Valley of Fire

The Valley of Fire just outside of Overton, Nevada, is one of my favorite places in the world! We had a chance to explore and enjoy the red rocks and blue sky:

Every time I go there, I'm impressed at the hardiness of the ancient desert dwellers who carved beautiful petroglyphs in the rock. Everything in the desert exudes resilience and patience from the rock formations carved over time to the little plants anchoring themselves on a rocky cliff. All the desert people I know, too, are full of fortitude and see life realistically yet enjoy it nonetheless without feeling the need to be showy. I feel very comfortable and at home in the desert.

Desert beauty isn't for everyone, I understand, but have you experienced anything breathtaking in a desert lately? What does the desert remind you of?

Hidden Canyon Trail

During our recent trip to Zion National Park, we took an adventurous hike along the Hidden Canyon trail:

It was challenging in the beginning, but the views and adventures were totally worth it! We ended up holding onto chains bolted in the sides of cliffs, hopping over natural cisterns carved into the rock, scrambling and bouldering over obstacles, and taking a peaceful stroll through a shady slot canyon!

I love it when hard work pays off like that! After I successfully complete something challenging, I usually end up thinking about how many people in the whole existence of the world have done the exact thing I just accomplished. It makes me feel awesome knowing that I'm maybe one in only thousands of people in the whole world who have shared that experience. It's both humbling and empowering.

Have you had experiences that are both humbling and empowering? Or what do you do to maintain a fresh perspective?

Canyon Overlook Trail

We recently took a trip to southern Utah with friends, and one of my favorite adventures we had was hiking along the Canyon Overlook Trail in Zion National Park:

The hike is pretty easy, and the views are beyond amazing! I love how refreshing a new perspective is. Also, there's no rush quite like looking over the edge of a precipice, don't you think? This adventure was so good for my soul and I wish I could just bottle up the vastness and majesty and somehow fit it all inside my heart forever.

Have you ever been to Zion National Park? What was your impression? Do you have a favorite adventure or spot that is special to you?

Deadwood's Mount Moriah Cemetery

Deadwood was a charming little stop on our trip to gorgeous South Dakota. It's a tiny historic mining town tucked up inside a narrow canyon. We could have stayed forever exploring every nook and cranny (there have got to be like two dozen haunted sites there, just saying) but we went with a purpose: to check out the Mount Moriah Cemetery.

You may or may not know that we love cemeteries. Like, we could geek out about them for forever. Visiting them is something we would do if we had all the time in the world. We've been known to pull into cemeteries that look particularly interesting and take a couple hours perusing them. (Weird fact, we got engaged in one! So fitting.) And, I married me a history buff, who has an affinity for the wild west, so we made sure to hit up the cemetery in Deadwood, for sure.

Guys. This cemetery is one of our top three we've been to. We went there to pay homage to Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane and found their resting places without any troubles. It's up on a mountain (surprise--the name is to be taken literally--some hiking required) so the grave plots are terraced, which gives an amazing affect. It is beautiful and rich with character.

Well, this concludes the last installment of our South Dakota trip. (If you haven't already, check out the previous posts here, here, here, here, and here) Thanks for hanging out through all these pit stops! I was blown away with the beauty and grandeur in South Dakota. (Who knew?) I know it's nothing new to some people, but It's like we discovered one of America's most best-kept secret gems and I would see myself going back several times. I can't believe we waited to long to plan this trip.

So, what about you? Are you cemetery traipsers too? I know it's not for everyone, but I'm curious to know. If not cemetery-goers, are you South Dakota-goers? Because you totally should be.

Visiting the Badlands

As part of our getaway to South Dakota, we also spent a goodly amount of time in the Badlands National Park. Guys, I love our national parks so much! They're amazing, in case you didn't already know. The Badlands reminded me a lot of one of my favorite places in the world, the Valley of Fire in Nevada. (You can see one of our past visits on my old blog, here if you'd like.)

The terrain and inhabitants are rugged and will probably outlive the apocalypse. Or, in other words, it's pretty incredible:

It's definitely not the average beauty one expects from nature. I have to say I've been blessed with an affinity for loving relatively ugly things because I think everything deserves a chance to be looked at with eyes of love and wonder. Because my soul is made out of mountains and deserts, I've also been raised to find the beauty when others can find none. However, for all you by-nature ugly haters, I think it's a skill that can be learned, for sure, so don't worry.

