Utah: Visiting my home and friends 

8/1/2017

Fifteen days ago we drove away from Wisconsin, waving our goodbyes to Kyle’s mom Patti, while towing Sunny, our teardrop behind us. Since then we have had quite a few adventures. I took a little break from my Ipad and documenting our trip, but am feeling refreshed so will post a few updates while our travels continue. For now I’ll let loads of photos share our adventures 🙂
**I wanted to mention that during our road trip from Wisconsin to Florida via Utah and Colorado we are using campsites found on a website called: http://www.freecampsites.net Every campsite we will stay at with the car and teardrop will be from this website and will be free. The website uses our public lands to map free campsites throughout the United States. It’s a pretty great resource and we are really enjoying using it.**

After leaving Wisconsin we headed to South Dakota where we stayed at a campsite in Badlands National Park. We also visited one of Kyle’s good friends who lives in Custer, South Dakota. From Custer we spent one night in Wyoming on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Above photos: Badlands National Park and Sage Creek Campground, South Dakota

Above photos: Custer, South Dakota and random free camping in parking lot middle of Wyoming

Once in Salt Lake we stayed at my good friends Anna and Montana’s house. These two are the ones who got married, which is why we drove to Salt Lake in the first place. For our few days we stayed with Anna and Montana and did lots of hiking and exploring the city. Growing up in Salt Lake and the surrounding mountains I was really excited to show Kyle all my favorite places and for him to meet my friends.

Eventually we moved to my best friend Kiley’s apartment and stayed there for a week. Kiley, Kyle, and I went down the Weber River in inner tubes which was a lot of fun. I took Kyle hiking to one of my favorite lakes with my friend Brooke. We went backpacking for a night up Big Cottonwood Canyon, went out to dinner and some bars in downtown Salt Lake, and enjoyed meals with some of my other friends.

Above photos: Desolation Trail, Millcreek – overlooking Salt Lake City

Above photos: Lake Blanche, Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT. One of my favorite hikes with my childhood best friend Brooke 

Above photos: Floating down the Weber River with my two favorite people. I feel so blessed that my best friend and life partner get along so well 🙂

Above photos: Willow Heights, Big Cottonwood Canyon. We did an overnight backpacking trip and it was magnificent!

Last weekend on Friday, Kyle, Kiley, her little sister Kenzie, and I drove up to Rockport State Park near Park City, Utah. There we camped for two nights. Our campsite was right on the lake, and we had lots of fun swimming, floating on pool floats, and playing games by the fire. On Saturday night Kyle and I got ready at the campground and Kiley and Kenzie drove us to Anna and Montana’s wedding which was at a beautiful Whiskey Distillery just 10 minutes from the campground. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and so much fun. Congrats to Anna and Montana, I love you both and am so happy for you and thankful that we could be there for such an amazing day!!

**This is not my photo, I stole it from someone else’s site. But! I am so happy for Anna and Montana I had to share. Plus, Katy the bridesmaid and Dakota the best man were very important parts of my life growing up so I love all the people in the photo dearly. **

After leaving Rockport Kyle and I said our goodbyes to my friends and to Salt Lake City and headed towards the Great Salt Lake. We found a free campsite at the Spiral Jetty- a work of earth art made in the 70’s by an artist using large rocks to create a giant spiral on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The camping was beautiful and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. Yesterday morning when we awoke at the Spiral Jetty we enjoyed some hot coffee with honey (thanks Marianne for the backyard honey!) and then put on our swim suits and headed towards the lake. As the name implies the Great Salt Lake is extremely salty. I had swam in it once before when I was younger, but really wanted Kyle to experience it. After hiking out almost a half mile to get to knee deep water we plunged into the pink salty water. And just as I remember we floated! It is such a strange sensation, because of how salty the water is you float completely on the surface- not sinking at all. It’s pretty magnificent. Plus we were the only ones for miles and the water is pink due to the salt. I had remember that it is important to bring enough fresh water to shower with afterwards so when we were done swimming we rinsed off in a 2 gallon water jug that we set on the roof of Sunny.

Above photos: Spiral Jetty, Utah

Yesterday afternoon we drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats and found another spot to camp nearby. I have absolutely loved being back in the mountains and deserts of Utah and feel very grateful to have been able to share it with Kyle. As I write we are in a BLM camping area that welcomed us with this lovely sign:

Surrounded by salt flats on one side and tall mountains on the other, we have been enjoying beautiful sunsets and sunrises, dry conditions, and the peace and quiet that being in the mountains brings. Today we head towards Zion and on Thursday we are doing some backpacking trips through Zion National Park.

Sunny has been treating us extremely well and we feel so thankful to have her. Having access to a full kitchen, a bed that is already made and off the ground, lights, and room for all our clothes and things has been a real treat compared to tent camping. Plus we made her with our family so she feels that much more special. Life is good- Onward!