Abe & Alan (and Stella in the background) at Sea Level in Death Valley National Park

One very good reason why you should not go out the night before you drive out of Vegas? The heat of Death Valley! I think Stella and I were both grumbling about how Vegas had gotten the best of us as we hit the road for Yosemite. But as we neared Death Valley, we realized it lives up to its namesake, and I was miserable.

This post marks the longest day of the US road trip to date. After brunch with my friend Diana, Stella and I left Las Vegas around lunch time. We had marked out the best route to get to Yosemite and would be crossing Death Valley.

Amargosa Opera House and Hotel

Where are we?
Our map did not show that we would arrive at a junction. Maybe we took a wrong turn, or maybe our map just wasn’t that detailed. But, we found ourselves in the tiny town of Death Valley Junction, staring straight ahead at the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. I’m not gonna lie- when we pulled in, it looked creepy. This tiny town looked abandoned to begin with, and there were only one or two other cars in the parking lot. We pulled in and hesitantly walked inside for directions. The few people seated to our left upon entering turned out to be the only customers at the hotel at the moment- and they were ghost hunters trying to connect with people from the past. Then we met a normal enough guy who turned out to be Marta’s right hand man. Marta is an opera singer and performer who owns the hotel and puts on shows in the opera house. If you click the link above, you can read more about her life and how she used to be a star on Broadway. She’s also a talented painter and painted in the interior of the opera house herself. According to this gentleman, she has a cult-like following and people love to come see Marta perform. We had a great time talking to him, and he even weathered the storm when we practically annihilated him with the ‘You’ve lived out in this desserted town for how long?!’ type of questions. He gave us directions to continue on to Death Valley, and we set out again.

Abandoned town

Death Valley: Morbid name but for good reason
We went through Death Valley in September. In the US, this month generally signifies temperatures starting to cool as we transition into fall football weather. In Death Valley, that is true as well, however when the average daily high temperature in July is 115 degrees, then when the average daily high in September is 106 degrees you can consider that cooling off as well!

It’s hot. And it’s dry. Average rainfall in Death Valley is just under 2″ per year. It is the hottest, dryest, and lowest place in the United States. Not much can survive in Death Valley under these conditions. I wish I still had the Death Valley National Park newspaper, as it had some fascinating information in it. One thing I do remember is reading about the kangaroo rat. It can survive its entire life without drinking a single drop of water! Its body metabolizes the starches and fats from the seeds it eats to get all of the water it needs to survive. How crazy is that?!

Entering Death Valley

There are people who actually live in this place (no judgment) but I’m not sure how. We stopped midway through Death Valley to grab a bite to eat. There was lodging, a convenience/souvenir store, a little restaurant, and a gas station (where gas was almost $6/gallon since it’s the only place around to get gas). What a life. When we picked up the park newspaper, it warned about car accidents in Death Valley. Not even 20 minutes into the park, we saw a flipped car. There is no cell phone service. When we stopped at the visitor’s area (no building, but just some signs and a place to pay park fees), there was a phone there to use for emergencies. And when we stopped to grab food at the place I mentioned above, we overheard employees talking about someone who didn’t show up to work because she got into an accident- and she was coming from a different direction so it wasn’t the same person we saw. Windy roads, high speeds, and little traffic- a bad combination.

Dantes View

Dantes View:
We drove out of our way, up to a lookout called Dantes View. If we were going to drive through Death Valley, we thought we should at least have a look around. The drive up was really windy and slow-going, but the view was pretty spectacular.

Dantes View

Back on the road, we saw what we never expected: rain!

So it didn’t last long, but the clouds that followed are exactly how I imagine doomsday to be. I couldn’t get over how dramatic the sky looked!

Dramatic sunset

Is this what the apocalypse will look like?

Sunset storm over Death Valley

We saw signs that recommended you turn your air conditioning off, and even at high speeds, as soon as we rolled the windows down, we were hit with a wall of choking heat. It was evening, and it felt like a blazing hot summer day outside. We saw bicyclists as we drove out of Death Valley and realized these bikers were in some sort of relay bike race. I couldn’t get over why anyone would ever desire to bike Death Valley- not only is the heat bad, but they are climbing mountains. It also slowed us down a bit, because it was completely dark out and we spent the entire evening passing bikers on windy roads.

