road trip recap

Hey there!

As you may have noticed if you follow me on Instagram, this winter break I went on a road trip out west with my mom. Over the course of ten days we traveled to five different states by car, and saw so many amazing sights and made countless mother/daughter memories :) It was by far my favorite trip I've ever been on and truly was such an eye-opening experience. I thought it would be fun to go through many of the photos that I shared via Instagram or Snapchat in review of where we went, what we did, and what we saw! So without further ado, lets get started!

12. 21.16

The night before the 21st my move drove to Auburn so we could go to Atlanta together so we wouldn't have to pay to park two cars at the airport (also so I would't have to drive so early to Atlanta by myself, haha). We flew out of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport at 10am, and landed in Denver, Colorado in the afternoon. Once we arrived, we went straight to our cousin Catherine's house, where we stayed for two days. We spent most of our two days relaxing before Christmas and doing some Christmas shopping (seen below at Free People :) 

12. 23.16

After spending two days in Colorado, our next stop was Park City, Utah! We drove for about 8 hours through beautiful mountains and stopped at a few little towns for gas and such (for example, Vail, Colorado!) It was an amazing drive and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because it took all day to drive, when we got to Utah we went out to eat with our friend we were staying with, and then hit the hay to prepare for a long day ahead of us! 

12.24.26

On Christmas Eve we spent the day a more untraditional way than usual (though having divorced parents and not much family in the states on my moms side, we don't usually have a normal routine) and we wandered around Park City, UT, and explored all day long. Finally, we ended by going snow tubing! On Christmas Day we didn't have a tree or presents, but we did 

12.26.16
One of my favorite parts of the trip was definitely Zion National Park. I absolutely loved driving through the mountains for hours just enjoying all that nature has to offer us. I almost liked it more than The Grand Canyon.... crazy, I know!

12.27.16

The Grand Canyon in all of its glory! We had so much fun exploring the South Rim (the North Rim was closed...more of a reason to go back!)

12.28.16

As we were driving to San Diego we drove out to the Imperial Sand Dunes in California, and it was so incredibly cool! The photo kind of lets the mind wander and think that this was just miles wide, however it was much smaller than it appears, haha. Right across the street there was actually a place where you can ride dune buggies for miles, and that is where most of the actual dunes are, but they are ruined by the buggies and the tracks that they leave :(

12.28.16

We spent most of the day traveling to San Diego, California and then explored the beach and had some spectacular ice cream! We spent the next day in San Diego, and then drove to Los Angeles that night.

12.30.16

We spent most of the day being tourists, and it was so fun! We started the day off by visiting Lemonade, one of the top restaurants on my list to visit while in L.A.! Next, we traveled to Beverly Hills and wandered up and down Rodeo Drive oohing and ahing at all of the window displays. 

12.31.2016

We spent most of this day driving to Las Vegas, Nevada. As soon as we arrived we began getting ready to go out for New Years Eve. It was a great night spent wandering up and down the strip waiting for midnight.

1.1.2017 

The last leg of the race! We spent the last day of our amazing trip exploring Las Vegas in the day time (very different than the night before, haha!) Right after we took these pictures we hopped on a late flight out to Atlanta!

a polaroid for each day 

pictured above is just some of the amazing food we indulged in on the trip :) 

Over all, this was the best trip I have ever been on and probably the best road trip I will ever go on!! I am so thankful for the time spent with my mom and the memories we made on this trip. I will never forget asking my mom right after my parents divorced (I was 11) if we would still travel the way we did when they were married, and she promised me that we would always travel. Through the years we have always managed to go to some amazing places, no matter what we are going through at the time! I love that travel is something that makes you richer without actually gaining physical things. Memories from the trips I have taken mean more to me than anything I own. 

Thanks for reading!

Until next time..