We took our family vacation earlier this year due to where we wanted to go. UTAH! There was no way we wanted to be there in July for our first experience of this wonderful state! So we took spring break and headed there in March. We broke up our driving two days, that works best for me to be honest, my husband would drive straight through all 14 hours.
We found our way to Moab, Utah and it was our base camp for three nights, staying in a nice Airbnb condo. The town of Moab I don’t feel is really much to talk about but we didn’t mind because our goal was Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We arrived around lunch time and after eating walked on the edge of town which was a nice way to end our first day there. Visiting the few shops and I will tell you of two places that have awesome yummy sweets!
First there is Doughbird Donuts, do not go to Moab without going there. It’s delish! And the staff was super friendly & patient! The second place we enjoyed was Crystal’s Cakes & Cones. We did eat regular meals out but to be honest nothing was out of the ordinary other than these two places. It was your average food and so so service. The cupcakes were excellent and the ice cream good too. The gluten free chocolate was my daughter’s favorite cupcake she’d ever had. She doesn’t have to eat gluten free she just ordered it on a whim.
On to the important stuff – the hiking! Our first day was at the Arches National Park, we didn’t need to register for timed entry as that wasn’t starting until April this year. We are early risers so we got our donuts and were at the park entry by 8:00 a.m. We decided to drive through to the last area and start there, working our way back out. We feel this was a good choice, being early there weren’t too many people. We did need our winter coats, gloves and hats but nothing too harsh. We enjoyed the day as it was sunny. More people showed up as the day continued. Our advice is get up early and hit the park! We were done by early afternoon.
On this day my fitness tracker said I did over 8 miles and had 19,710 steps. My body felt it as there were inclines but I felt wonderful. Being in nature and hiking feeds my soul! 🙂 It was a good ache and happy time for our family! Our teenager didn’t even complain much at all. Milton hiked farther than us girls on the primitive trail to Double O Arch. We headed back and relaxed while waiting on him.
Here are some photos from Arches and our stay in Moab. I thought pictures were better than a bunch of words this go around!
We all agreed that we enjoyed Canyonlands National Park more than anything else on our vacation. We only did the Island in the Sky area though. The hiking was different than Arches. We did the same thing and drove all to the end of that area and made our way back. It was a delightful time and we packed a sandwich lunch each day and ate in our vehicle while resting. I loved the weather!
After we we were done in that area of Utah we headed to Midway but our main adventure there was cancelled. Our luck at getting to go actually dog sledding in snow is not good. This was the third time we have attempted to go and something interferred! So I booked the other two a snowmobiling ride while I relaxed at the condo! 🙂 I loved it and they enjoyed themselves too! We ate at Cafe Galleria in Midway outside in the domes. It was really a fun experience. Food was just okay.
Off we went to Cheyenne, Wyoming to spend some time with my brother and nephew. We stayed in another Airbnb and it was probably one of the nicest I have ever been in. I am going to share the link here but I do have to admit I might not be using Airbnb again. I have used them since 2016 and ALWAYS had great experiences with all my hosts. It totally isn’t the hosts in my experience. It was the customer service or should I say the lack of I was given when our account got hacked upon returning home. Anyway we stayed in three separate places and they were all good. This last one in Cheyenne was stellar. No joke. The pictures do not lie and the hosts have put so many amenities in that it’s a great place to stay!
Our time in Cheyenne was spent catching up with family and hitting a few local tourist spots! My favorite was the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, it’s free and it was lovely inside. The outdoors obviously in March wasn’t blooming but do visit, bonus is it’s free! We toured the Capital building which had been remodeled recently and the Wyoming Museum, plus the Railroad Museum. We had super great food at both places my brother took us too. Sanford’s Grub and Pub but the stellar one was Wyoming Rib & Chop House. Do go if you are in Cheyenne!
We know that we are extremely lucky to be able to take at least one vacation a year. We save for it and choose places within the United States. I didn’t grow up taking a yearly vacation, Milton did some I think. We wanted to be be sure Paige enjoys and sees different things. It creates memories and that’s important because one day in reality, that’s all you end up with. Is memories to fill the passing days. I’m glad we took this trip, maybe some day I’ll make my way back to Utah!
Thanks for stopping by!
Julie
In Between the Sunsets of Life 