Yosemite camping is full???
The hours between Death Vally and Yosemite seemed to stretch on, and when we arrived at the park after midnight, we found all of the campgrounds were full. And, there was a good 60 degree temperature change! It was freezing. We had no choice but to keep driving, because there was nowhere to camp. We stopped at one place on the other side of the park to try to get a room- it looked like a dump and the lady said a room would be $100 and only if we paid in cash. Because that doesn’t sound creepy or anything. We found a campground around 2:30am, set up our tent on a sloping campsite, and tried to sleep despite the cold. What a day!

Stiletto installation at the Cosmopolitan Hotel

Sadly, I didn’t take that many photos in Vegas. I failed to take a photo of the amazing Cosmopolitan Hotel pool that I loved and many of the fun places we went. So, please bear with me :)

Las Vegas is a city of extremes. It was one of the most relaxing stops on our road trip while simultaneously being perhaps the most draining. Our first night in Vegas where our couchsurfing host just took us on a walk around the strip, concluded with late night food and rolling home at 4am. Our second night in Vegas was a ridiculous night out, and we didn’t get home until 8am.
So how did we spend our days, you ask? For starters, I got a haircut. This was the first city I really had a chance to do so. Stella got her first taste of late night Waffle House in Nashville, but neither she nor our host had ever had hot Krispy Kremes right off the line. So, a visit to Krispy Kreme in Las Vegas was necessary. I spent two afternoons lounging at the pool at the Cosmopolitan (my favorite hotel on the strip now… even though I’ve never stayed overnight there), and Stella and I did a wee bit of shopping. Stella needed some souvenirs for friends back in Germany, and while I didn’t need to shop, it’s hard not to with the great shopping malls on the Strip. Our host knew all the Happy Hour deals in Vegas and we had delicious, cheap food.

The largest chandelier I've ever seen! In Cosmopolitan Hotel. It has over 7 million crystals.

After three nights with our couchsurfing host, we packed our bags because both Abby and Diana had generously offered to host us. We ended up at Abby’s for two nights. Our first night we had delicious happy hour drinks with Diana, dinner at a nice restaurant in the Golden Nugget with them and their friends, and then Diana took us to see Fremont Street, which has a canopy over the street for five blocks that does a lights show in the evening. The following night we had dinner with Abby, and then she sent us to a club where she put us on the VIP list. We were sad that she couldn’t join us, but it was a good time (well, except the fact that we left earlier than expected because unlimited free drinks did us in early). The following morning was brunch with Diana (See a pattern? Food is a major theme in Vegas), before it was time to head out of town.

Shopping: This H&M in Vegas has a live DJ that has a booth to the right of those mannequins.

Summary of Vegas: Wonderful days lounging by the pool, too much good, cheap food, way too many drinks and nights out for this closet homebody, and virtual friends who were even more fabulous in person. Oh, and the bizarre situation with my CS host which I’ll save for its own post ;)

If you’re on Twitter, follow Abby @AbbyTegnelia and Diana @DTravelsRound. They are both great writers and kind, generous travel buddies :)

As we left the Asian side of Istanbul to ferry back to the Old City, we caught sight of a cargo ship passing under this intensely orange sunset on the Bosphorus River. It was absolutely beautiful. While Stella and I only had three nights in this amazing city, it was still baffling to us just how many sights we got to see and the things we experienced in such a short amount of time. Geographically speaking, Istanbul is where east meets west, where Asia and Europe converge on this river, and where cultures intermingle and sprout a beautiful and exotic city and people. As the sun crept down below the horizon, our ferry pulled into the Old City just in time to see a backlit mosque, and shortly after, we listened to the call to prayer.

Istanbul is a city I definitely would love to revisit one day, and with cheap holidays to Turkey (the only way I was able to afford it was taking advantage of a free stopover on Turkish Airlines en route to Kenya), I intend to do so. I hope to uncover more of its beauty and meet more people from this warm and friendly city.

View of Las Vegas at night from the Palms

Warning: This is not one of those Where to Go Out in Vegas posts. If you want to know, ask the experts. This is simply my first real night of going out in Vegas, and as this post indicates, you should not take Vegas advice from me :)

Our couchsurfing host got us on the list with one of his friends at Moon, the nightclub at the Palms, so we had plans to go there for our first real night out in Vegas. After walking around during the day, we were offered free drink tickets at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand. Stella and I know nothing about where the hot spots are in Vegas, so we decided to go there first before heading over to Moon. Our host was up for going out for a bit so he was nice enough to drive us down there. We went into Studio 54 and it was not exactly our crowd. Granted, it was early, but it was a 40+ crowd that looked like they were there for a conference. They seemed to work together and the most exciting part of being there was watching drunk co-workers hit on each other and do inappropriate things that I was sure they would regret the next day. 

