The Nommesens purchased their first new vehicle ever and wanted to put it through its paces. A trip to visit Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks was in order! Over two thousand miles would take us to see Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches national parks as well as a few other places of interest.
Take a good look at these two beautiful ladies. This is the last you’ll see of them in this post. Mommy and nursing Infinity wisely decided that this epic journey would be a little too much for the whole family crammed together, so they accompanied us to Las Vegas for a few blissful days at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Daddy, Zhenya, and Princeton headed North from Vegas where they enjoyed exploring the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park near Kanab, Utah.
Princeton insisted on hiking to the top of the highest dune. Optimus Prime didn’t quite make it.
We next headed to Zion National Park and enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation.
Princeton even took a dip in the Virgin River running through Zion.
Early the next day we made it to Bryce Canyon, another wonder for the eyes.
It proved difficult to get all three of us smiling in a photo.
The Land Rover Discovery Sport proved itself to be awesomely capable off-road.
Princeton hadn’t done any real hiking previously, and this was a good introduction.
The next stop was Capitol Reef National Park.
We were then off to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks where we saw some of our first arches.
There are actually 1000s of arches amongst the parks, and each is beautifully unique in size and appearance.
Whenever we had the chance, and especially around Moab, we took the Land Rover off the beaten path.
We stayed in a town called “Mexican Hat” near the Utah/AZ border. This is the rock formation from which the town gets its name. Zhenya said, “Why don’t they call it Sombrero?”
After our visit to the Mighty Five national parks, we stopped by Horseshoe Bend.
We then experienced an excellent tour from native Navaho guides through Monument Valley.
Last stop before heading back to San Diego was Antelope Canyon. Absolutely breathtaking!
This was a lot of driving while staying in little hotels and Airbnbs, but we all really had a great time, built some quality memories, and kept it together for the most part.
