roadtrip-2020

[roadtrip-2020]

Jackson Hole, WY.

Another favorite stop on our road trip was Jackson Hole. We were there in the shoulder season in late October, just a few weeks after most of the leaves had turned. While it was pretty cold, we had a wonderful time. 

Where we stayed

Anvil Hotel - Roadside motel recently renovated into a trendy midcentury hotel. 

What we liked:

Affordable

Great location, right in town

Decor is cute, beds are comfy

What we didn’t like:

Rooms are dark and almost all have windows that face directly into a parking lot. You have to keep the shades pulled down the whole time for privacy, so there isn’t much natural light. 

Overall, it felt a bit cheap. It was cheap, so I guess you get what you pay for. I’d recommend it if you’re on a budget, but otherwise would stay elsewhere. We loved the Rustic Inn, where we stayed our last night in Jackson.

Rustic Inn - I’ll admit, the branding does not impress (Anvil looks much cuter online), but the Rustic Inn is actually very nice! I would definitely recommend it, especially if you can get a creekside cabin/room.

What we liked:

Beautiful grounds complete with a creek, teepee, creekside outdoor bar, outdoor fireplaces, and a river walk.

Big cabin-like rooms or actual cabins

Our room had a fireplace and a porch

Breakfast was to-go due to COVID, but they were really good breakfast burritos!

Outdoor hot tub and pool area (we took advantage of the hot tub)

What we didn’t like:

We tried to make spa appointments day-of or day-prior (right after we checked in), but it was too late -- they were full. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault, really. We would have liked to stay there longer and leveraged the spa.

Location is towards the outskirts of downtown Jackson, it’s actually right as you’re driving out of town towards the Tetons or airport. It’s good, because it has lots of space, but not as walkable as, say, the Anvil. 

This photo was taken before we went to dinner at the creek right next to our hotel room at Rustic Inn...see, stunning!

What we did

We had so much fun in Jackson Hole and I love how much there is to see and do in the area! The Grand Tetons are absolutely stunning and are less than a 20 minute drive away...The proximity to Grand Teton National Park and even Yellowstone makes Jackson Hole one of my favorite destinations and a must for outdoor adventurers. 

Outdoor adventures:

Grand Teton National Park - Out of every National Park we visited, Grand Teton was probably our favorite and definitely the best run. Everything was very clearly marked, rangers were extremely helpful, and the trails were well kept with nice bathrooms/facilities and plenty of parking. Sounds superfluous but you notice these things after awhile!

Rockin’ M Ranch Trail Ride - BY FAR one of our favorite activities in Jackson and of our entire trip. Forgot how cathartic spending time with animals in nature is...Rockin’ M Ranch is in Alpine, about 45 minutes outside of Jackson. They were WONDERFUL. We did 3 hour ride with lunch included, which was really fun. I guess there are less little kids on the longer rides, which worked well for us. We had a great group of about 5 couples and a guide who was nice, funny, and helpful. We hiked along and THROUGH a river, up and down hills and ate lunch at this area that had a grill and picnic table. Many pictures below...

Things we did in Grand Teton National Park:

There are sooo many hikes and beautiful lakes to check out in the Tetons...what we did in our limited time below and then I’ll also link some other favs. These are great activities for summer/fall, but had we been there in the winter we would have skied Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We will be back soon!

Hidden Falls Trail - The majority of this hike is pretty flat and wraps around the gorgeous Jenny Lake. We ended up hiking up past the falls up a step path to a few overlooks that had stunning views of the entire lake. Then, we heard about a Moose spotting from another hiker and set out to find it...and we did! I think these offshoots must have added some distance and elevation to our hike because I was exhausted by the end.

Mormon Row - OK so this is less a hike and more of a site to see, but it’s these old farm houses and barns with the most stunning background. They are located on the Antelope refuge and we saw tons of pronghorn grazing in the area. I didn’t know what that was, but pronghorn are in the antelope family and they are the fastest animal in North America and the 2nd fastest animal in the world!! 

Beautiful viewpoint on top of Signal Mountain -  Perhaps you can hike here, but we drove it. The views from the top are stunning. You can see the Teton range and Lake Jackson on one side and Jackson Hole Valley on the other!

Top 10 Hiking trails in Grand Teton National Park on AllTrails >>

Yellowstone National Park is also only about an hour away from Jackson, but I’ll cover that in my Montana post! :)

Views from top of Signal Mtn:

Mormon Row:

Hiking Jenny Lake:

Shopping:

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to get a Stetson hat in Jackson. And so I did! And there were SOOO many good ones to choose from. Chris got his second Stetson, too!

Hide Out Leathers - I got both my Stetson hat and suede fringe jacket here! They have such a good supply of leather goods, not as wide variety of hats, but they do have some.

Beaver Creek Hats and Leather - Chris got his hat here and they have a loooot of great hats. I was tempted to buy another hat here after getting mine at Hide Out, but I resisted. 

High Country Outfitters - They have fly fishing trips out of here and outdoor gear/apparel.

Pendleton Store - Pendleton stuff just says “the West” to me. So it makes sense they’d have a flagship store in Jackson. They have such cool blankets and even make custom ones at this store.

Breakfast / Lunch:

Persephone bakery - An adorable bakery and cafe. You order at the counter and then they bring you your food. Really cute outdoor dining, too! I got the croissant breakfast sandwich and it was so tasty!

Cafe Genevieve - Another wonderful little breakfast spot, right next to Persephone. More of a sit down and order kind of place. And more traditional breakfast food. I loved my waffles and chai latte.

Creekside Market - Great deli to get to-go sandwiches for a day of adventures!

Dinner:

We should have booked dinner reservations further in advance, because it was pretty tough to get reservations once we got there. 

Our first night there, we met up with some friends who have a place in Jackson Hole. We wanted to sit outside (COVID and we had a dog with us), so we got drinks and dinner at Cutty’s, a local dive bar. Very divey, but fun! A bit out of the town square so less touristy but also you need to drive to get there. Not really a “must-see”. 

