In Becky's Words: Road Trip 2023: The National Parks Part

This year, my husband, Dan, and I took off on our summer road trip immediately after school got out. That may be one of the reasons you haven't heard from me lately.

One moment it was Maycember. (Yes, music teachers, not just parents, use this term to describe the chaos that is end-of-the-year concerts and music-related activities. I had performances clear up until the final day of school.)

The next, I was on a two-week road trip that took us through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and back up through Idaho. We visited three national parks, attended a three-day music festival, and celebrated my birthday in that span of time.

This week I'm focusing on our trek through the national parks, or as I like to call it, "Becky's Exploration of Her Debilitating Fear of Heights."

BRYCE CANYON:

We thought about hiking into the canyon on one of the trails, described in the brochures as somewhat easy.

I stood scowling at the path. A ranger approached us and asked if he could answer any questions.

"We're trying to decide if this hike would be alright for her since she's scared of heights," Dan said.

"Yeah, this probably isn't the park for you," the ranger said with a laugh. He was stretching his quads, like he was limbering up for a zombie apocalypse (reference to Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland).

THE GRAND CANYON:

My first view of the Grand Canyon was at Hopi Point. I will never forget that feeling of part dread, part awe, part frozen in my tracks. I started that weird hysterical laugh-cry thing I do when my acrophobia kicks in.

I'm not kidding. This is my fear response to heights. Dan thinks it's hilarious. He won't think it's so hilarious when I finally go over the edge of something.

Eventually, I got used to the view. I was even able to hike several sections (wide sections) of the Rim Trail.

Dan had originally thought we might even be able to hike the Rim Trail from Mohave Point to Hopi Point.

But as we approached this area on the park shuttle, the voice on the intercom announced, "You should NOT hike this part of the trail if you are afraid of heights."

ZION NATIONAL PARK:

Zion was my favorite of the national parks we visited. Plus, we didn't have to hike down a trail from enormous heights to explore the inside of the canyon.

The town where Zion is located is a cute resort. Here, we discovered Cactus Candy.

It's a type of jelly made from Prickly Pear juice. We bought something like five boxes of Cactus Candy during our trip (as souvenirs for others too, not just for ourselves—geesh).

All of the souvenirs are Prickly Pear themed in this part of the country, the way Idaho is huckleberry-everything.

One of our shuttle drivers in Zion sang and danced (and sometimes removed her hands from the steering wheel) as she drove through the park.

"Don't mind me," the driver said. "If you don't talk to me, I sing and dance for myself!"

We wanted to get back on her shuttle. It was like riding a Party Bus.