Loose of Limits: The Country's Most Beautiful Drive

After exhausting ourselves in the Grand Canyon and leaving a day early, we took advantage of the extra time and drove through Monument Valley, which was like driving through Mars. That place is insane.

It's honestly the coolest drive I've ever taken and I was constantly exclaiming around every corner. I've never seen anything like it. Not only are all the formations just crazy beautiful, but they're all different, which was what was so amazing to me. Some were smooth and rounded and others were pointy and textured. Some of the spires were thin and fragile-looking and others were massive and solid. And all of these were right next to each other.

That evening, we saw the most beautiful sunset before we stopped to camp in Devil's Canyon campground in Manti-LaSal National Forest - our last night of camping.

Honestly, I did not enjoy our camping experience that night very much - we got there late and I couldn't see anything. The campground was only about half full and had signs about rattlesnakes and bears everywhere and all the other campers were in RVs. I was 95% sure I was going to get eaten by snakes and bears that night. Good news...we didn't.

After attempting to find a pastrami burger in Moab, Utah (FAIL), we made a stops in Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. We're excited to visit both again and do some backcountry hiking and camping. The sky was a beautiful blue, full of interesting clouds and made for an amazing contrast from the red sandstone and pointed spires.

Balanced Rock, Arches National Park

And then it was straight on to Loveland, Colorado, where Tom's sister, Mel, lives with her husband, Brian, and our nephews, Simon (3) and Zachary (9 months). (More on that later.)

Believe me when I say that this has got to be our nation's most beautiful drive. If you're taking a road trip, take one here. I couldn't stop gasping and taking photos. At one point, we had the GoPro running on the dashboard of the car and I was snapping away with our Lumix, our G10, and my camera phone (hello Instagram!). And that was while Tom was actually driving. There's just so much to see.

Check out all our pics from Monument Valley, Arches National Park, and Canyonlands National Park on the Pics page. Some of our favorites are below.