Utah Part Four: 21st - 26th October 2024

Monday 21st I think we left the hotel about 8am to make our way to the Slot Canyons in Orderville. It was a really fun way to explore as I've never been in an UTV until now, so fun! Also it was nice to do something that was new to Kendra & Dusty too, they'd never get bored of the National Parks, because how could they? But I'm so happy me and Becky got to experience this as a new addition to add to their itineraries for when others visit (just know that we were first 😛)

We went to two canyons, Elkheart Canyon and the other which was my favourite - Crimson Canyon.

Such a great find by Dusty & Kendra as these canyons are only accessible via this particular tour, kind of a hidden gem! The guys honestly put together an epic holiday, I can't fault a single moment. After the Slot Canyon Tour we made our way to the Canyon Overlook Trail, we saw our first herd of Bison on the way too!

What's your favourite scary movie?...

After freaking more people out with the mask (I was scared of it the majority of the time) we made our way to grab a coffee at Canyon Coffee, I had a vanilla latte but stole Dusty's iced coffee for the photo - thanks dude...not that you knew.

After Alpha Coffee, this is my favourite coffee stop...I mean LOOK AT THAT VIEW. I could sit and drink coffee here all day, every day.

Me and Becky made friends with a dog called Cooper, he was super young and bouncy...and yes I'm just holding his ear, it was all velvety.

I didn't have the right angle so Becky took a photo of my coffee for me haha, thanks dude! After our coffees we made our way to Pioneer Park, the views were great - it has so many different ways up and down...that you might forget your way down, but you find the less steep way back down ...eventually 😝

We decided on Italian for dinner and made our way to Nonna Ina in St. George, it was soooooo yummy. Absolutely huge portions so note that if you ever go. Also we think it was a mistake but they put a raspberry and a blackberry on my gnocchi, note to self and note to all - these do not mix. I warned Kendra after telling her it didn't go with the raspberry but really pleased she suffered with me when trying the pesto dunked blackberry. Becky had a yummy looking Spaghetti Bolognese & Dusty & Kendra went for the speciality carbonara which was cooked table side. I wanted everything on the menu to be fair, definitely recommend this place - just don't eat the warm fruit lol.

We all spent the evening in the hot tub sipping whisky (me and Dusty aren't alcoholics I swear...) We spoke for hours and just had the best time talking about how we all came to meet. I'd only met Becky three times before this trip, and I'd met Kendra & Dusty in Bali last year so it was nice hearing about how they'd all met together in Peru & getting to know them even more. We planned things we would do on our next visit...think we're up to about 14 trips now? We better win big in Vegas.

Tuesday 22nd We got up and had breakfast around about 8am, then we checked out of the hotel to make our way back home to Ogden (I don't live there...but I call it home because that's how it feels). I had a photo with the luggage cart just because it was fun and the simple things make me happy lol. Quick restroom stop at Maverick (remember they do great coffee...NOT), then we had lunch in Gourmandise, Salt Lake City. I think the drive from the hotel to Salt Lake was roughly 4 hrs. I had a huge salad for lunch, super yummy! After lunch we made a stop at Alpha Coffee where I had my 5th coffee from there - it's so good.

Later on once we were back home, the guys set up a fire as they have a fire-pit in their yard - HOW COOL. Dusty's bro Art joined us for campfire pizzas (genius), smores (Dusty's fave) and we sipped on cocktails. I love the sound of a fire, and just staring at it - it was a really great evening, chilling, talking and enjoying the banter.

At one point Becky went inside the house...I thought nothing of it until I went to get something in my room and was freaked out by Basic Bones being in my bed. Basic Bones the skeleton (in case you don't work that out) was a great addition to the trip, he is part of their halloween decorations but often would appear somewhere new most days, well played on this one Becky!

Yes, I screamed...cried a little too, but from laughter...maybe.

Weds 23rd

After a few jam pack days we all treated ourselves to a lie in and a slower morning (Dusty had work..he'll catch up on sleep now we've left 😢)

My absolute favourite thing waking up in their home was their love for coffee they both have, I welcomed this very much.

Kendra, Becky and I went to Willard to buy pumpkins to carve and Kendra drove us around to see all the Halloween Decorations outside people's homes, if you're into the spooky season which I am (despite screaming and being scared of everything) then visiting the states is a must in Oct. Well, I'm obsessed with Utah, so just go there and take me with you.

We visited their friends (Katie, Joe, Annie & Karen) and admired their homes (they're so beautiful!) You'll have to take my word for it, they had both decorated their homes inside and out amazingly! Kendra drove us around the area & told us stories about her living there, then...

SHE TOOK US TO MEET HER HORSES. They are a size. Of all animals, horses I know nothing about, just that I love the idea of being cool and riding them...also I watch a series called Heartland with my mum, so I felt like I was on a film set when I met them. This is where I discovered Becky's fear of horses (don't you worry, Becky is kick ass and achieved soooo much with this fear!)

Here's Becky and I with Shallan, she was amazing! So, cute. Is that weird to say a horse is cute? Becky you are amazing! Being this close to a horse, feeding one and grooming it - you conquered a lot this day!!

