With upwards of 11 feet of snow on the road ahead, there was no visiting Cedar Breaks National Monument today.

It’s nice to visit places with snow as opposed to living in places with snow, and the opportunity to visit on such a blue-sky day is just an absolute delight.

Friendly horses next to the side of the road also help bring another level of happiness to our travels.

And then we arrive at another National Park and have to stop for yet another selfie in front of the park sign.

This is such a beautiful place with fond memories of our first visit back in 1999.

The deep blue sky forms the perfect backdrop for the bands of red rocks punctuated by puffs of sage and a few random trees.

Carved out and worn down, the sandstone that remains offers many hints of what was once here before the weather and time wore the earth down.

Epic views pop out at you when driving into the park. If only we could walk in instead of rushing in with a car.

My less-than-virgin steps into the icy waters of the Virgin River right here in Zion National Park.

The colors of fall hang on until spring starts to show its face, which is still about six weeks away.

Never thought we’d visit this corner of Arizona. Welcome to the Arizona Strip, the one corner of the state you cannot visit if you are trying to get here from Arizona. The only way in and out is from Highway 15, which crosses between Utah and Nevada.

The memory of Lake Mead lapping at the spillway feels like it was 100 years ago. The white rock is bleached from when the waters were that high.

While it may still be winter in Utah, here in Arizona, south of the Hoover Dam, it is apparently springtime already.

Our last glimpse of the Colorado River as it makes its way down to Havasu Lake before a trickle of the flow might make it to Mexico. Our weekend jaunt is over, and with about 45 minutes of light left, we’d be getting home in the dark. All-in-all it was a great little trip that put great little smiles on our faces.