We flew from Paris to Chicago, just in time for my sister’s birthday. We were only there a few days, but it was great to be at my sister’s for her birthday and partake in the obligatory debauchery. We also got to see her ice factory and meet a lot of her friends and coworkers. It was nice to meet such great people and even made me a bit wistful for a working environment. There is definitely something to be said about feeling accomplished at the end of a day.

My job at the moment, however, is to travel. So we left Chicago for the exotic land of… Utah? It was a spur of the moment decision- I had no expectations other than a quick visit to see my friend who lives in Salt Lake City. Little did I know of the spectacular wonders of nature that awaited us… The day after my friend Jana picked us up from the airport, she took us to a hike called Secret Lake. It really wasn’t that secret, considering all the hikers we saw… and not surprising, since it was a short but scenic hike to a small alpine lake nestled in the mountains.

 

After helping Jana with a few home remodeling projects, we packed up her Subaru (it seems everyone in Utah owns one) and headed south to Moab and Arches National Park for the weekend. I’m sure I had seen pictures of the area before, probably in calendars or posters with inspirational quotes. But really- wow. If you love nature and spectacular rock formations, put this one on your bucket list because it really was amazing. The whole area was at one time under water and over time, the water has eroded pathways in the stone, wearing away huge chunks until nothing is left but canyons, spires, and arches galore. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

The next morning, we packed up our campsite and took a short drive across the valley to Fisher Towers, which is popular with climbers. We took a short walk just to gape in awe at the towers, and then went into the town of Moab for breakfast.

Our next destination was the Delicate Arch (on the Utah license plate). A rain shower happened to be passing over us at the time, which made for an exciting time with huge claps of thunder chasing us up the side of the cliff. I was a little nervous hiking on slippery mud cliffs in the rain, but apparently it takes more than that to shake Jana off the trail.

After Delicate Arch, we took a drive over to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands to the overlooks, which were quite spectacular…

…and then back to Salt Lake, where we collapsed in our beds for a well deserved rest. Thank you Jana and thank you Utah!