Next up we have Dalanar (Shallan and Dalanar are names taken from a book by Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings). He's the horse that me and Becky went on to ride a couple of days later...but we'll get to that.

Super calm & chill, I'm pretty sure I saw him eating a few stones when we were grooming Shallan, so he's greedy lol.

BENNNYYYY!!!

He was my favourite, a little bit of a weirdo and a bit forgetful...he ate my hair a lot - but he was so cool!

I don't know what it was about him, he was kind of like my pet cockapoo in horse form, maybe not what you require in a horse but I loved him lol. He looks upset here because I removed my hair from his mouth shortly before taking this photo.

After seeing Kendra with her horses, it made me want to try and ride one, but I didn't know this was an option until she mentioned it. The idea freaked me out, maybe freaked Becky out a little more but it stayed on my mind for a while before asking Kendra if we had time to fit it before flying back home. I subtly mentioned it, then the next day we made more of a plan if this could work out before we had to fly home.

We went to Kasari for dinner (the Indian restaurant i'd gone to earlier in the trip) it was yummy as ever. After dinner we made our way to meet Katie and her family at the Corn Maze. I've ALWAYS wanted to a Corn Maze in the states, but sadly couldn't bring myself to do the scary one on the Friday night...next time yeah? It was dark and I'm sure I screamed at one point anyway...probably at my own shadow, lol.

Dusty tried to bury me in the corn...I quickly turned this around and said we should bury him instead, mwahaha

 Images by Katie Argyle

After a few hours here we made our way back home to watch Ready or Not, eat chocolate and sip on cocktails (okay we do sound boozy, it was only one.) The perfect day and the best eve, well all of it was perfect...don't make me choose my favourite thing.

Thursday 24th

Kendra, Becky and I had an early start to make our way to Antelope Island, Dusty couldn't join us as he had work :(. Yes, we did see Antelopes - two of them. It was more like Bison island because we saw a lot of them, they are a size! Saw a Ghostbusters logo on a truck, got excited so took a pic.

We walked around a beautiful viewing point, however I was just about to jump down onto a path and almost landed on a garden snake. So I warned the others, took a photo and we went a different route.

Pics by Kendra & Becky. Bison pic by Becky

To get our final food needs ticked off our list, Kendra drove us to an In-N-Out Burger, I went for combo two with a root beer, YUM. Then after we drove to Chick-fil-A so Becky could try it for the first time - thanks for driving us about Kendra!

I ate mine on the way to Chick-fill-A and it was glorious, then when we got back home I munched on some nuggets (I'm greedy) and dipped them into the yummy Chick-fill-A sauce, SO GOOD. After dinner we made our way to an event on called Villains in the Village, where we could dress up (turns out it was more aimed at kids but we had fun dressing up anyway!) Me and Becky borrowed bits off Kendra to wear, Kendra and her friends go all out, they looked awesome!!

Thanks for the photos Katie! After a few pics we went to Twigs for dinner (and yes..cocktails..) We met a few more of their friends and also their nephew Brandon. When Brandon walked in, he was wearing a fleece which me and Becky loved...so after dinner we went to buy it too (Walmart, I love you)...and so did all of their friends haha, trend setter.

After dinner (I had a shrimp and mushroom risotto, yummm) and cocktails, we went to buy fleeces inspired by Brandon, and he kindly invited us over to meet his dog (Becky and I love dogs and both have Cockapoos) I mean we were there to see you too Brandon, but mainly Oliver lol.

Thank you for inviting us to your beautiful home, for the whiskey and letting us meet Oliver...also thanks for sharing your fleece purchase. Brandon makes a kick ass beer btw, go buy it if it ever becomes a thing. I'm gutted I didn't get a chance to meet your fiancee, wish you both the most amazing wedding! I'll meet her when I next visit! Also love that they have not one, but two Christmas trees up already, epic.

Yessss we said we'd pop in briefly, that became 4 hours...and yes, whiskey.

After Dusty, Brandon and I sipped our whiskeys, we headed back home and fell asleep pretttty quickly.

Friday 25th

I woke up about 8...saw the time then fell asleep again until 9, perhaps too much whisky was had, For breakfast Dusty & Kendra whipped up a very yummy Pumpkin French Toast. YUM. Becky, Kendra and I carved the pumpkins that we had bought a few days ago (Kendra had to draw on mine because she has that skill I do not possess).

After we finished carving, Becky and I reluctantly started to pack, just so we could spend more time with them and pretend we weren't leaving the next day. Whilst we were packing Kim (Dusty's sister) came over. She joined us for dinner, which was Mac n Cheese and then we made our way to Kendra's parent's house so she could get the horses ready for us to ride, eeeee! Once the three horses were loaded, Kendra and her dad headed to the arena with them. Then Dusty drove the rest of us to the arena where we would get a chance to ride Dalanar. By this point Becky was getting anxious and I was really not sure how I would get on it.

