It may have taken millions of years for the sights that were about to unfold unto our family road trip in the SouthWest Desert and Rocky Mountains; it took almost as many for us to finally make it to the airport to begin our nine day impromptu road trip!

We had used openchatGPT to aid and assist in the winter road trip to avoid any unknown pitfalls or otherwise dumb mistakes that could occur and our plan was simple; fly in/out of Las Vegas, rent an all wheel drive SUV style car and hit as many National Parks as we could, the route was rather simple yet expansive.

Upon landing at LAS on Tuesday, our squad consisting of my wife, two oldest daughters and their one year old Chihuahua set our sights on stop one, In-n-Out burger where we ordered off menu Double-Double Animal Style with whole grilled onion and chopped chiles, fries well-done, and a half lemonade half pink. So there. Then onwards to Zion National Park. We knew day one was in effect a travel day as the early morning arrival at the airport, flight and such would be exhaustive enough; we just wanted to get an hour or so away from the Vegas strip and start our journey afresh the following day.

We drove and enjoyed the sights of SouthEast Nevada and stopped for the evening in Mesquite, a town that offered Holiday Inn Resort just off the highway with an included morning breakfast and an outdoor hot tub. The property was under rebranding and upgrading yet the room was beyond more than adequate for our needs. The front desk said the property was previously used as a youth sports center for teams and coaches for skills, workshops, conferences and tournaments.

The surrounding scenery was above average and two of the biggest takeaways from this stay was the most awesome outdoor hot tub that was actually warm and had athlete style jets to massage my sore knees. The other takeaway was a most incredible breakfast buffet included with our room, brand name healthy yogurt, range free eggs, nutritious fruit and breakfast meats, just short of an omelet station and we were at a high end brunch.

We continued our journey Wednesday and drove past the main entrance to make a side trip to Kolob Canyons just North of our destination. To say the five mile drive and it’s unveiling sights were indescribable is not only a metaphor, it’s also the truth. The view included viewing a 2000 foot cliff wall and the sun bouncing reflecting such significant hues from an extraordinary pallet that only nature could create is unworthy and almost disrespectful to the grandeur of the eyes witness.

In silence, we made our way to home base which was a Marriott SpringHill Suite just outside the South entrance in Springdale, UT. Before checking in we had time for the Visitor Center to get a map of the park and take a short drive enjoying the sunset of this natural wonder. As our vehicle crept through the uncluttered, unpopulated and seemingly easy drive it was all we could do to not just audibly awe, gosh, wow and whoa at almost every turn. It wasn’t until we came to the infamous Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel we discovered we were not on the scenic drive. This became a popular one-liner on our trip as we made this discovery several times at almost every other park saying “We’re not even on the Scenic Drive yet!” and laughing incredulously. We returned to the hotel via the local coffee shop to gather our breath and a caffeine jolt as were still on midwest time. The outdoor hot tub offered an exceptional view of the surrounding park and the water was warm and the jets were quite disappointing from the night before #sidenote.

Thursday morning we had an absolutely breathtaking stroll from our room to a brief breakfast in the morning really set the tone for the day and the entire trip. The scenic drive was just that, a very beautiful drive from the canyon floor looking up in total adoration of the colors, textures, shadows, depth, height and sky left us dumbfounded and speechless.

Exiting the park through the East entrance on our drive to the next destination, Bryce Canyon, we observed Big Horn Sheep, Mule Deer and Buffalo or maybe Bison, not sure. We arrived in sparsely offseason populated Bryce Canyon City, UT with enough time for a quick drive to the VC and Bryce Point located in the Amphitheater section of this park. Wow! This view alone stood out as one the most indelible visuals that almost the entire trip would be compared with, until the next park lol. We enjoyed a rather uneventful supper and the hot tub was well, the outside view was spectacular the water temp and jets just underwhelmed to say the least.

Friday morning we had our complimentary breakfast and set out on the Bryce Canyon Scenic drive and were met with iconic and outstanding views from above the land, whereas at Zion we looked up, at Bryce we looked downward. We exited the park in unison giving thanks to the park, it’s nature, it’s serenity and it’s awesomeness.