Ok, so he took a blurry pic, but here's Stella and I at MGM Grand!

Studio 54

The music was terrible, so after a couple of drinks, we bounced (yes, I’m trying to make us sound cool) and headed over to the Palms. In addition to Moon, they also have the Playboy Club. And of course, we had to check that out too!

Stella with one of the bunnies.

Playboy bunny carpet

After a quick tour around, and leaving our couchsurfing host to hit on girls, Stella and I went to Moon. And, in a nutshell, it was so fun! We checked out the view from the balcony (the first photo in this post), got our free drink, and hit the dance floor. There was an awesome DJ playing and we find this guy that had incredible dance moves throughout the night. On several occasions, people made circles around him when he would pull out his break-dancing moves.

This guy had the best dance moves of the night

Stella did some more mingling, while I stuck to the dance floor. We picked up this kid James from England to hang out with. Why? Because he had 80s glasses with no lenses. And those rock.

80s glasses make us instant friends

Stella brought a few other new friends around but they ended up leaving for the airport. So after hours of dancing, when Moon shut down, the three of us headed to the Strip to find another place to go out. Unfortunately, it was either a Tuesday or Wednesday night. It was really quiet on the strip, except for these two gals we found drinking a bottle of vodka outside one of the hotels with two hotel workers. The employees went home, but these girls said they wanted to go out too. So we picked up a few more to go with us.

Ready to go out together

And here’s where things start to go… well… in the ‘is this really happening’ direction. We start asking around from valet guys to hotel workers to random people, where we can go out this late. We look in a little tourist book we have and it doesn’t seem like much is 24 hours. We are told to go to this nightclub, that one of the locals swears by. He said that locals who get off work late go to this hotel (I can’t recall the name at the moment) and that even during the week it is packed. Stella and I are skeptical because, while our host had said the same thing about this place being packed with locals, he said it’s only like that on the weekends. We are skeptical, but our new girlfriends are  so pumped (and then there was talk of a strip club which I shot down, so I was then ready to go along with this idea).  We go to get a cab… which is our first indication of how this evening is getting interesting. Standing in front of a hotel, (between 4 and 5am) there is a sign that clearly tells you where to wait and the door man will get a taxi for you. But our new, rather outspoken friend, starts yelling at the top of her lungs for one of the taxis to pull forward. Omg, talk about embarrassing. The door man basically tells her to knock it off, and we all climb into the cab together.

Our new girlfriends are BFFs hailing from Illinois. One is bisexual and quickly crushes on Stella, and the other is about is practically in love with our new British friend (and about 3 times his size), and since she doesn’t know that we just met this guy either, her friend tells her to back off because he’s with me. Haha, funny, but it does delay her from practically crawling in his lap.

The girls are hilarious but are so inappropriate that we shudder every time our cab driver looks in his rearview. We finally arrive at the hotel and know that he’s probably all too happy to get rid of us. One of our new friends had called ahead to ask if the bar was open and we were told it was. However, when we walk in, you can hear crickets. It is empty, and I mean COMPLETELY empty. We walk into the dark bar/lounge area to hear classical music playing and we don’t even see a bartender. Our new friend finds him asleep behind the bar and wakes him up, demanding drinks and good music. He’s less than impressed, tells her that they only have a DJ on the weekends, and begrudgingly serves her a drink. She goes into a rant about how we called and she wants dance music and they need to find an iPod to play or change the music. I sit down, noting the ridiculousness of the situation, while our other new friend makes friends with the janitor.  Our British friend tries to make small talk with the bartender so he doesn’t kill us for coming in loud and obnoxious. I sit down and stay out of it. The girls get drinks and everyone becomes a little more relaxed and tries to enjoy the classical music.

Our new girlfriend though thinks our British friend is just too cute and this is the BEST picture of the night:

Best Vegas picture

We take a few more candid shots and decide that the sun is up and it’s time to roll out.

