Utah

This is a panorama I took while in southern Utah last June.  We were driving from Capitol Reef National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park via Scenic Byway 12.  This view is from the Homestead Overlook in the Dixie National Forest.  The elevation here is about 10,000 feet, and the temperature was 50 degrees.  In the distance where you see red rock a few thousand feet down, it was over 70 degrees.  Crazy stuff.

I love to road trip, and going to Utah was the coolest thing I've ever done.  We hit all five National Parks in southern Utah and the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley in Arizona.  I've got photos of each on my facebook.

Unforseen circumstances didn't allow me to travel as much as I would have liked this past year.  In April and July, I went to the Red River Gorge in Kenutcky.  After several attempts were thwarted due to apocalyptic-type weather, we finally conquered Shenandoah National Park in Virginia back in May.  In August, I made my second trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan.  A hiking trip to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine fell through.  

I have no idea what I'll be able to do next year, but I feel the need to head out west, for sure.  I'm not sure most Americans understand how amazing this land we've been blessed with truly is.  I highly recommend you get out and see some of it.