Local restaurant & bar - This was our favorite dinner in Jackson. We both got really good steaks! They also had really great wine selection including many natural wines, which we loved. 

StillWest Brewery & grill - When we couldn’t get reservations in town, we called StillWest. Stillwest is still technically in town, but not right in the town square. It’s closer to the local ski mountain, Snow King. It’s a really fun brewery and restaurant with good food!

On our third night we went to dinner with friends in a nearby town, Wilson, and went to an old-school Italian restaurant: Calico. 

Recommendations

Because we had such a limited time there, I enlisted the help of my friend Kaelyn (a regular, and a local for a good chunk of COVID) to help me with all of her faves. So comments below are from her POV, which I trust, of course.

Restaurants:

Glorietta's - New-ish Italian spot. Literally everything I've had is next-level good, but Meatballs are a must. 

Persephone Bakery - Breakfast/lunch spot. The one in town is tiny and always insanely crowded, but a new one just opened in Wilson and is bigger/way less crowded. We went here, too...Linked above!

Cafe Genevieve - Southern comfort-ish food (lol we did our late night wedding food from here). We went here, too...Linked above!

Pinky G's - Best pizza in my opinion — you can dine in but we usually take out Get the Abe Froman with balsamic glaze! 

Snake River Grill - Fancy spot, probably best steak/bison place in town Make a reso NOW if you're going months from now haha 

Bin 22 - Mini liquor/wine + mart that's also a tapas/happy hour spot

Calico - especially in the summer! We went here, too...Linked above!

Hikes:

Hiking in the park

Delta Lake - ~7 miles with elevation gain (takes 3.5-4.5 hours to hike, roundtrip, plus ~1 hour at the lake)...I'd say moderate-to-difficult but worth it. The views are unreal (it's that gorgeous bright blue lake!) and it's never too too crowded.

Bradley and/or Taggart Lakes - A 5-mile loop, not hard at all. Bradley is less crowded if you want to pick one.

Phelps Lake - Scenic and easy, more of a walk than a hike. Has a massive boulder that people jump off of into the water (great photo op!) — kind of a "rite of passage," if you will.

For both of these hikes (Bradley/Taggart and Delta), you'll enter through the park, which driving through IS an adventure in and of itself; you can buy a park pass that'll last you seven days

Also I HIGHLY recommend to everyone visiting Jackson that they rent a car

Hiking in Teton Village:

You can hike to the top of the gondola (~1.5 hours) OR ride the gondola and hike one of the trails that starts toward the top of the mountain...there are TONS

Did the Cirque trail this summer and LOVED it...It summits Rendezvous (the main skiing mountain in the village) and there were basically no people doing it.

Hiking in town:

Snow King - This is a ski run in winter but a steep and quick trail in the summer. Super quick but tough! A great workout.

Hiking with a bit of a drive

Table Mountain - You actually drive through Victor and Driggs (Idaho), then back through Alta (Wyoming) to get to the trailhead. Hike takes 4-5 hours and the first part (~3 miles) is really freaking hard BUT then it gets easier. On a clear day, you can see the Tetons from the other side!

Other Activities:

Float/raft Snake River - We usually just float it and drink beer but you can also do a guided rafting excursion, there are tons to choose from (just Google). 

Get sloshies - Sloshies are alcoholic slushies that you can find at most of the gas stations in Jackson Hole. My favorite's at Hoback Market, but that's a bit south of town. They also have them Creekside Market (also has my favorite, most epic sandwiches), Basecamp (the gas station in Wilson), Albertson's and the liquor store attached to Aspens Market.

Visit Jackson Lake - Super scenic lake in the park. Kind of a hike to get to but if you devote a day, you can rent SUPs, walk around, etc. If you have a boat (or can rent one) you can boat around and water ski, etc. 

Drive the big loop in the park - You'll see wildlife, the Tetons, the Chapel of the Transfiguration. Before leaving, grab a drink at Dornan's.

Granite or Astoria Hot Springs - The "official" Astoria ones aren't open to us non-Wyoming resident peasants BUT there are natural hot springs (called "hippie" hot springs) before Astoria/the red bridge that goes to the Snake River Sporting Club. Just park by the other parked cars, and you'll find a path that leads to them! (Def bring sloshies)

Below:

Pic 1 - Chris and I in our new Stetsons out to dinner

Pic 2 - Chris with our delicious steak dinner at Local

#jacksonhole #jackson #wy #wyoming #travel #roadtrip #grand tetons

[roadtrip-2020]

Park City, Utah.

We were really excited to spend an entire week in one place: Park City. We wanted to do a whole week here because we had a lot of friends in Park City that we wanted to see. It ended up being so nice settling into a place and finally unpacking/relaxing a bit rather than being on the go constantly and living out of our car and suitcases. 

Where we stayed

We rented the cutest one bedroom miner’s cottage right off of Main street. We rented directly from the management company, Vacasa. It was a very tiny cottage, but worked perfectly for the two of us. 

Chris and I had both been to Park City multiple times before for ski trips with our families and usually stay in ski in/ski out condos. That’s really the move during the winter, but if you’re going off season like we were, staying right off Main street is ideal. 

What we loved:

Location, location, location!

Cute design

Big bathroom

Cute porch

What we didn’t love:

Old kitchen appliances, the stove top we had to manually light every time

No parking spot - there was a parking lot across the street so we just parked in there but it might be more difficult in the Winter / busy season as I believe there is a time limit peak season.

Small space overall, but worked for our needs! Might be tighter with full winter/ski gear

What we did

We did a loooot of lounging, to be honest! As I said, we were excited to settle in. It was also pretty cold when we were there - low 40s mostly - so we were happy to cozy up at home in front of the TV and cook. We made it out to meet up with friends a few times and went hiking on a trail at Park City Mountain Resort, but it wasn’t anything to write home about, to be honest. I’ve put together a list of some of our fav spots and activities from this trip, and trips’ past, below.