Our next stop was to be Capitol Reef NP on our way to Moab. This stretch of driving and what awaited us on the other end just may have been the Super Bowl, Grand Slam, Slam dunk, Hat trick, SportsCenter highlight of the entire week. Making our way from Bryce we traversed Utah route 12 and a brief stop in Escalante, Utah we made a SouthEast turn and stopped at the Heads of Rocks overlook where all I could declare was something like “That is Nut, Whacky, Whacky!” We walked and took some pictures and just stood in silence and breathed the incredible nourishing giving air to let our eyes feast on the majesty of nature. Our GPS may have given us a two hour estimation to complete this drive to Capitol Reef NP, however it took us much longer as we drove under the speed limit and stopped frequently enough to allow ourselves to just appreciate the land before us.

We came out of the Utah route 12 at Torrey, Utah in late afternoon and that’s when the bottom fell out. the bottom of our jaws. We slowly drove into the park where we were met with such vivid, classical, nurturing, embodied, full, nutrient, eye popping red, red like nothing we’d ever witnessed, Not the red of a fire truck, the red of Earth’s core, the red of passion, the red of integrity, the red of love, the red of God and we weren’t even on the scenic drive.

The lodging for the night was a Lodge that offered a wellness spa and retreat. Our evening dining was on property and was just outstanding. I had the hunters burger which was ground pork, beef, buffalo and anything else local and my squad had Quinoa bowls, you can find their review on the property and meals at Google Maps.

Now it’s Saturday morning and we’ve just about hit the halfway mark, we are all pleased, joyous, effervescent, jubilant, inspired, creative and feeling the spirit of mother Earth and nature as we make our way from this heavenly location to Moab, UT for our much anticipated trek through the afternoons Arches NP and Canyonlands the following morning.

We got a late start Sunday morning as we took the scenic drive through Capitol Reef on our way to Route 24, stopping along the way to still enjoy the incredible height and grandeur of these upright and stoic rocks. Eventually we met with Route 91 that brought us to the awesomeness and eye popping scenery of Arches NP. The scenic drive was just that, very scenic, most of the arches were visible from the road and did not require unloading to appreciate all their beauty.

Then we drove to Canyonlands in the later afternoon to discover it’s sedimentary colors and layers from high above the rock line. We enjoyed the scenic drive and circled back to begin our trek further South and to overnight at Monument Valley.

Our arrival at Monument Valley came just as the sun was setting and offered the same view John Ford was able to capture in numerous old time western films. It was a long way on the trail but we made it and it was worth every mile. Our lodging was on the Navajo nation reservation and we enjoyed comfortable quarters that were once the headquarters for the Ford films and the actor John Wayne. Many of the buildings are still in tact and offered a glimpse of what those movie style sets were like and used during the filming.

Monday morning we enjoyed breakfast at the lodge and took the scenic drive through Monument Valley where I was able to remember seeing each and every rock formation in living color as I had remembered on late night black and white late night television! Then we continued our drive down Route 160 through historic Tuba City home of many famous Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, west on Route 64 to the Eastern entrance to the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed many a scenic view and pullovers. We were completely mesmerized and awed at the sheer grandness of such a canyon. Even after our previous sights from above and below the cliff of the other National Parks, it truly is the Grand Canyon. We continued our drive with a planned overnight at Williams, AZ where we found comfortable lodging along the original Route 66.

Tuesday morning we ventured into old Williams and a true western apparel store and bought some souvenirs before beginning our trek brought us back to Las Vegas to meal at Lawry’s and overnight at Virgin Hotel. Well, I guess it could only happen to us and it most certainly could have only been in LV, however as me, my wife and two daughters walked through the lobby/casino we saw signage denoting our hotel was hosting the Adult Video Network Awards (Oscars for Pornstars) during our stay. While we did not make it to the trade show floor, there was plenty to see throughout the hotel.

That night we enjoyed our Grand Finale, dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib and it did not disappoint, again you can see the full review for Lawry’s on Google Maps. Afterwards we drove up, down and throughout the strip cranking music and singing aloud. Once back at the hotel we did some gaming before retiring for the night.

Wednesday morning we checkout of the hotel and drove to the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive enjoying several beautiful pullovers and stops before heading to the nearest In-n-Out burger to repack and head to the airport to return the car and begin our return to Chicago.

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While these photo’s do not in any way shape or form do justice to this trip I can only offer this salacious appetizer blog post to tell you this, just buy yourself an airfare, rent a car and do the route yourself, or with a carload. Don’t spend time looking at all of this incredulous, outstanding, inspiring, amazing, jaw dropping landscape through your phone, video or film camera.

Enjoy the work of nature and it’s art for the sake of art and beauty.