Zion's National Park

On July 22, my BFF Jennie picked me up from my mom's house in PG and we headed South to spend a weekend in Zion's National Park!!

It was so amazing for me to be camping up against the beautiful backdrop of Utah mountains. I didn't realize how much I'd really missed them until I was staring right at them again!

 Jennie and I didn't waste any time when we got there. We quickly set up camp, changed our clothes, and then headed out for some hiking!

Everything was so beautiful and relaxing. I'd nearly forgotten how amazing nature can really be... and how amazing a weekend with no children can be as well! :)

Jennie (as always) was an awesome hiking buddy. She knew all the right spots to stop, carried all the water (sorry Jen), never got lost, and was the perfect conversationalist.

On our first day we ended our hike at a rocky pool, but the camera died right after I took the above picture so you can't see how serene and secluded the place really was. It was so nice in fact,  that Jennie and I found a nice slanted rock over some soft sand and took a little nap before we hiked back home.

The next day we woke up bright and early for breakfast and a chance to hike The Narrows. When we got to the trail head the squirrels were out in full force and I got to witness, first hand, the potty habits of a rodent!

Anyway, it wasn't long before we reached the water, along with about 50 other hikers (it was a very hot day,) and we charged right in.

The water stayed mostly around our ankles, shins, or knees the whole time, but there was one point at the beginning of the hike where the water went all the way to my neck. Jennie took this shot just as I was heading in.

After a couple hours of hiking we reached a "road block" that we really wanted to get over. By now the hikers had thinned out but we were lucky enough to have a young couple in front of us to watch climb the wall before we attacked it on our own. It was wet and slippery, but with Jennie's awesome rock climbing skills (and the brute strength she used to help pull me up) we made it!

And I'm glad we did! It gave me the chance to take a plunge off some rocks and cool my head down from all the hiking.

Soon after I took the plunge, we realized that we needed to start heading out if we wanted to get home on time. It was much faster hiking out with the currents than hiking in against them, and it was fun to wade back through the deep parts in front of hikers that didn't know it was going to be that way! One little boy saw me sink down to my neck and just gave up walking. He jumped right in and swam across :)

Once we reached the trail head again we took off our shoes, put on some sandals, and started the walk back to our car.

But not before we took an "after" picture of ourselves to document the incredible time we had together! Thank you Jennie for spoiling me rotten and taking me on a much needed side-vacation! Miss you!