Coffee and Breakfast:

Harvest - Our fav for coffees/chai lattes and breakfast

The Bridge - A fun outdoor brunch spot right beneath the Park City Mountain town lift. Diner breakfast food. 

Dinner:

Shabu - High-end Asian fusion

Yuki Yama Sushi - Trendy Sushi spot

Chimayo - Southwest cuisine (I haven’t been but Chris and his family LOVE)

Riverhorse on Main - American fine dining

Bars:

No Name Saloon - Best dive bar in Park City! An institution! Also, great sunsets from the rooftop deck

High West Distillery - Another Park City institution. I’ve only been for drinks but supposedly they have good food, too!

The Spur Bar & Grill - Live music, good vibes, drinks and pretty good bar food.

Hikes:

Bald Mountain via Ontario Trail - We couldn’t do this one because it was arm season and the lifts were closed, but Chris has done it before and loves it. 5 miles out and back.

Lake Mary Trail - So this one is like an hour outside of Park City, but came highly recommended by our local friends. It’s a short 2.6 mile hike to a beautiful lake.

Nobletts Creek Trail - This was a beautiful, easy hike we did one day with friends and it goes along a stream. 2.1 miles out and back. It’s by Heber City, about 20 minutes outside of Park City.

Hiking Park City Mountain - Damn, I forgot how tiring hiking a ski mountain is! Plus, that altitude, woah! I cannot for the life of me remember which exact trails we took, because I remember we ended up doing 3-4 that connected to make a loop from the base of the ski mountain, up, around, and back down. We ended up logging something like 11 miles that day and I was ZONKED. 

Skiing:

Park City Mountain Resort - Huge resort, many runs of all kinds. Connected by a gondola to Canyons resort, which Park City/Vail resorts bought. I’ve skied this mountain a few times and really enjoyed it. Skiing and Snowboarding allowed.

Deer Valley - As skiers, Chris and I LOVE Deer Valley. They are well-known for being ski only (no snow boarders), which is part of the appeal. I’ve only been once, but I noticed much smaller lines than at most resorts. Plus, they have a Veuve Cliquot Champagne yurt mid-mountain. What’s not to love?!

We also went into Salt Lake City one evening to go to Top Golf. At the time, I was reluctant and thought “why are we going all the way to Salt Lake to drink and golf?”, but it ended up being super fun. 

Comment or message if you have specific questions about Park City, happy to help! 

#utah #parkcity #hike #restaurants #eat #cook #lounge #ski

[roadtrip-2020]

Moab, Utah.

This post will be shorter than most, because our trip to Moab was a whirlwind 2-day weekend trip and we didn’t have the best experience, to be honest.

First piece of advice: DO NOT GO ON A WEEKEND. It was packed!! Same with Zion, which I’ll write about in a bit. National Parks are like theme parks in the time of COVID, so our experience was a bit tainted by how crowded and touristy it was.

Second piece of advice: If you are camping (especially on a weekend) get to the site at the break of dawn OR book 6 months in advance. Complicated, I know...but if you don’t do one or the other you will find yourself shit out of luck. We actually didn’t plan our specific dates of when we’d be in Moab until super last minute so it was too late to book anything through BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and we thought we’d just find a “first come, first serve” site. Consistent with our experience in Sedona (yes, we should have learned haha), none of the FCFS sites were available by the time we arrived in Moab, from Telluride, around 3 pm.  

Third and final piece of advice: BRING TONS OF WATER WITH YOU. It is the desert!

Our trip was also negatively affected by a bit of desert fatigue. This is a TOTAL first world problem, but since the first half of our trip was essentially all beautiful desert and national parks, we were a bit “over” the heat, the dryness, and the red rocks. Poor us, I know...

Where we stayed

So we were planning to stay at some of the AWESOME sites along Highway 128. This would be my recommendation for camping, because all these sites are along the Colorado River (and therefore so cool)! This site explains all the Moab BLM campsites, the first section shows the ones along the Colorado river and says whether you can book them in advance or if they are first come, first serve.

We almost could not find anywhere to camp at all. Most of the RV Park + Campgrounds were full and even most of the hotels in the area were full, so we were starting to get worried. We ended up pulling up to a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) campground and RV park and as a hail mary asked if there was ANYTHING they could do for us. Luckily, they had 1 RV spot available and said we could camp in it. It was $90, but we jumped on it. 

What we liked:

Bathrooms were nice, clean, and had showers

Sinks for washing dishes -- the most clutch thing about staying at a private campground

Pool

Camp store

Fire pit

What we didn’t like:

Small sites, close together

Being squeezed in between two RVs

Not exactly “in nature” but still nice to be outside and see the beautiful mesas around us

What we did + Recommendations

So we really were only in Moab for 2 nights and one full day. That ended up being fine for us, because we were kind of over the desert climate and tourists everywhere. I got SO many good recommendations from people but didn’t get to to most of it, so I’ll post it here. :)

Also, Moab sits between two very famous National Parks: Canyonlands and Arches. We only went to Arches this time, but if we had more time and energy we would have loved to check out both. 

Arches National Park:

Devil’s Garden - 7.8 mile hike loop or can go out to the double O arch and back, which is what we did (so not the whole 7.8 miles). This was packed when we were there in October and we did it on a Saturday which I would not recommend as it’s a popular one.

Delicate Arch - Probably the most famous “arch” in Arches National Park. 3 miles out and back but the way out is all up-hill and harder than it sounds.

Double Arch - More of a viewpoint than a hike, but another popular Arch in Arches (lol). 

Canyonlands:

Island in the sky district

Grand view pointe is a must 

Aztec Butte gives incredible views

Needles district - This is pretty far from Moab (about an hour and a half) but if you are doing Canyonlands separately this comes highly recommended

Moab 

The Spoke - Good cocktails, burgers, salads, etc. Come early to put your name down because the wait can be long.

Miguels Baja Grill - Authentic Mexican 

Moab Brewing - Nothing special but only brewery in town

Mill Creek Trail - A cool 3 mile roundtrip hike to a swimming hole in the canyon, right outside of Moab. I kind of wish we had done this but with our one day we thought we should go to Arches instead.

