the road trip

Suffice to say, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. I drove across the country with two friends, and I moved across the state. Soon I will post about my new L.A. life, this one is all about the road trip.

To be completely obvious, the U.S. is a pretty amazing country! I previously wrote that the American road trip is the dream. After 12 days in a car, I still believe that. There is nothing like seeing the landscape change, experiencing the different cities and climates, the natural progression of the trip--I feel like it's hard to know the country without driving across it. Although the Southern route in the summer? HOT. Especially from a humidity-fearing Californian like myself.

I still can't decide what my favorite part of the trip was, so here are a few of my favorite photos from the first half:

The drive from Las Vegas to Mesa Verde National Park was surprisingly beautiful--somehow I never thought that the beautiful red rock of the desert could be near Vegas. But it was, and the clouds of the rainy day made for a dramatic drive.

Even though we didn't stop at Lake Powell, driving by it was stunning. Ever since I saw a magazine when I was in high school I've wanted to go. Actually, that's how I pick most of my destinations--a picture in a magazine. Now I can't wait to go back and spend some time here. Maybe on a houseboat.

In Las Vegas we realized that Zion National Park was just a half hour out of the way to Mesa Verde. Time well spent. Although as always--seeing a glimpse of a park just makes me want to go back and see it again.

Our second destination: Mesa Verde National Park. I did not expect it to live up to its name--green table mountains, the setting for Native American cliff dwellings. But it definitely exceeded my expectations... and more.

My next post: Austin and New Orleans.