This Easter, I spent the holiday in a different way. We trekked down 4 hours south to Zion National Park with my mother, niece, husband, & son for a 2-day stay in Springdale, UT. You see, my mother had never been to Utah, & she’s 81 & a widow. She had planned to travel the US with my dad in an RV when he retired, but he developed Stage 4 esophageal cancer & passed away in 1999. So, that long-awaited plan was never realized. But it’s not as if they hadn’t had their adventures.

My parents had lived in Albuquerque, NM, for a number of years with my older siblings–& my brother Dan was born there. And I’d always felt envious of the fact that my brothers & sister were able to explore the West in states like New Mexico & California. They’d collect slides from national parks, & I’d look at them in wonder, feeling like the only one who didn’t get to really have that family experience.

And so, when thinking about my own toddler son & his experiences, I wanted my mother to share in a family memory made in the West. After seeing how gorgeous Zion National Park was from my recent trip to St. George, I immediately knew I needed to bring my mother there. Knowing that a 4-hour commute would be a lot in one day, I made arrangements to book a hotel in Springdale, near the South Gate of the park. Since my mother is older, I didn’t know how long she will be healthy or ambulatory enough to make the trip out to the West. Thus, I wanted my niece to be her travelling companion, & that would work out wonderfully since her other grandmother lives in Eagle Mountain, UT, & would be nearby for visiting as well. We flew them out & made the arrangements to make the trip as simple & painless as possible.

The drive south would be a pretty one, as the weather greeted us with dramatic clouds & sunshine, while the temperatures were in the low 70s & breezy. Absolutely delightful.

When we arrived, unfortunately, practically half of the park was inaccessible because of washouts & damaged roads that would place visitors at risk. Little did I know how dangerous many of the famous spots in Zion actually are because people underestimate footholds or stable positioning, so many people fall to their deaths. So, of course, I’d rather play it safe & not venture into places deemed dangerous or too risky to drive. The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway is now open again, but during our stay it was too damaged.

This did turn out to be a good thing, though, as it made us explore another nearby route. Kolob Terrace Road, a highly rated byway which intersects Zion National Park in two spots, offered many gorgeous views & different landscape features to observe.

And it must be said that these photos do not justice to the beauty & staggering splendor of the views witnessed in Zion & its nearby environs. I regularly needed to clear space on my phone to keep taking pictures, trying to get a glimpse of the dramatic cloud formations, unique statigraphy that marks the many-hued geological sites, & the different vegetation that pepper the landscapes–succulents, brambles, sedge, trees, & brushes. I even collected small rocks from several stops as mementos.

The layered colors of the rock formations tell a history of the life of eons of time. The palest stone layer showed the desert dunes that once existed, while one of the middle layers captured a petrified forest. One layer captured what once had been underwater. Each layer has its own story, its own tale of the life that had once existed there. Magical.

More to come regarding the memories made with family & my mother, yet for now I can say that it was a delight to hear the exclamations of awe & wonder as we explored the different areas. These are the things that make life worth living. I always find myself again in nature, when surrounded by things so much larger than myself. Things that remind me how ephemeral this lifetime is, & that I need to make the time for that “flow” found in activities & experiences that bring me happiness. As I grow older, I find that it’s so much easier to close off, isolate, & not push myself to do the things I love. Yet, when I do push myself I’m pleasantly surprised by the joy & excitement I do feel.

All this to say that I redouble my commitment to travel & explore Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, even Colorado. There will be a number of weekend trips spent camping & exploring, this summer. Watch out for the blog posts & pictures!