#moab #utah #hiking #camping

[roadtrip-2020]

Ouray & Ridgway, CO.

We left a few days unplanned after our first two nights in Telluride, so we did some last minute exploring in the area before coming back for an additional two nights in Telluride (since we loved it so much)! SO happy that we had the flexibility, because there are so many cool places to explore in this region, the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado.

We met a man at a bar in Telluride who was a regular visitor and recommended that we check out Ouray. Ouray is a cool, old-fashioned Western town surrounded by 3 different fourteeners (Mountains that exceed 14,000 feet in elevation. Colorado is known for having the most fourteeners out of any state; 53 out of 96 in the entire U.S.), so it’s a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, and hikers.

Ouray, Colorado:

Where we stayed

Since we were figuring out our plans on the fly, we scoped out Airbnbs the morning we were supposed to leave Telluride and found a bed-and-breakfast-type host that owned a ranch on top of a mountain in a town called Ridgway. Ridgway is about an hour from Telluride and only about 10-15 minutes from Ouray. Since we were staying on top of a mountain out of town, that added about another 15 minutes, but it was a unique experience in a beautiful setting, so we didn’t mind the extra drive.

1. Chimney Top B&B - Ridgway, CO.

What we liked:

Beautiful ranch on top of a mountain with stunning views

Nikki our host was very helpful with recommendations

Breakfast was hearty and delicious, made fresh by Nikki (host) every morning

What we didn’t like:

The ranch and the house for the B&B is truly the host’s home and it definitely felt like that. Nikki and her family live in the basement and rent out the two main rooms in the house.

Chris was a bit creeped out by staying in a family’s home, and even though the host and her family left us alone for the most part, he didn’t love having them around haha...

By no means a luxury experience. Very comfortable and cozy but you have to go into the experience with an open mind.

The location is pretty isolated, which I think added to the “creepiness” that Chris felt, haha. You are pretty “out there”.

Me @ the ranch (I.e, Chimney Top B&B):

After staying in Ridgway for two nights at the Chimney Top B&B, we decided it would be nice to stay in the town of Ouray, so that we wouldn’t need to drive around as much. Also, while Ridgway is a cute town, Ouray has more to offer in terms of restaurants and activities. We asked for hotel/B&B recommendations and found a great B&B that we ended up loving!

2. China Clipper Inn - Ouray, CO.

What we liked:

Location, right off of main street in the middle of town!

Room was clean, cute, and roomy

Good breakfast, included.

Felt like a small, boutique hotel.

I don’t think there is anything we didn’t like actually! 

P.S. Here is a pic of Chris coming down the front steps of the China Clipper Inn haha...

What we did

Even when we were staying in Ridgway, we spent our days in and around Ouray, which is why we ended up staying in town our third night.

Perimeter Trail - for a 5.6 mile hike, this hike was pretty tough! Definitely felt like one of our more challenging hikes, though the distance wouldn’t suggest that. Also, I think we ended up logging 7 miles that day, so we added a bit onto the trail somehow. Both the beginning and end are pretty steep, but throughout the views are gorgeous and a good mix of shaded/open. It was especially stunning when we were there mid-October, with the leaves changing colors.

Ouray Via Ferrata - This is very fun, half-day guided climbing adventure that we did through San Juan Mountain Guides in Ouray. Via Ferrata means “Iron Path” in Italian, and were originally created in the Italian Alps during World War 1 to traverse mountains during battles and move medical supplies. Now, they are built into mountains all over the world and give people who aren’t expert climbers the ability to experience what it’s like! Unless you are an experienced climber, it’s recommended to go with a guide, which is what we did! I was SUPER nervous at first, and actually wasn’t even going to do it, but decided to push myself. I am SO glad I did, because this ended up being one of my favorite activities of our entire trip. I had so much fun and wasn’t scared at all. You have a harness, helmet, and are clipped in the entire time, so it feels very safe. Overall, it’s about 4000 feet of climbing and traversing over a canyon (Ouray’s “Ice Park” known best for ice climbing in the Winter months). It’s supposedly a more “technical” Via Ferrata compared to others (it’s a 4b compared to Telluride Via Ferrata which is a 2b), but isn’t as high up, which I feel like is the scary part (so that’s a win for the Ouray Via Ferrata in my book). Also, our guide was really nice and helpful, so definitely recommend San Juan Mountain Guides! :)

Orvis Hot Springs - We went here not once, but twice! We went in the evening, right as it was getting dark and then we also went during the day. These hot springs are clothing optional, so it’s mostly adults (which is nice), but you’ve got to be comfortable seeing naked people from all walks of life. We wore our bathing suits but ended up leaning into the vibe and taking them off (or partially off in my case, with my top). We went after the Via Ferrata and it was SO nice to soak in the warm, healing waters, and then lay out topless in the sun after a day of climbing and a week of hiking.

Pics from our beautiful hike around the Perimeter Trail:

[Below] Us on the Ouray Via Ferrata

Recommendations

Definitely recommended the three activities above, we thought that made for the perfect itinerary for a short stay in this area.

Breakfast and lunch:

Artisan Bakery - We got croissant sandos and muffins, everything we ate from here was soooo good.

Dinner Restaurants:

Brick house - This Italian bistro was recommended to us by our climbing guide but was closed the day of the week we were eating dinner in town. I think it’s closed Mon-Tues.

Bonton - Another “fine dining” dinner spot that was recommended to us but we didn’t try, I think they were full.

The Outlaw - We ate dinner here and I like it! It has a very cool, old western saloon vibe and it also has live music. Food was decent but not stellar.

Bars / Breweries:

Colorado Boy Pizza and Brewery - Great pizza and we loved their pizza too (went here twice in Ridgway but there is also an Ouray location)

Imogene Hotel Rooftop bar - We went here for drinks during sunset and it had great views of cute lil Ouray. Also, it was more of a trendy craft cocktail place which was unique for such an old mountain town.

