We visited brother Graham is Moscow, ID. Apparently we were having too much fun to take many pictures! We stayed at the Monarch Motel in downtown Moscow, very close to the University of Idaho, and Matt worked out of Graham’s spare bedroom. Meg made multiple visits to the Co-op for groceries, we cooked White Chicken Chili and Potato Leek Soup in celebration of the Fall weather, and we met all of Graham’s awesome colleagues.
Saturday morning we left Salt Lake City early to drive 6.5 hours to McCall, with a stop in Boise for lunch. On Sunday we hiked a couple of miles in Ponderosa State Park, along the shore of Lake Payette, had lunch in McCall, and then continued another 3.25 hours to Moscow, ID for a total weekend drive of approximately 635 miles.
This week we’ve been in Salt Lake City, UT visiting siblings John and Jen. There are many hiking and running trails close to the city so we’ve enjoyed those, visited a number of local breweries (Hopkins Brewing Co, Scion Cider, and T.F. Brewing), and spent as much time as possible grilling and eating outdoors to enjoy the perfect 70 degree weather.
Friday evening we drove from Salt Lake City, through Big Cottonwood Canyon, to Park City. It was a beautiful drive along a creek, the aspen trees were changing color, and we had a fantastic dinner (local trout!) in a fire lit courtyard.
We woke up to a crisp morning: high 40’s, but our tent and sleeping bag kept us warm. Perfect weather for hiking and the first day that has felt like Fall. After breaking camp we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park where we hiked the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden trails: 3.1 miles and 649ft down to the canyon floor (and then back up!). It started raining as we drove back out of the park, and passed Butch Cassidy’s birthplace on the back roads before getting on the interstate to Salt Lake City to visit our siblings John and Jen.
After three weeks in the Phoenix area, we’re back on the road again. A longer driving day today: 440 miles from Phoenix, through the Navajo Nation between Flagstaff and Page in Northern Arizona, then through Kanab in Southern Utah to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Matt embarked on his second week of work while Meg spent the days hanging out with her mom (and finally got a haircut!). We cooked a bit and also visited some favorite Phoenix restaurants including: North Italia, Greenwood Brewing, a return visit to Welcome Diner, and takeout from China Village. It was a relaxing week.
It was a busy week: Meg spent the week at Gammage getting ‘Wicked Bodies’ up and running (Meg’s mom and Matt saw the invited dress rehearsal on Friday), and Matt spent the first week of his new job at Vectorworks on-boarding, celebrating the launch of the 2023 version of the software, and getting up to speed on all of its new features. It was pretty wild to spend a week in the middle of our road trip with both of us working!
We started our 3 weeks in Phoenix by waking up to a flat tire, which lead to replacing 3 tires, and then new front brake rotors, rounded out with the 120,000 mile service on our intrepid Prius: thankfully we had Meg’s parents to help drop us off and pick us up from all of the various mechanics. Meg spent most of the week prepping for her performance at ASU Gammage, and we spent the evenings hitting up our favorite restaurants in Phoenix. We finished out the week with a trip Payson to fulfill Meg’s Aunt Sally’s last wishes.
We poked around Gallup in the morning before getting on Historic Route 66 for the first part of our drive, crossing into Arizona and on to Petrified Forest National Park. We started our visit in the Painted Desert, taking in the stunning vistas and visiting the Painted Desert Inn, before making our way to the Petrified Forest proper. We then descended into Phoenix via Tonto National Forest, wrapping up 275 miles of driving.
After five days we said goodbye to Albuquerque and drove to Chaco Culture National Historic Park in Northwestern New Mexico, where we hiked among some of the Chacoan great houses preserved there. After a picnic lunch we drove through the Navajo nation, passing everything from lush farmland to barren badlands, until we reached the delightfully kitschy El Rancho Hotel & Motel, capping off 330 miles of total driving.
