John Wise

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.

Well, at least there’s still some water left in our quickly disappearing lake here in Page, Arizona. It’s a beautiful though slightly chilly morning here as we point the car north and head into…

Utah! Isn’t it nice to just go out on some random day and see what the world around you looks like?

The spectacle of our exposed earth shows us its long, deep history by putting itself on display for all to see.

Pahreah Ghost Town is up that road, and while it’s tempting to go check things out, we couldn’t be sure that we wouldn’t find a wet, impassable part of the road, so we played things safe and made a note to help our memory bring us back this way someday.

We finally did it and stopped at the Thunderbird Restaurant in Mount Carmel Junction, Utah. This is the home of the “Ho-Made Pie,” and in that classical all-American setting where pie and coffee are able to put your mindset of the 1960s road trip on Route 66, this is that place.

Meet Maisy the Donkey. This cute young lady lives in Glendale, Utah, and might be the friendliest donkey EVER!

We leave Arizona with spring-like weather and end up visiting winter, where the snow angels take flight.

A bit more snow than we’d counted on.

We had entertained the idea that we might hike a short trail here in Bryce National Park, but upon looking out here, we were not prepared with the proper clothes or shoes.

Seeing Bryce covered like this is certainly a treat. By the time we landed in Cedar City, we were early enough that we were able to have a luxurious dinner at Taco Time before checking into the Cedar Rest motel for the great rate of only $26. Saving so much money on food and lodging, we stepped up the indulgence and visited the Stadium 8 theater to catch a screening of Clint Eastwood’s new film, “Million Dollar Baby.”