Red Mountain Brewery - Our climbing guide also worked here and we really wanted to go but it closed super early...like 8 pm. (as does everywhere in Ouray we found out) Supposedly the best brewery in town.

Ouray Brewery - Another place we didn’t go to because it closed so early, but it was packed and has a cool rooftop so next time we would def go!

P.S. If I haven’t made it 100% clear yet, Fall (Sept/Oct) is a PERFECT time to visit Southwest Colorado!! I mean, look at that fall foliage!

#ouraycolorado #ridgwaycolorado #travel #road trip #colorado #fall #mountains #San Juan Mountains #climbing #hiking #via ferrata

[roadtrip-2020]

Thoughts & reflections on traveling during a pandemic

It is not lost on me how lucky we are to be in the position to travel, albeit domestically, during a global pandemic. For one, both Chris and I had time off from work to travel, as we both had recently left our jobs. We also are both healthy, young, and not “at risk”. We were very careful to not get sick, but we knew that even if we did, COVID would not be life threatening for us.

It was an interesting time to travel, though. Every state and community had different Coronavirus measures in place, but for the most part we felt very safe everywhere we went. We had our first indoor dining experiences since March, but the restaurants were almost always at partial capacity, guests were spaced out, and staff were all wearing masks.

We were also very aware and careful everywhere we went. We always wore face coverings outside of the house and especially indoors in public places. Typically people were pretty relaxed on hikes, but we still tried to keep our distance and put on our masks/bandanas to cover our faces when close to other people. Generally, we found everyone around us was very respectful of CDC guidelines.

Overall, we feel very grateful that we had the time, resources, and good health to enable us to take this trip. It allowed us to see beautiful nature, experience new places, and see so many different ways of life. It made life during a pandemic feel pretty normal, and also gave us time to reenergize in nature. 

America is a beautiful country and is so worth exploring. It also showed us there are so many ways of life, and showed us new perspectives, which is a beautiful thing. 

[roadtrip-2020]

Telluride, CO.

Telluride has been on my bucket list for some time now, and I am very happy to report that it did not disappoint! In fact, we loved it so much that we extended our stay, and even explored other towns recommended to us in the surrounding area: Ridgway and Ouray. I’ll write about these in a separate post. :)

Where we stayed

The New Sheridan Hotel - The New Sheridan was great because it’s in the perfect location -- right on the main street in the center of everything. We also loved eating brunch at the restaurant and getting drinks at the rooftop bar. The rooftop bar was very popular when we were there and so I’d recommend getting there early and putting your name down. The room we had was small but comfy and had a nice, big bathroom. The staff even washed a bag of our laundry for us, which was so nice and much needed after camping for 8 nights.

What we loved:

Location

Restaurant and bar

Staff was super helpful

What we didn’t love:

Room was small and dark

Kind of pricey for what it was IMO

Me @ brunch at the New Sheridan:

Dunton Town House - Worth the extra splurge!! We LOVED Dunton Town House. Dunton Hot Springs is another longtime bucket list item for me, but it’s an hour or two outside of Telluride, very expensive, and they were all booked when we were in Colorado. We stopped by Dunton Town House while we were staying at The New Sheridan just to see if there was any chance they had a room available. They did!! And it was the best room of the house, Hirsch. 

Dunton Town House is essentially a luxury bed & breakfast. The rooms are super cute and comfy, and ours had a little porch area and beautiful mountain views. All the bath products are Aesop, which is a very nice luxury touch. Breakfast is included and SO good. They get pastries from a local bakery, have fresh yogurt, granola, and fruit, and bagels with lox, tomatoes, etc. They even have gourmet cheese and meats for a more European-style breakfast. YUM! They have a host onsite at all times that can help with anything, and all the snacks and drinks (including beer, wine, and alcohol) are available for free. 

What we loved:

Our room - beautiful design, super comfy, big bathroom, and mountain views

Staff was so friendly and helpful

Breakfast was so tasty!

Booze and snacks for free

They have cold Dunton branded water bottles filled with water available at all times

What we didn’t love:

The only bummer was that there is only a small common living area to hang out in outside of your room. It’s like an attic or living room and has a TV, board games, books, and a full bar. The one time we tried to hang out there was to watch the Vice Presidential debates (no TVs in rooms), but there was another couple there so we left. 

What we did

We were pretty excited to be in a cute town again, so the first two days we were there we mostly shopped, ate good food, and explored. We took the gondola to the mountain village, which was fun and beautiful views, but the mountain village itself looks like most ski villages. Downtown Telluride has much more to offer.

Our second two days in Telluride, we hiked Bear Creek Trail and got massages at Pure Beauty & Wellness Spa downtown. 

We also really enjoyed going into the galleries along the main street. I don’t remember any of the names, but we found a lot of cool pieces!!

Recommendations

Restaurants:

The National - The was one of my favorite meals of the trip! A trendy contemporary American restaurant with delicious food and really amazing craft cocktails. 

221 South Oak - This was our other favorite meal in Telluride. I believe the head chef is from Top Chef and is known for her vegetarian dishes. We went the other direction and had the Elk steak and Bison Short Ribs...haha

There - Trendy, Asian-fusion small plates. We loved the spicy duck buns, crispy chicken lettuce wraps, and the wagyu skewers. 

Smuggler Union Brewery - We came here our first night because we didn’t have a reservation or plan and wanted something good, but casual. We were very pleasantly surprised, the food was pretty good for a brewery! The music and general vibes were on point, so we definitely will go back. 

Hikes:

Bear Creek Trail - This was a stunning, moderate ~5 mile hike that leads to Bridal Veil Falls. The trailhead is right by the gondola in town, so we didn’t even need to get in a car. This was absolutely perfect when we were there in mid-October with the leaves turning (pics below).

Shopping:

Crossbow Leather - By far my favorite store in Telluride! Really cool handmade leather goods and women’s accessories. Amazing hats, belts, bags, and jewelry.