The girls also love Stella

The valet guy at this place calls a taxi. And what shows up? A car, not a minivan. There are five of us, and we are not all small. But we cram in anyhow. Our larger, funny friend sits up front and before you know it, aside from the curse words flying around, she is telling the driver how sexy he is. We are dying in the back, because she is not shy about hitting on him. And then he tells her that he has kids her age and that he’s a pastor. A pastor!! And that he just started driving to earn extra money. I bust out laughing and this girl is profusely apologizing, but can’t help but drop the f-bomb every now and then and continues to apologize every time she says a curse word. And the next thing you know, they are discussing God and how religious she is. Truly, a remarkable end to the evening. We drop the ladies off at their hotel, drive over to the Palms to drop our British friend off, and then Stella and I were going to get off on the Strip and catch the bus home. Our couchsurfing host had offered to come pick us up, but we certainly weren’t going to take advantage and he told us it was easy to grab a bus. But our taxi driver insisted on giving us a free ride home. Have you ever received a free taxi ride? He said he didn’t have any other calls yet and he wanted to pay it forward. It was very nice of him. Stella and I fell into bed at 8am, and slept soundly… until I had to be up at 11am because I stupidly scheduled to get my hair cut at noon thinking that it would give us time to sleep in.

And that was only our first night out in Vegas.

Sin city. Yep, Stella and I were ready to hit Vegas after a string of nights camping and being outdoors. We were going from one extreme of being nature geeks for a few weeks to the other extreme of indulgence and partying in the city. The next two posts are about Vegas but I can describe our stay there for you in one sentence: We stayed five days and it nearly sucked the life out of us. Vegas is not for the faint of heart or the homebodies (umm yeah that would be me). Don’t get me wrong- Abby has clearly demonstrated that people who live in Vegas find a life off of the Strip, but as tourists to Vegas, you have to experience all that this city has to offer (okay well I protested going to the strip club, but you know what I mean).

I have been to Vegas twice previously, but both of those trips were in high school. This was Stella’s first visit to Las Vegas and my first visit as an adult. We were excited to explore the city! One of my favorite things about Vegas is the drive into the city. Sure you might find cheap flights to Las Vegas, but I still think the excitement is in driving, navigating miles of empty desert and then to finally see bright lights off in the distance light up the sky. The anticipation builds as the traffic increases and you start to recognize some of the big casinos that have been around for years.

Last rays of light

We drove down the strip, on our way to meet our next couchsurfing host.

Excalibur- where I stayed my first time in Vegas

And of course, Vegas wouldn’t be the same without the wedding chapels (some of them are even drive-thru!):

We stopped for a classic photo under the Welcome sign:

The next five days would turn out to be some of the craziest days of our road trip. It all started with our couchsurfing host who deserves a post of his own (along with our other hosts who were soooo odd). A couple of nights out on the strip, days spent relaxing by the pool, and finally meeting a couple of travel bloggers who live in Vegas are all coming up next!

When we left Zion National Park, we were headed for the bright lights of Vegas. We expected the scenic landscape of southern Utah and desert in Nevada, but we did not realize we’d be driving through the tiny town of Virgin, Utah. I used to live in Utah and had never heard of this place (probably because as of the 2000 census, there were only 394 people living there). This sleepy place lies along the Virgin River and is where it gets its namesake.

This sign actually is for Virgin Goods Used & Rare Books but I couldn't help myself

This is the type of place that if you blink, you might miss it. It’s that small. But on our way out of town, we came upon the Virgin Trading Post & Petting Zoo. It looked a little odd plopped out in the middle of nowhere but we decided it was a good excuse to take a bathroom break.

We went inside and saw cowboy boots strung from the ceiling. It was a nice decorative touch. But then, as we turned to go to the bathroom, we saw this:

My first thought was, ‘Oooh, that’s creepy!’ Then, I realized that it was a scary face made on a deer’s butt, and I thought it was just gross. Stella and I wanted to check out the buildings (aka fake ghost town) out front, but to do so you had to pay  $1.00 because it’s part of their petting zoo. We figured, why not? And it was a good excuse for a photoshoot with our bobbleheads Abe and Alan!

Abe & Alan go to jail- do you see them?

Stella & I test out alternative modes of transport for our road trip

Wild Ass Saloon (I can't believe there's the word 'ass' on a sign in Utah)

And then we saw the cute little donkeys and llamas....

But the llama wanted to eat Alan.

This roadside attraction, if I may call it that, was an entertaining distraction and part of the reason we rolled into Las Vegas later than expected. The animals here were hot and there wasn’t much shade so I felt sorry for them. Two thumbs down for the petting zoo, but Abe and Alan seemed to have a good time living life on the edge!

