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Having to drive a couple hours away to take a test at nine o’clock in the morning, I decided to make it into a family road trip and get some adventures in before going back home. Anyone knowing me knows that I can’t just do something boring. There’s always going to end up being some sort of tacky little adventure whenever I’m around.

Waking up at the crack of dawn (okay, more like six o’clock), my family packed into our van and set off to Utah. This was my first time driving my family without my dad coaching me in the passenger’s seat, so it was a little bit of a big deal. However, I grew to love driving those long hours because of the sheer amount of amazing views you see. The last time my family ventured out here, I was asleep throughout the entire car ride. So I missed out. A lot.

Anyways, fast forward to after my boring exam (which I placed in the 95th percentile nationally. What an accomplishment!), my family decided to grab some lunch in Chick-fil-A. I gotta admit, I’m a big fan! The food was really good and it tasted better than the other fast food chains I’ve tried. Maybe it’s the fact that Nevada is Chick-fil-A-less, but this place has a spot in my heart right next to In-n-Out. After grabbing lunch and replenishing our energy, we then set off to the main event: Zion National Park! On the way there, we passed by some cute little towns that I could only imagine living in. From the road full of American flags down the side, to cute little farm filled with multiple animals, the views were just another add-on to the wonderful drive.

Since we came in the late afternoon, we were not able to hike like we planned. However, my family decided to take the scenic drive across the whole park and see what it had to offer since it was all our first time visiting. Oh, my. If I wasn’t holding the lives of eight of my family members in the hands holding the car steering wheel, I wouldn’t have taken my eyes off the beautiful landscape. It had its own type of beautiful to it, just like everything nature has to offer, that left you breathless with each turn. I was still so upset that we were not able to hike, but at least it gave me an excuse to come back and get it checked off my bucket list!

The only photo my mom was able to capture lol! I’m keeping my hands on the steering wheel!

Going towards the park, we noticed a cute little gift shop with a miniature little town that caught our attention in the town Virgin. When we went home, we were lucky enough to spot it again and take a look. It was too adorable! The inside was a gift shop with unique little knick-knacks offered, from buffalo jerky to Native American “artifacts”. The kid in me immediately chose to pay to go to the petting zoo. My cousin and I got to take pictures with the alpacas, llamas, and ponies that lived there and fed them with some carrots. We were also lucky enough to grab a few pictures of the fake, miniature town that caught our eye in the first place!

The other thing that caught my eye were… crickets! You read right. There were crickets and worms of all different flavors (no scorpions, sadly). My cousin and I, after much thought, ended up picking salt & vinegar crickets to try. We figured the favor would mask the taste if it ended up being repulsive. We surprisingly liked it! Since they’re FDA approved, I didn’t need to worry about the crickets having any type of pesticide or chemical in their bodies. It honestly reminded me of a small potato chip. I’m so happy I could finally check this off my bucket list! Now, for the scorpion…

Crickets, anyone?

Overall, this trip was a success. Although short-lived, it was enough to leave me wanting more and for a return trip definitely in the future. Utah, in the word’s of Arnold Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back”.