Spa:

Pure Beauty & Wellness Spa - We got massages here and they were great! They also have a Salt Cave which sounded cool but was an extra cost, of course.

Also highly recommend taking the gondola to Mountain Village! Beautiful views, especially in the fall!

#telluride #colorado #san juan mountains #travel #road trip

[roadtrip-2020]

Lake Powell / Page, Arizona.

Let me tell you about one of our favorite stops on our trip: Lake Powell in Page, Arizona (and also Utah...it’s right on the border)! After coming from a solid two weeks in the desert, it was great to be back by a body of water. The weather was amazing when we were there in early October, which made being on and in the water that much more enjoyable. 

There isn’t much to the town of Page, it’s really just the town in the middle of Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend, which are the 3 main attractions in the area. We ended up missing Horseshoe Bend, which I regret. I wish we had stayed an extra day and night so that we could have hiked there. It’s a very short hike out to the beautiful view of Horseshoe Bend and back. Touristy, but for a reason!

Where we stayed

If you’re there in the Spring, Summer, or Fall, I highly recommend camping. From what I can remember, there weren’t any super nice resorts or cool places to stay around there, unless you’re splurging at Amangiri, which is about 30 minutes away. Unfortunately, that was out of our budget. It is on my bucket list, though!

Camping at Lake Powell was amazing and there are many options to choose from. We decided to reserve a campsite at Wahweap RV Park & Campground our first night to guarantee we’d have somewhere to sleep, then we dispersed camped on Lone Rock State Beach our second night. 

Wahweap Campground - This is a great campground in the sense that it has tons of amenities. There is a camp store that has anything you could ever need, they have laundry, showers, bathrooms, and even sinks for dish washing, which comes in SO handy when camping. Because it’s a private RV park and campground, it’s going to be a more commercial campsite, so more concentrated sites, more amenities, but not necessarily as beautiful. Also lot’s of RV and trailers. It wasn’t outrageously packed, but we did have neighbors right next to us that we saw and heard all night. Pic of Chris preparing to cook for us at our Wahweap campsite:

Beach camp at Lone Rock State Beach - This was probably our coolest camping experience of the trip! Definitely requires 4WD as we saw a few cars getting stuck in the sand. We pulled up around 5 and the beach was packed with cars and trailers, for a second we were worried. We just kept driving along the beach, though, and finally found an open area up along the shore of Lake Powell that looked fair game for us to park and settle for camp. The sunsets and sunrises on Lake Powell make it wonderful for camping. As I mentioned above, this is dispersed camping, so there are no bathrooms. It is on a lake though, so if you need to pee, you can just go for a swim haha. Could have easily done another night here!

Pro Tip: since you are dispersed beach camping there are no fire pits for cooking or creating fires. We dug a hole in the sand using our neighbors shovel and then used a campfire cooking grate that we purchased earlier that day at the Wahweap camp store. So basically if you are doing dispersed camping make sure you bring a shovel and a campfire cooking grate, like this!

First pic - us so happy to be camping on Lone Rock State beach!

Second pic - Lake Powell at golden hour

Third pic - sunrise on Lake Powell from our rooftop tent

What we did

We only had one full day there, which was not enough! We spent our day kayaking Antelope Canyon, which was SO FUN. We rented a two person kayak from Lake Powell Paddleboards and Kayaks and it was perfect! I was so glad I didn’t get us each our own kayaks because I needed Chris’ strength to kayak us most of the time haha...Also, the workers at Lake Powell Paddleboards and Kayaks were so helpful. They attach the kayak to the top of your car and give you instructions on where to port in.

COVID TRAVELERS: the trailhead for Antelope Canyon is closed currently (or at least was in early October) because it’s located on Navajo land and the Navajo were adversely affected by COVID. If you are traveling right now, you may only be able to enter by the water. Alternatives to kayaking would be jetskiing in or renting a small motor boat. Also, check before you go because maybe they’ve reopened it since we were there!

We also had quite the photoshoot in Antelope Canyon haha...It’s so beautiful that it’s hard not to! See pics from our trip, below:

#antelope canyon #lake powell #page #arizona #utah #travel

[roadtrip-2020]

Grand Canyon & Flagstaff

Back from our trip and finally have some time, energy, and wifi to finish documenting our trip. I didn’t blog much along the way, because we were too busy trying to maximize each day!

After Sedona we drove to the Grand Canyon and stopped in Flagstaff both on the way there and on our way out. We didn’t spend too much time there but we thought it was such a cute college and mountain town. Definitely warrants a stop!

Flagstaff

Since we just stopped for lunch, I only have a few food recommendations:

Bandera Tacos - We stopped by here because the smells coming from the BBQ were fantastic. It’s a casual Tex-Mex spot with a cute patio area, great tacos, and magaritas that you can drink out of adult-version capri-sun pouches. Very fun.

Historic Barrel + Bottle House - Flagstaff has a few cute breweries but we stopped at this one because it was right downtown and had a cute outdoor patio area (key for COVID times). The beer was great (so many options!) and they had Juneshine that I could buy to-go. 

Pizzicletta - I totally forgot to stop by when we were there but I had my eye on this restaurant that does wood-fired pizza and elevated Italian fare. It also just looks so cool/cute. Need to go back!

Grand Canyon

Where we stayed

Under Canvas Grand Canyon - Would definitely recommend Under Canvas for a cool and unique experience. Plus, I don’t really think there are many other cool options for hotels around Grand Canyon. 

100% recommend splurging for the Deluxe, Stargazer, or a Suite Tent, because these are the tent options that come with a bathroom. We decided at the last minute to go a day early, and the only option left for that first night was a standard Safari tent, which does not have a bathroom in the tent. The communal bathrooms are decent, not terrible, but it did not feel luxury and it was not as convenient, of course. Our second and third night we had a Deluxe tent, which made our experience SO much better. They’re just way nicer. Dooo it!

What we loved:

Live music (some nights)

Free yoga (some mornings)

Fire pits with free s’mores materials - every night

Our deluxe tent

Food is pretty good

What we didn’t love:

No wifi

No power outlets in tents (instead, they give you battery packs, lamps, etc.)