Every photo conjures up a memory. I really loved taking sunset photos as we drove behind this truck through New Mexico, but of course I can’t look at this photo without thinking about Stella’s and my encounters with truckers on our road trip. Though I have traveled by myself quite a bit, I have to say the ridiculous stories from those solo adventures probably pale in comparison to the ones from when I have traveled with Stella. Usually, I’m the one who throws out all of these ridiculous ideas and have to hear them get shot down by someone else. On the road trip, I  had the opposite problem; it was a constant negotiation- I probably turned down half of Stella’s ideas for one reason or another (if you were to go through my video archives, you would find us debating all sorts of them).

But Stella has two friends back home in Germany who are obsessed with country music, Texas, and 18-wheeler trucks. And Stella, being the good friend that she is, wanted to get as many pictures as possible of truckers holding up a sign saying hi to her friends. I thought this was a great idea… that is until we actually had to make it happen. We found ourselves creeping from the car lot at rest stops over to the trucking lot on the other side of the building (okay, well I creeped while Stella bounded) as moms in minivans gave us looks as if we had ulterior motives. And I’m not gonna lie- Stella usually did all of the talking. It didn’t matter if she asked a trucker to hold a sign for a photo and she got turned down- she simply went to the next one. At a rest stop in East Tennessee, she happened upon a very nice trucker who hauled, of all things, ice cream! He had children our age and was one of the nicest guys we met on the trip. Here’s a photo below of Stella and him:

He talked to us about the trucking business and how he’s out on his own now and this is his first rig. We had no idea how obsessed truckers are with keeping their truck shiny and clean until this guy gave us the inside scoop. Stella admired the interior and when he told her she could check it out, well, I’ve never seen her so excited:

I was offered my chance, but had already had my own trucker experience in Namibia, so I kindly declined and let Stella take it all in. I was actually surprised at how many truckers did not want to participate in the photo-taking experience with the sign but it was all a good time. At one point along our trip, we stopped at a large gas station that had a lounge inside full of truckers. Stella wanted to walk in there and make an announcement that she wanted to honk the horn of someone’s truck- yes, I put a stop to that!

But of course, Stella didn’t stop at just trucks. One of her friend’s fathers dreams of riding a motorcycle on Route 66, so we had to stop motorcyclists too:

I think this post is a perfect example of why a road trip buddy is necessary. It definitely makes for much more interesting stories and good laughs along the way :)

View of Zion National Park from Angel's Landing

I love hiking and climbing things. I love the thrill of adrenaline pumping activities. (And I should mention that I appreciate the shock value of sending Google images to my parents about what I’ve been up to… just to keep them on their toes.) 

Lovely campsite on the river near Zion National Park

Stella and I left Bryce Canyon to go to Zion National Park. It is one of the most visited parks in the country, and because of that, driving is prohibited to most of the best hiking spots. They operate a very efficient bus system, which cuts down on environmental impact. Props to the National Park Service for this decision. We set up camp maybe a half mile outside of the park on a beautiful little spot on the river. Stella wasn’t feeling well and decided to do laundry and rest. I thought I’d head to the Visitor’s Center and get in a short hike before sunset. We only had one night to stay in Zion, and after talking to park rangers, I decided that I wanted to hike Angel’s Landing (a hike that requires chains) and the Narrows (wet trekking through a gorge).

Angel’s Landing

Angel’s Landing is roughly a 5 mile roundtrip hike from where the shuttle will drop you off. You will walk a flat area of the rim trail before starting up an incline. About a mile in, you will have a nice shady walk through Refrigerator Canyon. It was just what I needed, as even hiking in September was so hot! Then, there’s a zig-zag up the mountain on a series of 21 short switchbacks. This will dump you out on Scout’s Lookout. There is a good view from here and if you don’t wish to hike with chains on the skinny ridge that leads to Angel’s Landing, this is still a great place to hike. I talked to people who decided to wait it out while their friends went up to Angel’s Landing and watched as several people started the ascent and turned around about 15 steps later.