If you know me and my lucky fin issues (I had a stroke in 2006 and my right arm basically struggles) then you'll know that the idea of getting on a horse one handed (to my brain) was a lot to deal with. Also I'm short so had no idea how I was going to get up there, but I did it!...2nd time lucky, look at my face haha

If you ride horses, don't judge my posture I was just happy to still be on the horse by this point lol.

Riding into the sunset with the legend that is Kendra.

We met Kendra & her dad back at their home (once Dusty was kindly reminded by his sister that we also needed to take Kendra home...how many times did we miss the turning eh?) Benny decided he didn't want to get back into the horse trailer so it took them a few moments after we'd arrived to get in. We spent a short time speaking to her parents and then made our way back home for nugs before bed. I ended up writing this blog until 2am that morning just to catch up, but here I am back in the UK on catch up at 11pm anyway lol.

Sat 26th

The day we leave 😢 . We had breakfast and coffee, then sat on the sofa speaking about our trip and how sad we were that it had come to an end. I considered booking a different flight home, but we'll just come back soon yeah? We hung out with them before having to leave for the airport in the afternoon. Dusty loaded our bags into the car and we set off for a stop in Walmart - Brandon had a few fleeces and me and Becky regretted not buying them all lol. Sadly though, they didn't have them! After the failed Walmart fleece hunt, we made our way to Salt Lake so I could get one final Alpha Coffee...as we parked up, Dusty realised they had just shut - noooooo. It wasn't meant to be, I'll be back. Kendra and Dusty played Stu's Song (from The Hangover movie) as we drove into the airport parking lot, it became the soundtrack to our holiday, it's 56 seconds long and I'll never tire of it lol. Once we checked in and dropped our bags off came the goodbyes 😭 😭 . I tried not to cry but couldn't hold back the tears, sooo sad to leave, and I really hate goodbyes so see you soon dudes!

Once me and Becky dehydrated ourselves crying, this was around the time it took us to get through security...we had a wander about the shops and then grabbed Burger King for dinner in case we didn't like the plane food. After another little wander in the shops it was time to head to our gate and board the plane. We synced our movies to watch Scream together (miss you creepy Scream mask), then soon discovered after take off that there was wifi so we messaged Kendra & Dusty for a little bit before attempting and failing to sleep.

The flight wasn't full so the seats behind us were free, Becky moved so that we could both try and sleep and stretch out a little, no luck...maybe 20 mins at most. I went to the loo and when I came back Becky popped her head over the seat and said to look at the stars, I've never seen them so clear before or so many, magical!

Ten hours went by pretty fast to be fair, but we did watch a few movies between us: Scream, Twilight, Ghostbusters, High School Musical, Hairspray, X-Men First Class & about ten mins of Planet of the Apes. Once we landed around 10am on Sunday 27th October we had about an hour or two wait for our coach. I didn't think I'd sleep as I often can't sleep on public transport, but the entire coach fell asleep (apart from the driver thankfully). I set an alarm for 20 mins before it would reach Bristol, just in case. We slept until 5 minutes before my alarm went off and Becky woke up just as we approached Bristol. I hugged her goodbye as she stayed on to get off in Cardiff. My parents picked me up, with a very excited puppy (my dog Loki), I spent the rest of the day telling my parents about the trip and unpacking my suitcase, trying not to fall asleep before 10 p.m. - success.

Today - Sunday 3rd November

Kendra & Dusty, after meeting you both in Bali I instantly knew you were my kind of people. I am SO happy for our friendship and that you weren't joking when you said 'come to Utah anytime'. I'm just sad that trips come to an end, already can't wait to visit again! Thank you both for being incredible hosts and for making us feel so at home. Thank you for showing us the most incredible spots and for driving us around everywhere. Your family and friends are the best, and the love you have for each other is infectious. Can't wait to scope the next coffee collection on the next visit! Apologies Kendra for the snoring between myself, Dusty & Becky. I wanna bring us back to the time Dusty said "I'm gonna message in the Villa gang group - Justice For Leena, she doesn't snore!" I probably was just awake...haha. I still don't think I can choose one thing as a highlight of the whole trip, because there were genuinely many highlights each and everyday. My first sunrise hike was pretty spectacular and Delicate Arch is pure beauty. Each National Park that we went to had it's own unique beauty and I'm so grateful that you were able to share so much of your home with us. My face still hurts from smiling, I miss you all so much and it's only been a week. A week too long. Becky, you are a legend! Well done on facing your fear of horses, the same cannot be said for me thinking I could get over my fear of the dark, texas chainsaw or clowns though...or the scream mask...I warmed to it, I think. You were sneaky with putting Basic Bones in my bed, well played dude, well played. Thanks for helping me make my smores! In fact thanks to all of you for being so aware of my lucky fin, but in a way that didn't make me feel different or annoying to have around. Thank you Kendra for doing our hair! I miss that...my hair is a state now...help me.

You know I talk a lot and could write endless amounts forever, just know I love you all and cannot wait for the next trip!

Peace out, Utah Rocks and shit "What do tigers dream of......."

'murica.