Standard safari tent didn’t seem worth the $$

No free breakfast

Scenery at this location is not very impressive. Since it’s by the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, it’s pretty much a flat field rather than beautiful canyons or mesas around it to look up at. Zion was much more beautiful.

What we did

Pretty much just hiked and hung out at Under Canvas! We did two moderate-level hikes:

South Kaibab trail - This hike starts on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and you hike down into the canyon. We hiked to Cedar Ridge (about 3 miles round trip), but you could keep hiking further down into the canyon if you’d like to make it longer/more challenging. The path is etched into the side of the canyon, so the way down (first half) is pretty easy. Everyone kept warning us to save energy for the way back up, because it was very hot out in early October and also the switchbacks are somewhat steep. Definitely keep that in mind as you are hiking and also bring lots of water! :)

Bright Angel trail - This was our favorite hike of GC! We liked it because we saw a ton of wildlife along the way (see pics below) and it was a bit more shaded and interesting landscape than Kaibab trail. Similarly to South Kaibab, you hike down into the Canyon and can decide how far down you want to go. I believe it’s 8 miles one-way to the Colorado River at the bottom. There are so many signs that say you shouldn’t hike to the bottom and back to the top in one day, which definitely caught our attention. We hiked to the 3 mile rest stop (6 miles round trip), and on the way back I got pretty exhausted towards the end. I was hanging on Chris’ backpack as he dragged me along to the top! haha

In the future we would definitely be interested in camping at the bottom of the canyon by the river. That hike back up would be no joke, though!

#grand canyon #nature #hiking #glamping

[roadtrip-2020]

Our Trip Itinerary

Felt I should take a step back and explain our overall trip itinerary to set some context (and because many people have been asking for it)! 

We left from LA and spent that weekend with some friends in lovely Del Mar. (Thanks Nick and Jo!)

1. Joshua Tree, California - 2 nights

2. Sedona, Arizona - 5 nights 

3. Grand Canyon, Arizona - 3 night (Stopped in Flagstaff for lunch on our way there and on our way out)

4. Page, Arizona - 2 nights

5. Telluride, Colorado - 2 nights

6. Ridgway, Colorado - 2 nights* Ridgway/Ouray ended up being some of our fav spots

7. Ouray, Colorado - 1 night* highly recommend

8. Telluride, Colorado - 2 nights* we loved it so much we came back!

9. Moab, Utah - 2 nights

10. Park City, Utah - 1 week

11. Jackson Hole, Wyoming - 4 nights

12. Big Sky, Montana - 2 nights* highly recommend, we lovedddd big sky!

13. Park City, Utah - 1 night* crashed with some friends, thanks Jeff & Libby!

14. Zion - 3 nights

15. Palm Springs - 2 nights*

16. HOME! (Los Angeles)

*these were days that we left unplanned until last minute 

Our entire trip is a little over 6 weeks. To get a good feel for a place I recommend 3 nights+. For destinations that are National Parks and don’t have much to do other than hike, 3 nights is probably sufficient. Every time we got to a cute town like Sedona, Telluride, etc there was so much to do, we could have stayed even longer!

Hope this helps, happy planning and exploring!

- Moira

[roadtrip-2020]

Sedona

The second stop on our road trip was Sedona. And boy did we love this magical city!

Where we stayed

Nights 1-2: Sky Rock Inn of Sedona

Since this was only our second stop, I refused to let us stay at Enchantment Resort, probably the most well known and expensive luxury resort in Sedona. (I felt we should “earn” our luxury towards the end of our trip after camping a bunch). We found a hip-looking refurbished roadside inn with beautiful views, Sky Rock Inn of Sedona, online for about $250/night and booked it. It ended up being decent, but not as great as advertised online. 

What we liked: 

Free yoga at 9 am every morning

Big, shared deck with beautiful views of the Sedona Mountains 

Pretty good, free breakfast every morning

What we didn’t like:

The rooms weren’t as nice or clean as the images we saw online. “Worn” would be a relevant adjective

Restaurant and bar were closed when we were there so we couldn’t even enjoy a drink on the awesome deck to take in the views over an adult beverage during “golden hour” / happy hour. 

Night 3: Don Hoel’s Cabins

Our third night in Sedona we were supposed to camp outside of Sedona, but realized day-of that the campsite we had booked was over an hour outside of Sedona and was closer to the Grand Canyon, which was the next stop on our trip. So we decided to stay in Sedona, but couldn’t find a last-minute campsite anywhere! Turns out Californians have flocked to Sedona because of the wildfires and because, due to COVID and no international travel, everyone is looking to camp and get outside. We were getting nervous, but I had read of an amazing dispersed campsite online, so we set out to find that. Dispersed camping is essentially camping without any amenities (i.e., no reservations, bathrooms, showers, potable water, etc). They are specific areas that the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) allows people to camp as long as they follow “leave no trace” principles. So that’s what we were searching for!

We stopped by a roadside market to ask for directions to dispersed camping and found that this market was also the lodge for an Inn comprised of 18 cabins, The Butterfly Garden Inn (previously “Don Hoel’s Cabin”). Turned out that they had vacancy in a cutie little one-bedroom cottage that evening and also had private access to a creek to swim in across the street, Oak Creek Canyon. In Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon is where everyone goes to swim and when it’s super hot out -- which is was when we were there in late September. Some areas get crowded with strangers, so having a private access area was awesome, even if it were a bit rugged.

Nights 4-5: Camping in Oak Creek Canyon

We learned that the best way to get a last minute campsite is to go to campgrounds that have plenty of “first come, first serve” campsites and show up very early (pre-7 a.m.) to get in line for a spot. So the morning after we stayed in the cabin in Oak Creek Canyon, we woke up early and waited in line at Cave Spring Campground, then checked out Pine Flat Campground afterwards. Both are in Oak Creek Canyon and have streams running right through them. Cave Spring seemed to have more families, so we decided to camp at Pine Flat. The camp hosts at Pine Flat were so nice, organized, and helped us switch to a better campsite for our second night. Some punks also stole our firewood and the camp hosts gave us two free bushels. The bathrooms at Pine Flat were pit toilets (very common), but surprisingly clean and actually smelled nice! Crazy, I know.

