A Very Southwestern Birthday Trip Recap

Cactus patterns and an obsession with the American Southwest have been growing in popularity over the last several years, but I personally just didn't *get it* until I took a road-trip in late 2016 out that way. It's hard to not feel dwarfed and amazed while driving through Monument Valley, and I was hooked. I knew I had to get back to Utah and Arizona as fast as possible.

I finally returned (15 months feel like a long time when you've fallen in love with a landscape) in December of 2017 and made a point to see new sights and national parks. My partner and I packed up her giant Ram Rebel and smashed a lot of locations and activities into a mere 8-day tour. Instead of the regular end-of-year holiday festivities, we opted to spend Christmas Day in Arches National Park and my birthday in Zion National Park. Pretty good decisions all around. 

I wanted to make another recap video of this trip because I knew this would be a trip worth documenting with all of its stunning scenery and new experiences, so I hope you'll peep it below!

I've included some of my favorite snaps from the trip below as well. I wanted to upgrade to a new digital camera before our trip, and feel obligated to show off what I captured because the camera was a fairly big investment... I haven't used as it as much as I intended to when I purchased it, but I'd like to change that. So hopefully this blog will become a place to showcase any other fun photo romps I go on. 

Locations Featured in the Video (In Order of Appearance):
Work and Class
Comrade Brewing Co.
Hudson Hill
High Country Healing
Clocktower Cabaret
Lucille's Creole Cafe
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Bryce Canyon
Thunderbird Restaurant
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Thai Sapa Restaurant
Zion National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Meteor Crater in Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park
Painted Desert