Utah's National Parks Trip: Day 7 (Red Canyon) & 8 (travel home)
We had zero plans for Friday May 8th other than knowing we needed to be in Salt Lake City by bedtime. I had reserved us hotel rooms near the airport for our Saturday morning flight but check in wasn't until 3 or 4. We did have a 4 hour drive but figured we could squeeze in one last adventure.
Minutes down the road from our rental was the entrance to Red Canyon. We went there as soon as we checked into our flights for the following day and checked out of our AirB&B (10:30). We hiked the Hoodoo trail to the Pink Ledges trail and back out to the parking lot. Then we had our picnic lunch in the shade of some trees in the park.
All the photos loaded in a random order but really it felt like one trail anyway..
Once lunch was done we piled into the car for our 4 hour drive into Salt Lake City. You could tell as soon as we hit the outskirts of the city as the traffic increased dramatically and we went from 2 to 7 lanes. Most of the time throughout Utah the speed limit was 80 and even though it wasn't that high in the city people still drove like it was.
We arrived at our hotel-- 4 Points by Sheraton, got checked in and headed down the road to a restaurant... that turned out to be inside another hotel. Oh well, it was still super yummy.
Then we went back to our rooms and slept. We got up around 6/6:30 took advantage of the free breakfast buffet at the hotel and headed to the airport. It was a fairly uneventful day of travel-- well for us anyway. We did have one guy that got airsick on our first flight then the second flight was delayed slightly as it had been an international flight before us and apparently they have to do some sort of safety check before using it again. 1/2 way through our second flight they announced that a nurse or doctor was needed if one was one board. But we kept on keeping on to Providence. When we landed we were all asked to stay in our seats so the EMT's could help the medical emergency off first-- and everyone did! Luckily she was sitting up and not on the stretcher by the time we all deplaned so I think she's going to be okay too.
We were home by 9:15 and for once I just left everything in the suitcase, took a shower and went to bed. I loved our trip so much but gosh I was so glad to be home again.
Others in this series:
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It sounds like you did an amazing job planning everything and things went pretty to very smoothly overall. That is terrible about the person needing medical assistance- that must have been a bit stressful on everything and hopefully the woman makes a full recovery. How cool that your Airbnb was near Red Canyon. A pretty large area of the state seems to have the red rock and hoodoos.
ReplyDeleteThings really did go very smoothly for the most part. It did seem like we saw lots of red rock and hoodoos and just all kinds of rock/mountain formations.
DeleteI am glad to hear the lady on your flight was sitting up! How scary. The rock formations are stunning - what a hike (or two!)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was glad to see her looking well (enough so that it didn't seem like they were sending her to the ER anyway). They were some really lovely hikes.
DeleteTravel days are long and stressful! I'm glad this one was rather smooth except for the airsickness and the emergency. I hope they are ok!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too; though both seemed to bounce back pretty quickly once we were on the ground.
DeleteYou do plan and take amazing vacations; this one is not an exception. Love the photos! #MMBC
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you!
DeleteVery pretty! Sounds like a great trip.
ReplyDeleteIt really was.
DeleteWhat a wonderful last adventure. Red Canyon looks a great place to visit. Fantastic photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It seemed like a fitting end to our trip.
DeleteUtah has so much to see, and such rustic topography to enjoy hiking! It does look like you were all able to see and do so much on your vacation, and I know it is also so good to go back to "home sweet home" at the end.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteWhat a great way to wrap up your trip! I just planned out some of our Ireland trip in September, and we will have a last day like this - driving a few hours to the airport and staying there overnight before a morning flight.
ReplyDeleteOh I bet that is so fun to plan.
DeleteSuch gorgeous scenery and photos to capture it. I'm sure you'll make a wonderful scrapbook keepsake. Glad the trip home was uneventful (mostly). A friend of mine was flying back from Maui last week and they had a connection into Phoenix. She said they got two hours into the flight to AZ and a passenger had a panic attack, started pacing, and asking for the door because he wanted off. The plane had to turn around and they ended up having to stay in an airport hotel for another 24 hours. Travel is not for the faint of heart in this decade!
