Here is a trip from way back. Grant and Jason and I took a road trip across the southwestern USA the summer after we graduated from High School. This trip will always be special for me because it was my first major trip of my own. We enjoyed the adventure of being on our own far from home.
Poco didn’t go with us but she wished up good luck in our travels.
This was not long after the tornado that tore though Oklahoma City. At the time it seemed like the worst tornado ever.
After staying at my cousin’s house in Oklahoma, we hit the open road across OK and TX and headed down to southern New Mexico to stay with some relatives of Grant’s.
We explored an old abandoned mine out in the desert.
This looks scary but I can’t recall if it actually was. I enjoy taking photos to show my mom that appear more dangerous than they are.
At the White Sands National Park, trying to replicate some of the art we saw at Grant’s relatives house.
The 3 amigos hangin’ tuff in the desert.
After New Mexico we headed to Arizona.
We encountered a bizarre intersection in Tucson, though I can no longer recall what was bizarre about it.
The Grand Canyon is one of those things that is difficult to photograph.
Utah has always been among my favorite of states. On this particular trip, Utah was not kind to us in terms of weather.
???
The unusually wet and dreary weather in the desert made for some lousy hiking and obscured views, but this is a fairly cool photo at Zion National Park.
Just being awesome.
Another posed photo trying to look like thrill seekers.
All I remember from Utah was running from the rain but it must have been nice for awhile because it looks rather pleasant in this photo!
Hangin out by a waterfall. This one actually does strike me as a bit dangerous now that I look at it!
Bryce Canyon… a very unique place indeed!
The Colorado plateau (which is mostly in Utah) is home to some of the most remote lands in the country. I love exploring the back roads out here…
This trip was just full of surprises!
Playing with our killa kite in the wind at Goblin Valley State Park. I remember having to borrow a sweater because I failed to pack any warm clothes being that it was summer and we were going to the desert.
It was cold and raining so we opted not to hike the full way up to Utah’s iconic “Delicate Arch”. So we hiked to a viewpoint instead. Several years later I did the full hike with Poco and Matt and realized the arch is a LOT larger than it appears.
Our last destination on the trip was Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Again, looking back at this photo it looks genuinely dangerous.
Hanging out on a big boulder with a nice view. I remember laying in the sun for awhile in this spot and enjoying it quite immensely.
Once again we encountered snow. Enough that we could not follow the trail and had to more or less guess our way.
For some reason I used to think “Trego” was a really funny name for a county.
Unloading the vehicle after returning home. I remember being impressed that before we left I had estimated the mileage of the trip and ended up missing it by only 10 miles including all the unplanned side trips and what-not!