Featuring over 2,000 stone arches, the aptly named Arches National Park was one of the highlights of our trip. A geological marvel formed over the course of 65 million years, the park’s sandstone formations must have an opening at least 3 feet wide to be considered an arch. This means that erosion can cause a formation to earn its official “arch” designation at any time, or that erosion can cause an arch to collapse, losing its designation. In order to restrict the number of visitors and help alleviate overcrowding, Arches requires a time entry reservation between April and October. Reservations …

My initial plan for the drive between Park City and Moab was a stop at Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wild Horse Canyon, mostly because they fulfilled two of my Utah bucket list items – hoodoos and slot canyons. But as our transfer day approached and I really got into the details of planning the stop, I realized that it was too aggressive for our timeframe. Although it was roughly along the way, it would have added an extra 100 miles and an hour and 45 minutes of driving to the trip. Since I knew we wanted to get …

When we realized that our spring break fell early this year, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to head out west to ski again. We went to Keystone in Colorado for President’s Day two years ago and were excited to try some spring skiing this time. I was excited to ski but didn’t want to spend a full week skiing (too many days for me and too expensive) so we looked for locations with other activities nearby. Utah seemed like the perfect place because we could combine it was a trip to Moab and some of the national parks. …

After spending our first day in Clearwater Beach exploring the beaches and towns, we decided to spend our second day out in nature at Honeymoon Island State Park. A barrier island featuring 4 miles of beaches and a beautiful pine forest with a 2.5 mile nature trail, the park offers ample opportunity for hiking and wildlife spotting. We took an Uber to the park and paid the $8 per vehicle entrance fee before being dropped off at the Rotary Centennial Nature Center. After wandering through the exhibits, we grabbed a map and asked a park ranger for directions to the …

With limited time in Clearwater Beach, we didn’t plan any major activities. We just wanted to relax, spend time together and explore the area a little bit. What better way to explore than on the Jolley Trolley? The Jolley Trolley popped up in a lot of the research we did before the trip and then the concierge at our hotel highly recommended it. The trolley offers a North Beach Route and a South Beach Route, both of which stay local to Clearwater Beach, as well as a Coastal Route, which crosses the causeway, stopping in Dunedin on the way to …

We’ve been going to Hilton Head for over 10 years now and every time we drive on or off the island, we pass the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. And every time we go past it, I say that I want to go there. This year we finally did! The small island between Hilton Head and Bluffton is a bird watcher’s paradise, with some 250 species residing there. Thousands of migratory birds stop on the island each year, and there is a rookery for hundreds of ibis, egrets, and herons. The refuge offers hiking, biking, wildlife observation, and fishing. The …