Our First Ever Road Trip!

The trip actually happened during last Christmas break but I haven’t had the chance to write about it until now.. so.. yeah :)))

Although we just got back from Indonesia, R suddenly realised that his office would be closed from Christmas until New Year so we decided to have a mini-vacation. We initially wanted to go to New York but obviously, it was not a good idea because we didn’t plan it in advance so flight ticket prices were skyrocketing!

We then decided to go on a road trip to nearby state and this time we chose to go to Utah. We had 4 days and the trip was super unplanned and I feel like we could’ve planned it better, but anyway it was a fun trip and memorable because it was our first one.

Day One / 27 December 2017

We left around 4 AM from our house and arrived in Las Vegas just in time for breakfast. We didn’t stay long there and went straight to St.George, which was the first big city we found on the map after we passed Utah border from Nevada. We went to the hotel and had a quick lunch and rest, before going to our next destination… Zion National Park. It took us about an hour drive from St.George to Zion. We decided not to spend the night in Zion because we realized that we didn’t have the proper equipment to camp especially during winter time.

Unfortunately, there was a major road construction on our way to Zion so we were stuck in traffic for about an hour, leaving us with only 2 hours to spend in the park before the sun sets. 2 hours in Zion was really nothing and although I was sad that we didn’t get to explore that much, we still managed to enjoy the breathtaking views.

There was nothing else to see after the sun sets so we went back to the hotel and stopped by Cracker Barrel for an old-fashioned all American dinner 🙂

Day Two / 28 December 2017

Our day started very early as well because we were going to another destination, Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City was around 4,5 hours drive from St.George but we took an easy drive because we wanted to stop by some attractions along the way.

Utah is famous for its scenic byways and I thought we could visit one of them on our way to Salt Lake City. Based on the map, we would be passing by Nebo Loop but unfortunately, it was closed during winter. We still went to that direction for a quick detour and managed to see some majestic view along the way (I can’t imagine how beautiful it will be during summer days! really want to come back). The drive was so beautiful and it was also the first time we played around in (light) snow because we don’t have snow at all in Southern California!

After stopping by for lunch in the nearby city, we went straight to Bonneville Salt Flats in Northwestern Utah, which was another 1,5 hours drive from Salt Lake City towards Nevada. Unlike the drive from St.George to Salt Lake City, the drive from SLC to Bonneville was rather boring, it wasn’t as scenic and there was not much to see. But suddenly, in what we thought was middle of nowhere, we saw it. Bonneville Salt Flats is really breathtaking. It’s white as far as you can see and made you think that you’re transported out of this world. If you are visiting Utah, I really recommend going to see it. It’s worth the drive! And just on our way back, we saw the prettiest sunset. It was unbelievable.

We arrived in Salt Lake City after dark and somehow still got the energy to explore the area around our hotel after all that drive! I guess we were just ecstatic 🙂 We went to a nearby bar in a quest for a local delicacy called Funeral Potatoes but too bad the one that we found was a fusion one. I guess you have to have a local cook it for you to have the authentic one!

Day Three / 29 December 2017

We had it easy today, didn’t really start the day early and had no plans for the day. We decided to explore Salt Lake City and see what the city’s got to offer.

Turns out, Salt Lake City is an interesting city. All this time we only heard about how big the Mormon community in Salt Lake City is, but what we didn’t know is that the city also has some trendy areas that are in contrast with the Mormon culture. For example, I was surprised to see that there are many cool coffee roasters, while I do know that Mormons don’t drink coffee or tea.

I also think that the city is pretty in its own way, and for sure it feels very different from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Being in Salt Lake City somehow reminded us that we are in America as sometimes we found ourselves to be the only Asians in a place :))))

We also managed to visit Temple Square, a place we learnt to be the “Mecca” for the Mormons. We saw some beautiful architecture and learnt a thing or two about their faith which was interesting!

We closed off the day by having another local delicacy, this time called Pastrami Burger. There’s a good local burger joint that has it called Crown Burgers and I really recommend for you to try it when you’re in town.

Day Four / 30 December 2017

After a refreshing day spent in Salt Lake City, we had to leave early again this time because we were going home. We managed to stop by Las Vegas again for late lunch in Studio B Buffet at M Resort Las Vegas before finally heading to Southern California. With that, our first road trip was over. Although it was poorly planned, I still think that it’s an interesting trip! We promised ourselves that we’ll go on more road trips in the future, especially during warmer seasons.

Do you like going on road trips? Where and when was the last time you went?