hop a plane

Vacation & face time with the boyfriend.

Much needed & a complete success. 

Now ... when's the next one?

En route: Vacation started with a cup of coffee and 30 minutes of catching up on life with a good friend who's crazy enough to drive me to the airport at 6:2am (and pick me up at close to midnight when I came back). 

ATL --> DEN --> VEL

The flight to Vernal was .... tiny. I'm talking walk out onto the tarmac, 6 steps up into the plane, 8 rows back in the tiniest aisle with 1 seat on each side, the pilot is your stewardess and reviews the safety info with you, TINY. The entire plane seats 18 people ... including the pilot. I swear I took a photo, but it didn't save in my phone. So instead I'm stealing this one from the boyfriend from when he flew out of the same seat I did a few months ago. 

 

Finally landed in one piece and greeting in the smallest 1 room airport I've ever been in by the boyfriend. From there we headed to lunch. While in Vernal we went to Dinosaur National Park, some pretty lake that I don't remember the name of, saw where the boyfriend lives, then to dinner with a ton of his coworkers at the nicest place in Vernal. 

                                                                                                         FromVernal we drove east into Grand Junction, CO. Grand Junction is home to the Colorado National Independence Monument, the Grand Mesa, and a tasty winery. The drive there through Douglas Pass was the definition of fall; colored trees, windy roads, and windows down with the heat on.  Went to Canyon Wind Cellars winery just outside of Grand Junction, bought a bottle of wine, then went on a 'hike' (more like a drive .. but still) around parts of the national monument park.

   

After a night in Grand J, we take a 90 minute back road back over the state line into Moab, UT. Moab is one of the adventure capitals of the world. Pretty hikes, big red rocks, and fun off roading in a jeep rental, and gorgeous views of the Colorado River. The lodge we stayed at, Red Cliffs Lodge, was right on the river. So we did a lot of playing around there, and I even learned out how to skip a rock! If you know how well I can throw a frisbee, you know this is quite an amazing feat for me. It took me like a billion tries, but thankfully the boyfriends a good teacher .... or I'm just awesome.  

                                                                                                                     From Moab we drove to Park City, UT. Home of the 2002 Winter Olympics to crash for the night and tour the city the next day. They were prepping for the upcoming snow season and I was just entertained by all the colors of the trees!

Words don't really do the trip justice .. not that they ever do any experience justice .. but all in all, it was a great trip to a part of the US that I had yet to experience AND I got to see the boyfriend. It was great to spend 5 days just being us .. which mostly includes mocking one another.