#WhereAreTheUbryTerrells ... Leg 11: Utah
Arizona wasn't the only state on this trip that contained wonderful memories for me. So did Utah.
Randy and I have both spent time in Utah before. We have both fallen in love with Zion and Bryce National Parks before. And so this part of the trip was a fun time of remembering for both of us.
Randy remembered driving his young daughter through Zion as the sun came up. And eating the best fried chicken on the planet outside of Bryce.
I remembered taking the Riverwalk in Zion and watching a family disappear into the Narrows. Then traipsing through the sandy trails of Bryce, preparing my heart for a move from California to Arkansas to live with my grandmother to pursue my dream of becoming a writer.
Bryce has this really cool incentive program where you get a free gift if you hike more than 3 miles. Considering most people go to National Parks to spend an hour taking selfies from the viewpoints, I think any motivation to get people out of their cars and into the wilderness is genius. We proudly received our “I hiked the hoodoos” stickers and reflected on the many hikes and beautiful scenery we have seen so far in our 3-week journey.
It hasn’t always been easy. There are moments of every day when I wish for “home.” A full-size shower. A second room. A chair to curl up in when I want to read a book. A bed that isn’t also our dining room table. A vehicle that will fit into a regular-size parking spot. But for the other 23 ½ hours of the day I am so grateful that we are doing this. And that we are doing it now.
Our heart’s cry is still to do more—to do something—we just don’t know what that more is yet. But we do know that before pouring ourselves into something else, we have to first heal and fill up on God and nurture our relationship with one another, trusting God to reveal what’s next when it’s here.
Randy and I have both spent time in Utah before. We have both fallen in love with Zion and Bryce National Parks before. And so this part of the trip was a fun time of remembering for both of us.
Randy remembered driving his young daughter through Zion as the sun came up. And eating the best fried chicken on the planet outside of Bryce.
I remembered taking the Riverwalk in Zion and watching a family disappear into the Narrows. Then traipsing through the sandy trails of Bryce, preparing my heart for a move from California to Arkansas to live with my grandmother to pursue my dream of becoming a writer.
Zion National Park is incredibly close to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, so getting there was our first plan of action. Upon arrival we discovered that all of the nearby campgrounds were full. We talked to one of the owners who directed us to a neighboring town with BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where you can camp for free. She let us fill up on fresh water (so we could make coffee in the morning!) and we headed out to find a campsite. The area she directed us to was very popular with campers, all of whom had set up camp along the river that ran through it. There was only one real spot left--next to a cave. We parked there and went exploring, delighted at this treasure! (It was the eve of Randy's birthday, so we joked about this cave representing the birth canal that brought him to life!)
The next morning we stopped at a gas station for a recommendation of a good place to have breakfast. We enjoyed homemade biscuits and gravy and talking to the locals. Then it was off to the park!
Zion is unique because it is situated on a highway. Literally to get from one town to the next you have to drive through the national park. (Hopefully they give locals discounts on park fees!) There is also a tunnel on the highway that we had to pay $15 to pass through as an "oversized" vehicle. Finally we had made it! We found one of the last remaining parking spots alongside the highway (the parking lots were long-since filled, and most people were being shuttled in from nearby towns), and set off on our adventure.
We took that same drive Randy took his daughter on (though we were on a shuttle and he'd been able to drive it), that same Riverwalk I hiked, and this time we were that family disappearing into the Narrows, walking through knee-deep 50-degree water just for the fun of it.
In my reading about Zion, I found that the two most popular hikes are the Narrows and Angels Landing. While we had yet to do more than one hike in any area that we have visited, something about Zion just begged us to stay and continue to explore. So after hiking the Narrows, we took on the challenge of Angels Landing. We wound our way up the switchbacks like ants. At the end of the switchbacks were the chains we'd been warned about. Having already tackled chains in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we felt like pros. These chains seemed harmless and less essential than those in Black Canyon, merely serving as support as you climbed the narrow pathway.
When we came to the landing after a short climb we thought, that wasn't nearly as scary as everyone made it out to be! Only to have someone point, another mile in the distance, at where the real Angels Landing was. We hadn't even scratched the surface of this hike.
Randy had no desire to go further. What I love about hiking with him is that he never feels like he has to prove anything, to anyone else or himself. He hikes for the sheer love of nature.
I had been nervous about this hike, because in the past few years I haven't felt like I've had a very good sense of balance. But on this particular day I was feeling good, steady, strong. So I located a guy in green shorts, about halfway up, and said, "I'm going there." Of course, by the time I got there, the guy in the green shorts had kept climbing. And so, so did I.
I made it all the way to the final stretch. "Less than 5 minutes now," everyone said. "Just one more set of chains." But for whatever reason, I decided to turn back. Maybe so that Randy and I can go back and do it together one day. Or because I've learned from him that I have nothing to prove. But more likely it was that I was starting to get shaky because it was well after lunch time and I'd had nothing to eat!
Everyone I've talked to who has hiked Angels Landing has said that it was just as scary as everyone says. I didn't find that to be true. Perhaps God had given me a supernatural calm to help me remain steady. Or maybe those last 5 minutes are what really test you. Regardless, we'd fallen in love all over again with Zion and can't wait to go back!
There is so much to see in Utah, but we were getting close to needing to be in California for our granddaughter's high school graduation, so we chose just one more park: Bryce Canyon. It was another 3 hour drive to Bryce Canyon from Zion, and even though it wasn't even remotely on our way to California, it was so worth it. (Again we camped on BLM land, this time waking up to cows.)
