"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children."

Chief Seattle

In the Summer of 2022 I was headed to Houston Texas for my research conference. Before such an endeavor, most would take rest and maybe explore what the city life had to offer. Naturally, I did the exact opposite.

My family had decided to take a week trip from California to Texas traveling from California to Nevada to Arizona to Utah to Colorado to New Mexico and finally landing in Texas.

Las Vegas is the first and last time I would travel to Nevada. However, the states that held the National Parks was a once and a lifetime experience. The beauty that I witnessed cannot be captured in simple words. To the rainbow colors of the Antelope Canyon, the time traveling of the Monument Valley, to the grand majestic views of the Arches, these unique national parks simply took my breath away.

There is a wealth of information that can be said of each place. But sometimes, pictures are worth a 1000 words. If you have the privilege of visiting these places, I urge you too. Even if you are not an avid hiker you can explore these places without little issue.

Grand Canyon

This is the horse shoe bend. The river that carved such a bend is the Colorado River. This is part of the East Rim of the river.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park was beautiful. Unfortunately, we could not spend much time in Zion but we were able to take a beautiful scenic route. Most of these places have off shoulder areas you can park temporarily and take pictures. I can guarantee you can spend hours, and I recommend waking before sunrise to take pictures of it. The sunlight changes the color, the shadow, and landscape and you feel like you are in multiple places at once.

Bryce National Park

Bryce National Park was one of my favorites of the trip. My family and I woke up in the early morning to witness the sunrise. Remember that the Park is very cold in the morning, even in the middle of the summer heat of July, the early morning was cold enough to wear a sweatshirt and use a blanket to keep warm. Notice how the landscape changes drastically with the suns light.

Monument Valley

Monument Valley felt as if you were transported from to a new world such as Mars or Arrakis from Dune. My father loves to quote that he feels as if he was transported to the lives of dinosaurs. There was a whole loop to experience all that the valley has to offer. I recommend using a jeep to drive through the valley as there really is not any roads but dirt, gravelly paths.

Arches National Park

Arches National Park was a majestic grand beauty. Its name gives away what is so special about it, but to experience the grandness needs to be seen in person. I caught through the image what it felt like to witness the arches in person.

Antelope Canyon

Window users might recognizes these images as their screen savers. These were taken in Antelope Canyon. To traverse through this canyon needs an experienced guide. Going at different times in the day can change the color and landscape. These were taken in the late afternoon when the sun was an hour from setting.

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