Utah Part Two: 13th - 17th October 2024

Sun 13th

Becky arrives today! Dusty made me some scrambled eggs on toast, I sipped on one of many coffee options (I need to get a photo of their stash) then we made our way to the gym. Dustin was up for it and me and Kendra were like hmmmm okayyyyy. After we got back we had a nice FaceTime catch up with our friend Sarah and then made our way to pick Becky up from the airport. We walked around Salt Lake City so the guys could give Becky the same lil tour I had, after that we made our way to Alpha Coffee & then made our way back home. I love how I'm calling home haha, I've basically moved in 😆. We caught up on the recent Kinging It vlog, ate some pizza and then watched a movie called Fun Size. Becky powered through the jet lag, hoping she managed to get some sleep. After the movie ended we made our way to bed ready for the next day!

Monday 14th

Goooood morning, we're off to the Alpine Loop today & then tonight we're heading to the Snow Basin resort where they have a spooky themed event on, I can't wait!! I say I can't wait but I am fearful of clowns...and the dark...and anything Texas Chainsaw related...

We popped into Starbucks on the way to the Alpine Loop to get our Pumpkin Spice Latte fix.

BEAUTIFUL! Such a colourful drive, lots of spots to pull in and hikes to be done in the area. Also there are a few camping spots about, one to try next time!

The views are insaneeeee, everywhere you turn your breath is taken away. There are these trees here, called Quaking Aspen, or Quakies - the sound of them when the wind blows is so relaxing - I love it!

We stopped for lunch at the Sundance Mountain resort. I went for a ham & cheese croissant and then tried my first ever Whoopie Pie.

After our lunch we made our way back home to chill a short while before heading to Haunted Basin & meeting two of their friends.

I've never done a Halloween themed walk through like this before but have always wanted to, despite the fear. Halloween in 'Merica is THE ONE.

I was jumping and squeezing onto Becky as we walked through, I think I screamed twice lol.

The clown at the end had my heart racing, and I'm still convinced the Texas chainsaw dude had an actual chainsaw. It was sooooo fun & I'm so glad Dusty found it as they only had it on for a few select nights.

I look terrified and I was lol, that dude was breathing creepily into my ear and then continued that for a few moments whilst we walked away haha.

Tuesday 15th

Today is a packing day and getting things sorted for our trip. Me, Kendra & Becky went around a few stores & tried on some outfits in Target..

Dusty's brother Art and sister Kim came over for dinner, the guys whipped up an Amatriciana which I've never had before and it was super yummy.

After dinner Kim headed home and Art hung out with us for a little while longer. We watched some YouTube & then Dustin freaked me out with the Scream mask (which you'll see a ridiculous amount of times in this blog I'm sure...)

Even though I knew Dusty was going to grab the Scream mask to take away with us, it still freaked me out when I looked over to the dark kitchen and he was just stood there wearing it and slowly moving towards us on the sofa. I said to Kendra "imagine that isn't Dustin" then freaked myself out thinking about that, meanwhile Art grabbed my foot and it made me scream, everyone laughed so hard that it made Kendra fart.

Wednesday 16th

We got up at 5am to set off for the Fifth Water Hot Springs in Springville...first stop of course was Alpha Coffee. If you ever get a chance, go here. The coffees are very unique, in a good way. by the time of writing this I have already been there 5 times this trip (it's the 22nd today...a little behind on the write up).

Kendra left her swimsuit in the car and we didn't fancy hiking back to it...luckily I had swimshorts in my bag, you never know when spare swim stuff will come in handy! There were so many dogs around, which me and Becky got excited by. We got changed into our swim stuff and then selected our first section to have a dip in, it was amazing! I've never been anywhere like that before so it was a real special moment. An incredible bonus to an already beautiful hike.

We munched on turkey sandwiches for lunch before continuing the drive to Moab (which is pronounced MO-AB...ask me how I thought it was said and I'll voice note you just #mobe). We stopped off at a gas station for a coffee. Note to all who like coffee DO NOT get it from Maverick, even if you're desperate - it's awful. For dinner we stopped at La Veracruzana in Green River. We shared a dish called molcajete: It is a hearty and flavorful dish that is made with a variety of ingredients, including beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, vegetables and a variety of spices. The dish is served in a molcajete, which is a volcanic stone bowl that is used to grind and mix the ingredients together" Thanks google. This was my first time trying the dish, and it didn't disappoint...not sure what the chicken was like though - how was it Dusty?

After dinner we made our way to the Bowen Motel in Moab where we would stay for the next three nights. I always associate Motels with being scary as I watch too many horror films and freak myself out. Turns out it's not so bad...

We settled into the motel and packed our bags ready for the Delicate Arch sunrise hike, alarms were set for 4am. Thursday 17th

Alarms went off at 4am. We left the motel around 5am to make our way towards the Delicate Arch, which was was about a 30 minute drive. Once we got to the parking lot, we popped on our head torches and began the hike to the first arch of the day.

That first photo was taken at 6:07am and it was pretty much the start of the hike...it was pitch black but the head torch was on, you get the idea...

We sat and watched the sunrise, whilst getting some Spooky Season themed photos before more people arrived, we pretty much had the place to ourselves for a short while, I'd recommend doing the morning hike if you can as it can get pretty hot here and really busy. This was one of my favourites of the trip for sure!

The views around this entire state are pretty spactacular, but this one was pretty special. Each of The Mighty 5 vary so much, it blows my mind (we did 4 of the 5 to fully enjoy each, but we'll be back to order explore Capitol Reef). We then explored the following arches - Tunnel, Pine Tree, Landscape, Sand Dune, Broken, Double and then the Park Avenue Trail.

After exploring and taking in the views me and Becky got some gifts in the shop and then we made our way back to Moab and grabbed dinner from the food trucks nearby our Motel. We walked over 11 miles (19km) this day, so we were pretty tired by this point. Me and Dusty went to grab some ice to have a cheeky Elijah Craig Whiskey night cap and then had an early night. I was very excited by the ice machine lol. We went to bed about 830pm, I don't think I've fallen asleep that early in a long time. We all had a bit of a sore throat so me, Dusty and Becky's snoring may have deprived each of us of a little sleep...but mainly Kendra, sorry dude!