Our Utah Adventures: Getting There Via Scenic I-70

I am so excited to begin a new travel series!  Last month my husband, son, and I took a road trip to Utah.  We drove 3,146 miles round trip and visited three national parks:  Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches.  

The best part of road trips, is all the sights you see and fun you have along the way.  We left our home  on Saturday morning and arrived at Zion by 4:00 on Monday.  We made brief stops in Vail, Colorado for lunch, and at Glenwood Springs, but like the first time we made the journey in 2016 we had the most fun on Scenic I-70.  

I already wrote a post about Scenic I-70 HERE when we drove it the first time.   I don't want to repeat myself in this post but I did want to share a few snapshots and new experiences.  This time we took the drive we had a brand new SUV to drive, and let me tell you that Kia Sportage drove those steep inclines and curves like a dream!  What a difference from driving a small car vs a SUV.  

It was my son's first time out west.  The only other time he saw mountains before was at the White Mountain Forest in New Hampshire, so he was pretty excited!

The landscape on Scenic I-170 is like nothing you would see anywhere else in America.  There are plenty of rest stops on the drive where we you can pull over and enjoy the scenery, walk around a bit, and read about the area.

My son was pretty blown away by the landscape.  It was far different than the White Mountains of New Hampshire and even more different than the forests of Wisconsin where he grew up.

Everyone always asks me when we do long road trips how we can stand being in the car that long, the answer:  have fun along the way!  Now,  I know that's impossible in some states (I'm talking to you Illinois, Nebraska, and Kansas 😊) but it's very possible in most.  On this trip, the first day was the worst (getting through Iowa and Nebraska), but by day two, once we reached Denver, we were already seeing some amazing views!

It's so hard to capture in photos the size and vastness of the Scenic I-70 landscape, so I always try to put people in the photo for perspective  Look how small the people are  walking a path in the picture below.

In this next photo, we captured a train going by.

All along this highway is one jaw dropping view after another.  And ever rest stop has walking paths and look outs to get even better views.  I think we stopped at every single lookout as we were not in a hurry!

This is one of my favorite spots on the highway.  If you look to the middle, far left of the picture, that is the highway.  Driving through those mountains is such an incredible experience.

The last time we were in this area it was spring and there were so many beautiful spring flowers in bloom.  This time it was fall, so it was interesting to see the different plants.  There weren't a lot of flowers, but we saw lots of pretty grasses.

This yellow blooming plant was everywhere.

When my son saw this view he said "Who needs to go to the Grand Canyon?".  My husband just laughed and said that the Grand Canyon was a lot deeper.

So many people fly into Vegas and drive to Utah's National Parks, but when they do that, they miss the beauty of much of Utah.

Next week I'll begin with our first hike in Utah:  "Lower Emerald Pools".  I expect this series will last for many months as I plan to cover each hike we took of every park individually.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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