NC>UT
It’s our third trip out west together! It appears that I love to drive and Birch loves to ride so we make a good duo. While he is generally energetic and wants to run, run, run, he will happily ride in the car looking out the back window for hours at a time. What a bud!
NC>TN. Our first stop was in west Tennessee to spend time with my sister and her family. It was a quick visit but I was able to stay in their new home and see a little bit of their town and routine. Lacey (my sister) then joined me to continue the journey west. We researched the best route to Utah and while generally a more northern route (St. Louis and then west) is quicker, there was quite a bit of winter weather and very cold weather so we settled on a southern route.
TN>Shamrock, TX. We had a full day of driving and made it to Shamrock, Texas for the night. We stayed at a cozy Best Western (apparently the Best Western’s out West are nicer than the east coast). I’ll have to look into Best Eastern’s for my east coast travels. It was an uneventful leg of the trip but very cold and blustery. We woke up to blowing snow and 6 degree temps.
Shamrock> Cortez,Co. Our drive had been very overcast, foggy, and cold from NC to Texas but as we entered Albuquerque, New Mexico, we were awarded blue skies and MUCH warmer weather. We made a stop somewhere between Albuquerque and Cortez for a quick desert hike in beautiful weather.
We arrived in Cortez, Colorado after dark but what we could see of this Southwestern town looked very cute. I highly recommend going to Mesa Verde National Park if you are traveling through this area. We didn’t get to go this time around due to time constraints but we’ve been on past trips. The drive up to the park is beautiful and “Cliff Palace” is well preserved and fascinating to see.
Cortez>Moab>Ogden, Utah. We didn’t stay in Moab but we stopped for a hike to Corona Arch. It’s outside of the national parks so Birch was able to join. It was a beautiful, sunny day with 45 degree temps that we ended up feeling very hot in lol. I can’t imagine hiking some of those areas in the summer. The pic at the very top of this post is Corona Arch and the two below are from the hike as well.
It was a perfect hike to stretch our legs and have a moment to enjoy the beauty of this area. The drive from Cortez to Moab and then onward to Utah was beautiful as well. We made it to Ogden, Utah in the early evening in time to eat dinner with our brother, Jared, and his family.
Part 2 coming soon! Thanks for reading!
