There are few things like the soft hues of the desert sunrise and sunset. We ended our road trip at a super swanky inn in Tuscon, Arizona and it was undoubtedly one of most incredible places I've ever stayed.  I can't speak enough to the attention to detail in all the spaces, the way they brought the outdoors in and reflected the desert lifestyle in every corner. The property itself was in the middle of the desert, so without really leaving, we could walk around a few little nature trails.  Neither of us are early morning people, but for some reason while we were in the desert, we were both awake and ready to go at sunrise almost daily. This rhythm feels impossible at home but it honestly felt SO good.  So right. There's something pure about being outside while all the animals wake up as the sun rises and all is calm. We were only about 5 minutes from Saguaro National Park, so we drove through the incredibly scenic Gates Pass many times and took a couple of hikes through the park and saw nobody.  So grateful for this beautiful experience! 

Highlights: Gates Pass, Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Where we stayed (and would stay again): Joshua Tree House (JTH) Tuscon - Agave Suite & Cholla Room

The land of Arizona is truly special. There's a striking, unconventional beauty about it, especially when shades of desert green dance across the red surface, and jewel-toned water runs through it, reminding the enormous walls what carved their existence. Much more elegant than the obnoxious red clay in North Carolina that stains everything (if ya know ya know). Horseshoe Bend and Sedona were two pretty quick stops on our road trip, but they were incredibly memorable.

Horseshoe Bend is located in Page, Arizona, and was something we quickly stopped at on our drive from Zion to Sedona. We had planned to go to Antelope Canyon which is also in Page, but got rained out, lucky for us though because the rain itself delayed our trip so we would have missed our booking anyway. Lake Powell is also there, so you really could make a full day out of it if you wanted. The Colorado River is what cuts through Horseshoe Bend, and we saw some people kayaking there, which looked really cool.

Sedona was so fun and cute. It's pretty quaint and swanky having some high end spa resorts. They had some really amazing hikes, and so many of them! We definitely only scratched the surface. It's definitely a place I could go back to for a long weekend for some hikes, four wheeling, shopping and spa time. Overall when I think back to being in Sedona, I just remember feeling really happy and healthy there. Zam and I felt like we "got in shape" after all the Zion hikes and we were just flying through the hikes all day in Sedona.

An American staple of the wild west, the Grand Canyon! We were in awe as we approached its rim, overcome with the vastness of what was just a fraction of its colossal size. It's hard to even comprehend how far the other side is, but it's just about as far away as you can see. What's even harder to wrap my head around is the magnitude of time and force that it took to form this. Mind-blowing to say the least.

We were only here for a few hours since it was a stopping point on our way to Zion National Park, where we spent most of our time. After walking the rim for a bit, we hiked the South Kaibab trail for about two hours before hitting the road north. This trail was striking and certainly worth experiencing rather than staying up at the rim, which has pretty much the same view from each point. If I went back here, I'd like to maybe do some kind of kayak or white water rafting trip, as that would be super immersive and take many days. Otherwise, for us just seeing it in a day was enough time.