Warning sign at Scout Lookout

Angel’s Landing is not for the faint of heart or for those afraid of heights. I took photos only when I had a safe, flat area to stop and pull out my camera. In some parts where you’re edging your way on a little cliff overhang while holding onto the chains, I couldn’t believe that the National Park didn’t require permits or have more signs up. At least six people have fallen to their death in the past 10 years (it could be more but I can’t remember what I was told at the Visitor’s Center) and I can see how this would happen. One little stumble or slip and you can fall down the sheer side of the ridge. I really loved this hike but there were moments where my heart was pounding, and I really had to watch my footing. Once at the top of Angel’s Landing, the views are spectacular! I sat up there for at least 30 minutes, took photos, caught site of a tarantula (the first one that is- I saw another on the way down),  and spoke with other hikers. If you’re not afraid of heights and enjoy a little adventure, then this trail is for you!

Photos from the Angel’s Landing Trail:

Hikers on the ridge

Peeking over the edge of Angel's Landing to the road and buses below

Ridge to Angel's Landing

And of course… the tarantula:

Have you hiked Angel’s Landing? Did you think it was dangerous?

Perhaps my favorite photo from Venice

In 2010, when I embarked on my trip around the world, my first stop was Venice. It would be an understatement for me to say that I was ill prepared for the weather and that I was freezing! (Oh, and my hostel had a busted window so it wasn’t very cozy.) However, I was so overwhelmed by how beautiful the city really was and thrilled that it was my first stop. If you find any late holiday deals, I highly recommend visiting this old and enchanting city. Venice really resonated with me, with its quaint little canals and so much detail in its buildings. The stucco that has crumbled away to expose old brickwork, the peeling paint, and the arched windows, along with beautiful colors and textures, were just some of the details that I admired. Here are some of my favorite photos from my time in Venice.

During my visit, I also went to Burano, which was so colorful and a beautiful place to wander and take a day trip. Have you been to Venice or Burano?

After a beautiful day of hiking and admiring the amazing landscapes found in Bryce Canyon, Stella treated us to a little evening entertainment: a modern-day hoedown of sorts. If you’re staying at the Best Western, you pay full price to go to Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill. But if you camp, they give you discount coupons.  Growing up I’ve attended several types of dinner shows, including Medieval Times and a country western dinner show near Jackson Hole. But Stella had not yet relished in these cheesy American past times and was understandably intrigued. She bought our tickets and we got ready after thawing out in the hot tub. 

We hopped aboard the train which took us through the campground and the Best Western, across the street to the shops, and on to the dinner show. It was still early so we told the conductor that we wanted to go for another ride. It was ridiculously exciting… okay, now I’m just exaggerating. However, the conductor was so cute as he blew the horn and yelled something to the effect of ‘All Aboard’ as we passed stops on the route.

Stella and the Ruby's Inn Express conductor

Since we had already purchased our tickets, when the doors opened, we got a table right on the first row near the stage. We met the other people at our table- a Dutch couple that are taking an RV around the Western US for six weeks, a retired Arizona couple who travels frequently, and a retired Welsh couple who told me how broke they were when they got married because they spent all of their money on travel. Yes, these were my kind of people. They had some pre-show entertainment and then had an organized system for everyone to get their food. Once seated with our cowboy-style dinner, the show began.

Stella and I had an enjoyable evening. The food was fantastic, and the show was just what we expected. And, we were definitely sad when it ended because that meant it was getting closer to camping out in the cold again. We didn’t want to do it. We went back to the hotel to hot tub and stopped in the gift shop. We started talking to one of the nice older ladies that works there and she invited us to stay in her guest bedroom. It was so thoughtful of her and she told us that she’s met some of her closest friends from working in the gift shop. Unfortunately, she lives in a town 30 minutes away and we wanted to leave early the next day to go on to Zion. We had to politely decline. We soaked in the hot tub for quite some time. We showered and changed, debating whether we could just sleep on the couches in the back lounge of the hotel so we didn’t have to camp out in the cold.

Just then, our nudist friends walked by that we met the day before. They were late coming to the hot tub, because not only was it her birthday, but the couple also got engaged! That’s right- these crazy kids decided to go for it. We exchanged stories about our day spent hiking, about how they shopped for her ring weeks ago, and the fact that they’re keeping the engagement from their children, for now. We exchanged contact info and they invited us to a nudist body painting festival in Florida (though they assured us that we could go fully clothed).

And that, my friends, is how we wrapped up our quick stay in Bryce Canyon. Have you met any  interesting characters on the road that left you fascinated and inspired? (No, I have no plans of becoming a nudist but these people really knew how to enjoy life!)