post around 9 and set up camp in the dark and made some dinner of pork, bell peppers, onions, spinach and a salad.

We were both so excited to be able to be out of the car! I was also extremely excited to use the lantern and stove that we had bought. I grew up using these exact styles when we camped, so it was crazy to see that the design hasn't changed in years. Needless to say, I love them and Vince does now, too. We also enjoyed some gin and tonics that I got for an early birthday present (thanks Lynn and Kyle!) before we got ready for bed.

As I was setting up the lantern mantles, I hit them which made parts of it fall apart, causing a creepy smiley face!

Shortly after eating,  we got ready for bed and it started pouring again, but luckily we were cozy and in sleeping bags! If you are ever driving through Utah and need to camp around Panguitch, I highly recommend this place! The owner, Randy, was extremely nice and accommodating for us to show up so late (it was 10pm Utah time) and at the last minute. It was a great and quiet little camp spot!