Other Sedona campgrounds to check out:

Cesar Crossing

Manzanita

What we did

We were in Sedona for 5 nights and 4 days, so we did a lot. I’ll put the highlights in the recommendations section below. We were there in late September so it was very hot when we were there still, in the mid-90s during the day and 60s at night. Our days centered around hiking and then finding a way to cool down in the afternoon. Either swimming at the hotel or swimming in Oak Creek Canyon when we were camping. Our first two nights we went to nice dinners, since we were staying in town and at a hotel and could look nice. Our third night we did Cathedral Rock hike at Sunset which was amazing, highly recommend! On our last two nights when we camped at Pine Flats we made dinner on the campfire both nights: Campfire Cast Iron Pizza and then roasted chicken and veggies (similar dish here). Both turned out pretty well but the roasted chicken and veggies was my favorite. I’ve never had chicken cooked so perfectly and it felt like a much healthier camp meal!

Sedona Recommendations

Restaurants

Hideaway House, a very cute Italian restaurant built into the side of red rocks with multiple stories of outdoor patios -- great for COVID dining!

Rene at Tlaquepaque, the nicest of our Sedona dinners and my personal favorite. I got the rack of lamb and Chris got the roasted duck, both were delicious. For dessert we got bananas foster, which was made right at our table. Reserve an earlier dinner and walk around Tlaquepaque to check out all the cute shops. 

Heard great things about Mariposa Grill, but it was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s “Latin-inspired” cousine. 

Hikes

Soldier’s Pass to Brins Mesa Trail - 5 mile loop hike with beautiful views.

Cathedral Rock Trail - Short but steep hike -- our favorite of Sedona! Awesome for sunset. Also, it had one of the strongest vortexes in Sedona.

West Fork Trail - 6.8 mile out and back hike in Oak Creek Canyon. More shade the the other hikes in Sedona and has plenty of places to swim in the creek. The hike wraps around the Canyon wall, which is beautiful.

Other

Swimming in Oak Creek Canyon - The linked article gives directions on how to get to a good swimming hole. 

Shopping at Tlaquepaque - Really cute arts and shopping village that made me nostalgic for Europe!

[roadtrip-2020]

Joshua Tree

We started off our road trip just a few hours Southwest of our new home base, Los Angeles. It was my third time to Joshua Tree and Chris’ second time there. We went in late September and it was mid-90s during the day, which was brutal at times. I’d recommend visiting a little later into the Fall or in the Spring. 

Where we stayed

Usually when I’ve visited in the past I’ve stayed at Airbnbs, because there are so many cool, well-decorated houses to stay in out there (more on this, below). We used this trip, however, to test out our new camping set-up. 

Earlier that week, we had purchased a rooftop tent from Front Runner, based in Agoura Hills, California. We had been eyeing a Tepui rooftop tent, but they were sold out everywhere due to COVID and everyone’s desire to get outside. Digging through blogs for weeks, I found the Front Runner was highly-rated, in our price-range (around $1k), and was one of the lightest rooftop tents you can find.

We reserved campsite #61 at Jumbo Rocks Campground via Recreation.gov. I had been to the park multiple times before to explore and Jumbo Rocks is one of my favorite areas of the park, which is why we chose it as our campground. It did not disappoint! Highly recommend this campsite as you can camp right next to the Jumbo Rocks and hike/play on them all day. 

What we did

It was extremely hot when we visited in late September, so every morning we took our coffee to-go, grabbed our phones/cameras and explored the Jumbo Rocks. Then we’d pack up our rooftop tent and the car by 8:30/9 a.m. and bop around during the day. This trip, we visited with Chris’ brother Jack who lives in Joshua Tree, grabbed breakfast at Natural Sisters, chilled in Jack’s AC (thank God), got lunch at Joshua Tree Saloon, ran some errands, and then came back to the park in the late afternoon. We drove to Key’s View, a super cool look-out point. Then we came back to our campsite around 4:30 pm to set up camp, drink happy hour beers on the rocks, and watch the sun go down while making dinner. 

Joshua Tree Recommendations

Wonderful Airbnbs: 

Little Joshua Tree - Owned and managed by a dear friend of mine. Super cute and hip one bedroom cottage.

Harriett House (Pioneertown) - Great for a family or girls’ trip. Stayed here for my birthday a few years ago. Pioneertown is about a half hour from Joshua Tree.

The Joshua Tree House - Been following Sarah & Rich Combs for ages and they have perfected the desert retreat with their houses.

Casita by The Joshua Tree House - Same as above. Smaller, I think?

The Glass House - Some friends stayed here and it looks like it has an amazing pool. A fancier/pricer option if you’d like to ball out!

Explore Joshua Tree National Park:

Drive the park, getting out and exploring anything that looks interesting along the way. A few of my favorite spots:

Jumbo Rocks

Hike Ryan Mountain

Cholla Cactus Garden

Key’s View

Watch an amazing Joshua Tree sunset from a cool spot

Explore Joshua Tree’s eclectic art scene:

Art Queen

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum

Bars & Nightlife:

Joshua Tree Saloon - In downtown Joshua Tree

Pappy & Harriett’s in Pioneertown - Grab dinner and catch a show! (check to see if they have live music and get a ticket in advance!)

Red Dog - A Pioneertown classic

A couple restaurants that came very highly recommended but I haven’t been to yet:

Kitchen in the desert - Recommended by Chris’ brother who lives in Joshua Tree.

Crazy Coyote Tacos - Amazing tacos on the way to Joshua Tree from LA. (or vice-versa?)

La Copine - Opened by a Michelin star NYC chef couple.

A few pictures from our recent adventures:

#joshuatree camping california rooftoptent frontrunner audi photography