Our Final Month Out West

Happy holidays to all! We hope everyone had a great holiday season and has a safe and happy New Year! The last month has been more of the same great stuff--after Thanksgiving we returned to Utah to visit Zion and Bryce National Park, then we went back to Bishop to climb for a couple more weeks, and finally we spent the holidays back in San Diego with my entire family, parents included. It's been a really great month! It's been absolutely amazing to spend so much time with my family. We are really soaking it up. And, one of the highlights of our month, we expanded our road trip crew...meet Luna!

We adopted her from a shelter in San Diego. We have wanted a dog for as long as I can remember and we happened to stumble upon the perfect dog while visiting a local shelter! She's a border collie shepherd mix, so we were told, and she's a huge sweetheart and LOVES people. She was a tad scared of other dogs at first, but, after lots of bonding with us and some quality time at some dog parks, she has already started trusting us more and warming up to other dogs. She is a great companion to complete our road trip trio!

Fiesta Island, San Diego.

With Luna in tow, we are really excited to start our trip back east. But first, I'll recap our last month of travels. We left San Diego after Thanksgiving and shot straight to Zion National Park in Utah. I feel like I am constantly saying this about each national park we visit, but, Zion was absolutely amazing and is one of our favorite national parks to date! It was just gorgeous--particularly because we visited during the winter months. During our first day in Zion, we visited Kolob Canyons in the northwest section of the park. Check it out!

On our second day, it was sunny and dry, so we were able to hike to Angels Landing--which, if you ever visit Zion, is a hike you MUST do. It is definitely the best hike we have done at any national park. The views are unreal and the hike itself is a lot of fun. After the hike, we drove around the park and checked out other great areas along the scenic drive.

Starting our hike to Angels Landing.

Checking out one of the many amazing views!

The hike definitely isn't for those that are scared of heights! It got a bit technical and slick, with pretty intense drop-offs on either side of you. But it was so fun! 

At the top!

Check out all the cairns people made at the top of Angels Landing.

Building our cairn.

Wild turkeys near Weeping Rock.

Hike along Virgin River to the Narrows.

The Narrows. We didn't hike in because the water was freezing!

Finally, on our last day in the park, we hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail. The hike was amazing because, the night prior, it had snowed. The entire park was covered in a blanket of snow. It made everything we saw SO much more magical. I loved visiting in the winter--crowds were fewer (basically non-existent) and the snow was beautiful.

Waking up to snow! We camped along a river outside of the park. It was beautiful!

A drive through snowy Zion.

Our hike along Canyon Overlook Trail.

Overlooking the canyon!

There were large icicles everywhere...kind of scary to hike under them!

After Zion, we drove to Bryce National Park. Even though Bryce is only a couple hours from Zion, it is higher in elevation, which means it is much colder and there is much more snow. The temperature in Zion was bearable...but the temperature in Bryce was FREEZING! When we arrived it was around 4 degrees with a forecast of negative temps at night. We planned on doing a hike, despite the feet of snow on the ground, but, after being outside for a few minutes, we realized our visit to Bryce was going to be short-lived. It was just too cold to stick around. Regardless of the frigid weather, we were able to take in the beauty of Bryce during the winter!

After Bryce, we decided to head back to Bishop--the climbing is just so amazing and the camping/living scene is so easy and cheap. During our drive to Bishop, we spent a night in a Walmart parking lot in Cedar City, Utah. Holy freezing temperatures! EVERYTHING in our van froze--all of our water, our baby wipes, and even my contact solution!

Frozen contact solution! Guess I'm wearing my glasses.

Even when we arrived in Bishop, it was terribly cold for the first few days. The temperatures dropped into the single digits every night, and the temps only got up to about 25 during the day. Eventually, after a few days of lounging around the local coffee shops and going on hikes all bundled up, we were able to start climbing again. The temperatures got back up into the 50s and 60s and it was absolutely perfect climbing weather! We had a great time climbing and met some really great people from all over. And, the best part, we got to climb with Alex Honnold : ) He was around Bishop during the couple weeks we were there, and, on our last day in the Buttermilks, he came over and hopped on one of the problems we were working on. It was very cool to see him climb.

Snowfall on our campsite.

Jiffy pop!

The Hulk, V6.

Sunset at the Happys.

Huge full moon rising up!

Despite some great times in Zion, Bryce and Bishop, the best part of the whole month for me was our visit to San Diego for the holidays. My parents were around, because they are spending three weeks in San Diego fawning over their new grandson Hudson. It was so incredible to spend such a long period of time with my entire family--it's been so long since we've all been together! Christmas was amazing. Hudson is getting so big! He smiles all the time and is starting to make these loud excited exclamations! I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the holidays.

Hudson's ready for Christmas! He was a little shocked by my use of the flash...he's saying "No pictures, please!"

Reindeer butt!

Mommy & Hudson reading "The Night Before Christmas."

Hudson taking a seat to play with his new toys!

Grandma and Grandpa can't get enough of little Hudson! That kid is going to be spoiled rotten. I don't blame them though, he's so stinkin' cute!

Christmas picture with the whole family, including Kali and Ridley! Luna hadn't arrived into our lives yet, so, sadly, she didn't make the family picture. Next year!

We've had a great time on the west coast! We've been in California since September, when Hudson was born. Sadly, it's time for us to start our journey back east. We're not sure of our next stop, but hopefully in a few days we'll be roaming around Tennessee to check out the climbing in the southeast! We miss everyone and wish everyone a great New Year! Lots of love from San Diego! We'll miss you west coast! Thank you for introducing us to our new pup Luna. See you all soon : )