ZION NATIONAL PARK & TOADSTOOLS

For the last part of our trip, we headed north from Page, Arizona, to Utah for two days in Zion National Park. This was a last minute decision, shifting from more time in Page and a next stop of Monument Valley after Monument Valley and the slot canyons in Page closed. Zion is closer to Page than we had thought it was, originally not even including it in our planning discussions, but it’s less than two hours away. We switched hotel reservations to Springdale, started looking at Zion information online, and hopped in the car to cross over to Utah.

GRAND CANYON & HORSESHOE BEND

To start our third day in Arizona, we drove from the nearby hotel into Grand Canyon National Park. Like the first leg of our trip, I had also been to the Grand Canyon in 2012, but we obviously had to go back so that Shae could see it. It is just as impressive the second time around, though, so it didn’t feel like a waste for either me or my aunt, who has been there multiple times.

PHOENIX & SEDONA

Back in March, just before the pandemic fully hit the US, I went out to Arizona with my usual travel buddy, Shae, who had never been there. My aunt and uncle live in Phoenix, and I’ve been there to visit them twice before, with eight-year gaps in between these three trips. I have always loved it: the landscape, the colors, the weather and dry heat (though I’ve never been out there in the summer, only between February and April!), all so different than the east coast.

Last summer, in the Before Times when we could travel, my mother and I spent a week in Europe, our first trip abroad together. We went to London, my absolute favorite city, and Cambridge, but before that, we went to Paris. When beginning to plan a trip, my mom selected Paris, a city she had always wanted to visit. I had been to Paris twice before, the first time for a long weekend while studying in London and again for a whirlwind day trip when visiting London again, but I couldn’t say no to another Paris trip. I still had so many things to do and see there (and honestly still have a long list) so it was a wonderful time to go back, this time with warm weather and summer in the city.