Our first destination in Utah was Bryce Canyon National Park. The park was not very big but it was unlike anything we had ever seen before. The main feature in the park are the canyons filled with Hoodoos. These hoodoos are pillars of rock eroded over time to form crazy shapes. The pictures do not even do it justice. By far one of my favorite parks we visited on this trip. We hiked down around the hoodoos and wandered through the maze of pillars. As the sun was setting it illuminated the hoodoos and looked amazing. 
We played with the idea of staying at Bryce and extra day but finally decided to move on to Horseshoe Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. On the way we drove through Capitol Reef National Park. The road was a little sketchy but Josh maneuverd through it like a pro. Can you see the road winding up the cliff in the picture below?
After getting out of Capitol Reef we made our way to Horseshoe Canyon. We knew we had to camp in a parking lot outside the park since it is not allowed in the Canyon. We took another unpaved, bumpy road for about 25 miles to the lot where there was only one vehicle, the Park Ranger's truck. We set up camp on the edge of the canyon and enjoyed a vibrant starry night all by ourselves. We were blown away by how many stars we could see. It was a picture perfect night that would be hard to recreate. We were many miles from the nearest city, so no lights, the parking lot was barren of any trees to obstruct our view of the night sky, it must have been the new moon of the month and we were the ONLY people in the lot. We didin't even see the Park Ranger until the next day in the canyon. We had a private viewing of the night sky and the canyon below. It was so clear we saw tons of shooting stars and a few satellites pass by.
The next morning we woke early to hike down into the Horseshoe Canyon. Josh read the book by Aron Ralston "Between A Rock And A Hard Place" and we wanted to see where Aron hiked through after freeing himself from a boulder crushing his arm and wrist. He was stranded out there for more than 6 days until he severed his arm with a pocket knife. Just knowing of the incident we felt a little creeped out, but still enjoyed the beauty of the canyon. On our way in we crossed paths with the Park Ranger who camped down in the canyon. She was cleaning up a vandalized dinosaur footprint fossil. Now that's something you don't come across every day.
Deep into the canyon there are places to see Rock Art from thousands of years ago. Some looked as if it were telling a story. Just to imagine the situations people had been in that long ago is mond boggling. Yes, we have all read about cavemen in our history books, but it's interesting to actually be faced with a piece of work they created. To be where they have stood. Or to see the same beautiful canyon around them that we had been in at that moment.
Can you see Jinger in this picture below? She's the tiny white spec towards the bottom. This was so massive and the picture does not do it justice.
After an awesome hike in and out of Horseshoe canyon we moved on to Arches National Park. When we got there the campsites were full so we stayed a night in a cabin in Moab, just outside the Park. The next morning we woke early and signed up for our campsite for the next two days in Arches. Just as Bryce Canyon was overdosed with Hoodoos, Arches was filled with well arches, hence the creative name for the park. So many amazing formations that we lost count on how many we saw. The two most famous in the park are Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch. The names were accidentally switched and you can see why below.
Delicate Arch 
Landscape ArchWe had an amazing time in Arches after two days of exploring. Along the way up north we stopped in Salt Lake City for a night to get some rest and do some laundry. That night we met up with our friend Amy and her son Aidan who were in town visiting her brother. It was so nice to see familiar faces from Hawaii.
The next morning we packed up and hit the road again. We enjoyed Utah so much and know we want to go back someday and explore a little more.
Up next: Wyoming to Washington!
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