ReplyDeleteI mean I felt so bad for whomever they were asking for the nurse/doctor for but I did start praying that we weren't going to have to turn around or make an emergency landing anywhere. At that point I really just wanted to get HOME.
DeleteYou had such a busy vacation.But it's incredible how much you saw.
ReplyDeleteThe scenery is so different than what you're used to I bet.And it's just so amazing. We have incredible views like that out here.And every day it reminds me how small I am.
Xoxo
Jodie
We really did! I am not typically one to sit around and rest/relax on vacation as I do like to be on the go but this was a whole lot of on the go.
DeleteSuch incredible rock formations. What a wonderful trip you had.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGorgeous trip, Joanne. The rock formations remind me of Sedona. I haven't been to Utah, and now, I see that I need to go. Bucket List! :)
ReplyDeleteAh Sedona is on my list-- I thought that might be a good point to try and see both the grand canyon and the petrified forest from.
DeleteThose rock formations are gorgeous! You really do such a good job researching where to go! Glad your flights were fairly uneventful.
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Thank you!
DeleteIt's so beautiful! I love how you squeezed this adventure in Joanne. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I fully admit this last one was my husband's idea.
DeleteMore incredible shots! What a wonderful end to an amazing trip. Loved seeing the hoodoos in person when we went.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Aw, thanks!
DeleteSuch a great trip! The scenery sure is beautiful, I've got to get out west again.
ReplyDeleteIt really is so beautiful.
DeleteThere's nothing quite like home, is there? What a fabulous trip - I'm so impressed with the beauty Utah and it's parks offer!
ReplyDeleteWe were too!
DeleteThe rock formations are stunning! What an amazing trip!
ReplyDeleteJill - Doused in Pink
Thanks!
DeleteMore gorgeous scenery- what an incredible trip Joanne!
ReplyDeleteIt really was incredible.
DeleteWhat a beautiful last adventure before heading home! I loved the Red Canyon photos — those pink rocks and trails are amazing. NOw I can see them, through your eyes. And I completely understand that feeling of loving a trip so much, but still being so glad to be home again.
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog through the NL Link Party, where you can also find my blog somewhere among the other links. :-)
Thank you! I will look for your blog.
DeleteIt's always a little unsettling when there's a medical emergency on the plane, but glad to hear she seemed ok. Love that picture of you standing against the rocks. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! That was my husband's idea
DeleteI remember driving through or past Red Canyon but we never stopped. I made a mental note if I am ever in the area again to go there. It looks incredible.
ReplyDeleteIt was really nice and we only saw a small portion of it. They had some really nice bike trails throughout too.
DeleteAre you the travel agent for your family? You do such a fabulous job. Where do you get the inspiration for your trips? All of your images are so fascinating! Driving in Salt Lake City would be scary. Here in the midwest, we have 3 and 4 lanes in Kansas City. Needless to say, I don't drive to the 'City' much. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your travels with us!
Have a fun week.
All the best.
Debra @ Life Captured
Yes, I am always the travel agent for our family. This trip was initiated by my youngest who asked if we could see some of the red rock parks like Arches. From there I looked to see if any other national parks were nearby and started reading all sorts of blogs I found on Pinterest about all the Utah National parks. I don't like any city driving but our cities here in New England while well populated are all pretty old and small... which leads to major traffic problems at times but not many lanes to navigate. And while traffic drives me nutty you can't really speed when no one is moving much.
DeleteThat photo of you in front of the canyon wall is really cool. It shows just how huge everything is out there!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThat is a wonderful way to wrap up your time there. It was an incredible trip. The two of you took lovely photos. I know what you mean, there is noting like your own bed. Will you be creating a scrapbook? I look forward to seeing those pages.
ReplyDelete-Soma
I will absolutely be working on some scrapbook pages from this trip.
DeleteJoanne, your trip to Utah is beautiful. Love seeing the red rock and hoodoos. Travel can be challenging these days. Thank you for sharing these fabulous photos at Love Your Creativity.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you so much.
DeleteIt sounds like it was a GREAT trip!
ReplyDeleteIt sure was!
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