Zion National Park, Day 01

To know me, is to know that I'm down. For pretty much anything, anytime, anywhere. And when my sister-in-law asked us, "We got a random camping day in Zion, wanna come?", you know what my answer was.

I love a road trip. Like... I LOVE A ROAD TRIP! Hitting the open roads and spending hours and hours driving through my state, neighboring states... my homeland... it fills me with a certain kind of joy. I'm not sure exactly how to label it. Just know that I will always prefer driving over flying. Always.

I will admit, though, that road trips where I am the driver can be somewhere chaotic because I either like to drive for hours and hours without stopping, or I'll be like Dug in Up get distracted by spot after spot for pictures. As with most things, I do not grasp the concept of moderation.

The good news for my fellow passengers on this trip? I wasn't the driver (barring a few times throughout the trip)!

Southeast of the park, on our way to our hotel for the first night (Best Western East Zion Thunderbird Lodge), we stopped at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

It was awesome seeing people use boogie boards to slide down the dunes - ya know, sandboarding!

After dumping our luggage off at the hotel, we got lunch at a what-other-choice-do-we-have kind of spot, and heading into Zion to get our waders and walking sticks for the Narrows hike we had planned for the next day at an ungodly early hour.

Notice the difference in illumination from the sun and cloud coverage? That's the kind of stuff that stops me in my tracks.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I will tell you that one of the highlights of the trip was driving through the Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel! A one-mile hole bored through the freaking mountain?! That's the kind of amazing feat that fills me with American pride! And you better believe it's a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark!

With our newly-acquired waterproof hiking gear, we headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest for the day that was awaiting us!