Onward!

Early Friday morning, we jumped into the car with Team Idaho for an epic road trip. We drove southwest, to one of the most beautiful corners of the earth: southwest Utah. We traveled across the historic ocean bed of Utah and then turned south to see the "warp of the Earth's crust" at Capitol Reef National Park.

From Capitol Reef, we dropped further south to Bryce Canyon National Park. The landscape in this park is unbelievable. Mrs. Idaho equated it to the drip sandcastles you make as a kid at the beach. It is truly alien-like. We hiked down into the canyon to see the incredible formations up close. A dusting of snow made the images all the more stunning.

As if two national parks were not enough, we headed west to Zion National Park. While Zion does not have the bizarre formations like Bryce, the sheer scale of the cliffs is remarkable. The park is home to the highest limestone cliffs in the world. As one who has a fear of heights, I was blown away to see climbers clinging to the sides of these huge, seemingly-smooth cliffs.

Mr. Idaho had never been to the Grand Canyon so we dropped down into Arizona, paid homage to to the Glen Canyon dam and southern end of Lake Powell, and came into the park. It was sunset when we arrived and the light reflecting off the canyon was beautiful. We got up early to see some of the early rays hit the canyon as we hiked around the rim.

It completely blows my mind to stand in the presence of millions of years of geological history. The colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths are aesthetically beautiful. But when you really start to think about all the forces at work and passage of time that created the scene, it definitely gives one pause. We are but a spec!

While we were traveling, gas prices jumped about $.25, making us realize that a trip like this may not occur in the future. How will we afford it? What will happen to all the huge RVs and camper-folk in the park? Will the small, rural communities that surround the parks and depend on the tourism shrivel up? Its kinda scary to contemplate as I have so many memories of road trips. Particularly out here, the expanse of land you can see from a car is mind-blowing. What will happen? Should we buy a horse and covered wagon?