The next morning we stopped at a gas station for a recommendation of a good place to have breakfast. We enjoyed homemade biscuits and gravy and talking to the locals. Then it was off to the park!
Zion is unique because it is situated on a highway. Literally to get from one town to the next you have to drive through the national park. (Hopefully they give locals discounts on park fees!) There is also a tunnel on the highway that we had to pay $15 to pass through as an "oversized" vehicle. Finally we had made it! We found one of the last remaining parking spots alongside the highway (the parking lots were long-since filled, and most people were being shuttled in from nearby towns), and set off on our adventure.
We took that same drive Randy took his daughter on (though we were on a shuttle and he'd been able to drive it), that same Riverwalk I hiked, and this time we were that family disappearing into the Narrows, walking through knee-deep 50-degree water just for the fun of it.
In my reading about Zion, I found that the two most popular hikes are the Narrows and Angels Landing. While we had yet to do more than one hike in any area that we have visited, something about Zion just begged us to stay and continue to explore. So after hiking the Narrows, we took on the challenge of Angels Landing. We wound our way up the switchbacks like ants. At the end of the switchbacks were the chains we'd been warned about. Having already tackled chains in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we felt like pros. These chains seemed harmless and less essential than those in Black Canyon, merely serving as support as you climbed the narrow pathway.
When we came to the landing after a short climb we thought, that wasn't nearly as scary as everyone made it out to be! Only to have someone point, another mile in the distance, at where the real Angels Landing was. We hadn't even scratched the surface of this hike.
Randy had no desire to go further. What I love about hiking with him is that he never feels like he has to prove anything, to anyone else or himself. He hikes for the sheer love of nature.
I had been nervous about this hike, because in the past few years I haven't felt like I've had a very good sense of balance. But on this particular day I was feeling good, steady, strong. So I located a guy in green shorts, about halfway up, and said, "I'm going there." Of course, by the time I got there, the guy in the green shorts had kept climbing. And so, so did I.
I made it all the way to the final stretch. "Less than 5 minutes now," everyone said. "Just one more set of chains." But for whatever reason, I decided to turn back. Maybe so that Randy and I can go back and do it together one day. Or because I've learned from him that I have nothing to prove. But more likely it was that I was starting to get shaky because it was well after lunch time and I'd had nothing to eat!
Everyone I've talked to who has hiked Angels Landing has said that it was just as scary as everyone says. I didn't find that to be true. Perhaps God had given me a supernatural calm to help me remain steady. Or maybe those last 5 minutes are what really test you. Regardless, we'd fallen in love all over again with Zion and can't wait to go back!
There is so much to see in Utah, but we were getting close to needing to be in California for our granddaughter's high school graduation, so we chose just one more park: Bryce Canyon. It was another 3 hour drive to Bryce Canyon from Zion, and even though it wasn't even remotely on our way to California, it was so worth it. (Again we camped on BLM land, this time waking up to cows.)
In Bryce we looked at the map which gave the “recommended”
hikes to see the most popular sites. We had a plan in mind, but then asked a cashier in the gift
shop which was her favorite trail. It was different than the ones the map
recommended, but we took her advice and enjoyed an amazing (though not easy!)
5-mile hike into the canyon, exploring the many arches and hoodoos.
Bryce has this really cool incentive program where you get a free gift if you hike more than 3 miles. Considering most people go to National Parks to spend an hour taking selfies from the viewpoints, I think any motivation to get people out of their cars and into the wilderness is genius. We proudly received our “I hiked the hoodoos” stickers and reflected on the many hikes and beautiful scenery we have seen so far in our 3-week journey.
It hasn’t always been easy. There are moments of every day when I wish for “home.” A full-size shower. A second room. A chair to curl up in when I want to read a book. A bed that isn’t also our dining room table. A vehicle that will fit into a regular-size parking spot. But for the other 23 ½ hours of the day I am so grateful that we are doing this. And that we are doing it now.
In between visiting Zion and Bryce, we stayed with friends who
we had met in San Felipe. They came down as a family to visit the orphanage.
Just like Vickie and Norman, the friends who we stayed with in Colorado, we
didn’t know Brent and Lyndsie or their children that well. But they invited us
into their home and we took advantage of that time to get to know each other
and our hearts better.
(A precious side note: their young children came to the
orphanage with them, so when they saw Randy and I enter their backyard in Utah
they immediately asked: “Did you leave the kids from the orphanage in the car?” I’m not sure what
they thought we would be driving, to hold 25 kids, but they saw us and they saw
the parents of those beautiful children. Precious and heartbreaking all at the
same time, as we talk about and miss our kids every day!)
We bonded over sushi, and a visit to their bakery, a tour of a gaming center, and a soak in their hot tub. Brent and Lyndsie grew up and are raising their family Mormon, so we had lots of questions. (Why can you drink diet coke but not coffee? Why don't you have more kids? Or more wives? What do you really think of the mandatory 2-year-mission? Do you get in trouble if you're late for church?)
Brent shared with us that after leaving San Felipe he felt
completely wrecked. For weeks his heart was crying out to God, feeling led to
do more—to do something, anything—for the kids in Mexico. But God had yet to reveal
what that “more” was/is. He understood more than we even did the importance of our taking this RV trip right now, immediately after leaving Sonshine Hacienda.
This is our season of transition. To mourn losing Randy’s mom and my grandma
and leaving our children in Baja behind.
Our heart’s cry is still to do more—to do something—we just don’t know what that more is yet. But we do know that before pouring ourselves into something else, we have to first heal and fill up on God and nurture our relationship with one another, trusting God to reveal what’s next when it’s here.
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