Road Trip: Day 14 - 17

As promised, here's the final leg of our RV road trip.  All of the road warriors (aka. my family) flew back to their respective homes from San Diego, leaving Brandon and I with a little extra leg room and privacy to drive the big rig back to Colorado Springs via Las Vegas and southern Utah.  Good thing too, because Day 14 (August 14) was our 3rd wedding anniversary!

Apart from marrying the man I love on that day, I wouldn't call our wedding day "the best day of my life."  In fact, I probably wouldn't even put it in my top 10. So, in an effort to avoid slipping into a fit of disappointment and negative thinking each year, Brandon and I set out to redefine that day with new memories. Better memories. 

Our first attempt was a bust.  We helped drive my littlest sister to Chicago for her first year of college and I came down with Hepatitis A.  Oh joy.  (I'm perfectly healthy now - and immune for life I might add - but that's the risk you take when doing a missions trip to a third world village and opt out of certain vaccinations).  

Belize 2009:  Look at all these kiddos. Gee, I wonder how I got sick.

Right about now I'm starting to feel like death and have no clue my liver is doubling in size. 

Year 2 we made a nice recovery by spending three glorious days camping off the grid in the Fire Island Wilderness.  With no one around for miles and our tent pitched on the sand only feet from the crashing Atlantic - sigh -  I didn't think we could top that. 

What a hunk.

But here we are at our 3rd Anniversary, and I think we came pretty darn close.  

Welcome to Zion National Park in southern Utah.  Isn't it gorgeous?

I'm obsessed with clouds in the west.  We never got poofy one's like these back east on the island.

We took the in-park shuttle bus to the last stop and hiked along the river to the end of the trail. 

Once there, we hopped in the water and kept on going.

Unlike the Grand Canyon, which is mostly viewed from top down, the Zion National Park is experienced from the bottom up. Personally, I like it a lot better that way. 

We followed the river north for about 1.5 hours, wading at an average of 2 feet in depth, but every so often the river would bend, the bottom would sink beneath us and we'd be up to our chests in cold water - childish grins still intact. I wish we had had more time to travel upriver, though, because around each canyon wall was a new and amazing view - a picture perfect snapshot - every time.  Besides, getting back down was the easy part (especially if you bring an inner tube), you sit back, kick up your feet and let the river sweep you back whence you came (oh yeah, "whence" baby).  Just guard your tailbone going through the rapids!

Making our way back out of the park was an adventure in and of itself.  First, we forgot about the time change while traveling from the west coast and had to jet it for the canyon tunnel, our only direct route out of the park, which closed at 8pm. Despite getting there late, they still let us through and good thing too, because they had to close down oncoming traffic just so we could drive our big ass through the center of the tunnel without getting wedged in.  Once on the other side (and after avoiding landslide inducing mountain goats) the setting sun painted the sky beautiful hues of blue, purple and pink.  It was a great end to our 3rd Anniversary. 

Ok, maybe there was a bit more excitement later at the RV park too  =)

To all those married folk's, what's your favorite anniversary story?  I'd love to hear!