Day 540... National Parks Roadtrip

For the last two weeks, I traveled to a few southwest national parks. I drove over 5,000 miles, visited 4 national parks, saw the Texas Historic Winter Storm, and ate loads of vegan food. 

I started my journey with the goal of driving from Atlanta, GA to Dallas, TX before continuing from Dallas to Big Bend National Park. However, the forecasts talked about a historic weather event coming with the worst night being Sunday night. I adjusted my plans to try to go under the storm by going through Houston and staying in San Antonio for Saturday night hoping to make it to my destination on Sunday before the storm. The idea was great, but the storm was bigger than expected. The temperatures dropped and ice patches began to form about 90 miles from San Antonio. After I slid on some ice, I decided to find the nearest hotel and call it a night. The next day, I found a Texas resource of road conditions that showed half of the roads to get to Big Bend were fine, so I left that hotel and started to venture toward Big Bend. Just before the spot where roads were supposed to get icy, I checked road conditions, and it still showed that the rest of the way was iced over. I didn't want to get stuck on the side of the road, so I stopped in a small town in Texas on the Mexico border called Del Rio. I went to the grocery store and picked up some frozen Amy's Vegan Dinners for the hotel since this town did not have many vegan options and knew that it may be unsafe to drive the next day. I settled in at a fairly crappy hotel hoping for the best. The snow started falling and the temperature dropped even further. I fell asleep and woke up to an icy world. Road conditions were bad and there was no way I was going to make it to Big Bend. I was trapped in this small town. Thankfully, I still had power and running water, but that did not last for very long. By the end of the day, there was neither running water nor power. That meant an early bedtime only to wake up and still not have running water or power. Roads still showed as iced, but without water or power, the best idea was to try to continue on and make it to the Grand Canyon which was the next stop and already booked. It was disappointing not to be able to see Big Bend, but I was hoping to get things back on track.

It was a 16 hour drive from Del Rio, TX to the Grand Canyon with slightly icy road conditions, but I made it. The hotel was fantastic compared to the last one, and it had both running water and power. On the way to the Grand Canyon, I stopped in Tucson, Arizona at Lovin' Spoonfuls vegan restaurant and had their ravioli. It was large portion sizes and lasted for two meals. I would definitely recommend this place. Once at the hotel, I showered and went to bed. The next day, the plan was to hike into the Grand Canyon and visit all of the view points from my car. It was way too cold for my liking to go hiking into the Canyon plus I did not have any traction devices for my shoes. Even though I only saw the Canyon from the view points, it was massive and amazing to see. I took a lot of pictures with the Canon camera that I have been using and enjoyed my day. 

The next day was a drive to Bryce Canyon National Park and getting settled into a yurt. I stopped in Flagstaff for brunch at Morning Glory Café. I had their Berry Cocoa Smoothie and a Quesadilla which was yummy. The yurt was beautiful with small, meaningful touches. There were no clouds in the sky either, so I was able to see all the starts in the sky that night. I even woke up each night at the yurt after the moon set to look at the stars. After a night's sleep, I drove into Bryce and it was warm enough to hike. I did the Queen's Garden and the Navajo Loop trail into the canyon which was my favorite hike from the whole trip. Then I went to Mossy Cave outside of the park and then stopped at all of the view points within the park. I also signed up for a constellation tour that night with the park rangers which I highly recommend. For this portion of the trip, I ate packed food since there were not many options for vegans in town. I had a few Backpackers Pantry meals, some crackers, peanut butter and bread, apples, and more for the road trip. 

After Bryce, I headed to Zion and learned that you needed a shuttle ticket to hike Angel's Landing trail. The park offered a few walk up shuttle tickets in the afternoon, but there was not enough time to do the hike before the last shuttle left. Honestly, Zion was beautiful, but way too packed to the point that it did not feel very safe. And when I did get on the shuttle, it felt like Disney World which is not what I was looking for on a national park road trip. I was able to hike a short trail on the shuttle portion of the park, and another short trail outside of the shuttle area. I wish I had been able to do Angel's Landing, but that may be something I have to do in the future if I make it back. For the night at Zion, I ate at Oscar's Café which had quite a few vegan options including a vegan burrito which was tasty.

The last park was Arches. I hiked Delicate Arch, saw some viewpoints and saw the Double Arch and North and South Windows. By this point, I had hiked 20 miles and was tired and sore. This was probably my least favorite park for that reason, but it was also the nicest hotel that I saw. There weren't any late night vegan options in Moab, so I ate my last Backpackers Pantry meal and slept well. 

It is a 26-ish hour drive from Arches back to Atlanta which I broke into 3 days stopping in Denver and St. Louis. In Denver, I visited the largest REI I had ever seen, ate at City O City which had fantastic vegan food, and drove through a National Wildlife Refuge and saw a whole lot of deer.

It was a 12 hour drive to St. Louis, so I stopped in Kansas City and ate at Café Gratitude which was my favorite meal from the whole trip though City O City was a close second.

The last day was 8 hours back to Atlanta with a stop in Nashville at Vegelicious for vegan lasagna. It was a quaint restaurant, but probably my least favorite food of them all. 

Overall, it was a great trip even if I never made it to Big Bend and didn't hike the trail I wanted at Zion. It felt fairly safe with mask wearing mandated and enforced in the parks. I wanted to travel somewhere after being cooped up for a year and this felt like the safest way to do so. My national park pass is good through the end of  the year, so I may add more road trips to my schedule for later this year. But for now, I am happy to be home and cooking up new recipes in my kitchen.