Zion National Park

Hello and welcome back to Nomad Dad Life! This post will wrap up our time in Colorado, our quick trip to Zion National Park in Utah, and the beginning of our journey to the “Last Frontier.” We really enjoyed our time in Colorado. We also had some special visitors make a trip to Colorado to visit before our time was up.

Birthday Party

Arkyn turned three during our time in Colorado. About a month before his birthday he asked me to call my dad, as he had a question to ask him. We called my dad and Arkyn asked, “Papa, will you come to my birthday party?” So, the next day my parents started planning their trip to Colorado! Arkyn has always had a special relationship with my dad. Living so close to my parents the first two years of his life meant that they spent a lot of time together. They have spent countless hours and burned through many gallons of gasoline, driving the boat, tractor, four-wheeler, lawn mowers, truck, side-by-side, basically anything that can be driven around the farm or lake they drive it!

Arkyn hadn’t seen my dad in a couple of months. So, it didn’t surprise me he wanted to have him come to Colorado for his birthday. This was also a good time for my parents to get away and have a little vacation. They got their house torn down after the fire and were starting the rebuilding process. It was a stressful time for them dealing with everything related to the fire so the trip gave them a nice break from all that and they had time to enjoy being with two of their grandchildren.

Arkyn was excited to show off to his grandparents what he learned at karate and swimming lessons so he invited them to come watch him at his classes. He was so proud he had visitors at his classes! He made sure he did his best to impress them! We had a little birthday party for Arkyn when my parents were there. With our limited space we have to travel, my mom asked if there was enough room to give Arkyn a remote-control firetruck that he had been asking about for a while. He was so excited when he opened it! There hasn’t been a day go by that he hasn’t played with it!

Zion National Park

When we left Colorado, we didn’t know where we were going until the day before. We got our place cleaned, everything packed up, and we were out the door less than 24 hours after Fae signed her next contract. We could have given ourselves a little more time, but we wanted to make a detour on our way to Alaska to stop at Zion National Park. It might seem like a long detour from Colorado Springs, but when you are driving to Alaska, everything is a short detour relative to that drive!

The drive from Colorado Springs to Springdale, Utah, was about 10 hours. We planned on staying two nights in Utah so we could have a full day at Zion. The park is truly incredible! Even before you enter, you see the sandstone cliffs inviting you to see some of the best landscapes the country has to offer.

Zion National Park is known for its extensive hiking trail system. The trails range from easy to strenuous in difficulty and range from .4 miles long to over 14 miles. One of the longer trails now requires a permit. You have to enter a lottery to get drawn for the permit. Overcrowding and overrunning the park is a big concern for a lot of the rangers who work at the park. It is easy to see why this park is so popular. The views are amazing from the road and even better on these hikes.

At the park

We chose to stick with the easy hikes, for the children of course, not because I’m out of shape! There was a wait for the more popular section of the park, so we hiked an easy trail close to the section that the rangers had blocked off. We enjoyed the quick hike and were able to explore the rest of the park. When we got back to our vehicle as the rangers opened the rest of the park.

After our day exploring, we stopped right outside the park entrance at Zion Brewery to eat and enjoy a beer. They had a large variety of beer, and a big menu for a brewery. The views from the brewery are pretty good, so if hiking isn’t your thing, stop here grab a flight and sample some beers while still enjoying the landscape. We would definitely recommend visiting this park if you get the opportunity and spend at least a day there so you have time to explore.

The Last Frontier

After our mini detour it was time to head north. We would be driving to Alaska in January. So, if you didn’t think we were crazy before, you probably do now! Our friend in Colorado Springs got us in touch with his friend in Anchorage who had made the drive 9 times before. He told us to get a copy of the Milepost because it would be extremely helpful to find gas stations, lodging, and restaurants along the route when you don’t have cell phone service. He told us he prefers to make the drive in the winter! All the potholes are packed full of snow so the roads are smooth. . .

We left Zion and began our 3,000 mile journey. Since it was the middle of winter we didn’t plan our trip at all. We decided to see how road conditions were and drive as much as we felt like on a given day. No reservations were made at hotels beforehand. We just put our faith in God that He would be watching over us. He would make everything work out for our family.

We knew it has going to be long days of driving so we left Zion early in the morning with hopes of making a big dent in our trip and getting most of the United States driving out of the way. Our plan was to make it to Butte, Montana, 720 miles from Springdale, Utah. Utah is a beautiful state to drive through. Springdale is in the southern part of the state, so we were able to drive through a lot of Utah.

On the Road

Once we got to Idaho the weather started changing.  Snow was flying, the roads were getting slippery, and visibility was extremely limited. It looked like we were going to have our first setback on our journey as we were still 200 miles from Butte. We stopped in Idaho Falls to fill up with gas and get something to eat. We took a look at the weather while we ate. It looked like it was clearing up north of Idaho Falls about 20-25 miles so we decided to push forward.

It was slow traveling, but we did make it past the storm. Luckily, we had an uneventful rest of the drive to Butte. Over ten hours of driving and we were a little over a quarter of the way there. Really puts into perspective how big the world really is. Technology sure makes the world feel small. Getting out into the real world and experiencing it you realize quickly it’s huge. We are grateful for the opportunity to see a lot of the country and for all our experiences.

Links

We will end the post here for now. It will pick up on our journey through Canada in the next post. Please follow our journey on social media if you haven’t already, the links are here.

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Zion National Park: https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm