For Sinéad’s 17th birthday present this year, we promised her a road trip to Sierra Vista, Arizona, where her boyfriend lives. Mary and I covered half the common costs (hotel, gas, etc).
Here’s the route we took:
We covered 7 states, 3 countries, and 3 national parks.
We left on 30 June 2016.
We drove to Livingston, Montana, the first day, using it as our base to then take a day trip to Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful.
The next day, we drove to Cedar City, Utah, where we’d stay the night with some friends. On the way down though, we stopped off at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
The next day, we drove all the way to Sierra Vista, with stops in Kanab (to see my old missionary apartment) and the Grand Canyon.
While in Sierra Vista, we hung out with the family of Sinéad’s boyfried, and checked out a few cool places (like Tombstone and Karchner Caves).
One day, I took a solo trip to Agua Prieta, Mexico. That was a fascinating experience. It was the first time I’d ever been somewhere when people don’t look or talk like me.
On the trip back home, we drove to Cortez, Colorado, with a stop at Four Corners.
The next day, we visited Mesa Verda, before heading to Delicate Arch, East Carbon, Wellington (to see where my missionary apartment used to be), then Provo (to see the City Centre Temple, and to see another old apartment).
On our last leg, we nearly ran out of gas just outside of Great Falls, and I arrived home with only $8.56 left in my pocket.
It was a great trip.
Oh, and our brand new van made this trip way easier. I can’t imagine trying to do it in either of our previous two vehicles.