Have you ever been? Do you usually find beauty in harsh or so-called ugly things?

And if you want to see some additional wonders South Dakota has to offer, you can see some previous excursion posts on the blog here, here, here, and here.

Hiking Cathedral Spires

Along Needles Highway is what happens to be one of the greatest hikes ever, to a rock formation called Cathedral Spires. The trail treks through the shade of jutting stone turrets and quiet forests. It is a peaceful place that fosters meditation by providing everything from tiny immaculate details to sweeping vistas, and to top it off, the wildlife was simply magical. It will surely steal your breath away and fill your spirit with goodness and freshness.

 

Please go here if you get the chance! This was surprisingly the pinnacle of our trip (no pun intended), and is one of the most awe-inspiring and uplifting places I've been. I will never forget how it made me feel. That place really does feel sacred. I was just wrapped in this incredibly verdant grace. And lest you worry, the hike isn't that difficult (I bet our 3-year-old would have loved it, and if not, she would have at least survived) and there is so much to see that you could walk three steps and stop to soak in another wonder, then walk three more steps and stop again. So basically, if you take your camera, you won't get winded at all because you'll probably be stopping every other second to take another picture.

Have you been? If so, I'd love to hear what you think! It makes me so excited just reminiscing and I feel like I may need to hike that at least a hundred more times in my little lifetime. It might just be worth the 11-hour drive.

P.S. If you'd like, the previous posts about this trip to South Dakota are here and here.

Needles Highway

Probably our favorite excursion while in the Black Hills was driving along the breathtaking Needles Highway in Custer State Park. (It was so great we had to drive it twice!) We oohed and ahhed over the incredible rock formations...

 breathed in the brisk ponderosa-scented air...

 squeezed through some crazy small one-way tunnels...

drove on winding roads with ridiculously steep dropoffs...

 and just stood forever, soaking in the dizzying and indescribably beautiful views.

Guys. You HAVE to go here if you haven't already! I won't even take no for an answer. Because I can't just open your heart and put this vast, blue, clean experience, I just need you to go see it for yourself. It's the only way. I want you to be able to close your eyes and feel that South Dakota sun on your eyelids. I want you to get a fresh perspective on the Mount Rushmore experience. I want you to feel how big the world is and how small you are compared to the universe and how connected you truly are to the natural world. I want you to see the amazing wildlife and maybe even test out your precision driving skillz, too.

So what do you say? Will you add this to your bucket list?

Crazy Horse Monument

Is it possible to visit Mount Rushmore without also visiting the Crazy Horse Monument? Only if you hate equality, culture, and America's original inhabitants. Since we don't hate any of those things, we of course visited Crazy Horse, too:

I love the pride behind this ongoing sculpture and what this artwork represents. It promises to be incredible. Not surprisingly, my favorite part about visiting this monument was looking at all the Native American artifacts and appreciating the patterns, colors, and cultural perspective. Amazing!

Have you been to the Crazy Horse Monument?

Mount Rushmore, Y'all!

Mount Rushmore may not be the first place you think of when you picture an exciting vacation, but believe you me, it's pretty rad. Guys. We've been wanting to go to Mount Rushmore for about three years now, and we finally made it happen this fall! It was a pretty exciting trip for oh so many reasons: no 3-year-old kicking the back of our seats for the 11-hour drive, a new set of wheels to test out, the chance to drive through all four seasons in less than 12 hours...

...oh yeah, and that huge sculpture the size of a mountain...

...and the wildlife...

...and having my dreamguy all to myself for a whole weekend. Oh yeah.

It's way cool, guys, and I'm not just talking about the 7 inches of snow. It was so good we went back twice to bask in the art and 'merica. I think it helps to be accompanied by a history buff, which, lucky for me, I was.

We were both surprised at how small it looks from a distance, like a little scratch on the top of one hill in a whole line of hills. Have you been to Mt. Rushmore? If so, what were your impressions? If not, would you like to go there?