As this post goes live, it will be the start of Day 3 of my 6-day solo road trip and so far, it is not at all what I’m expected.

One thing I didn’t expect was I didn’t expecting some of my favorite shots would be taken along the way. When I started the day, I was going to expect my pit stops would be at gas stations along the way and the number of stops would be minimal. Things took a turn when Google Maps decided to take me on a scenic drive.

Instead of leading me to I-70, it led me down highway 24, which didn’t become eerily familiar until I saw the sign for Loa, Utah – a small town near Capitol Reef National Park. “I’m not going through Capitol Reef, am I?” I wondered out loud before spotting a deer crossing the road and then my mind was back to driving as I slammed my foot on the brakes. Head deer stood there and gave me a look before nodding to the others to follow. In the car, I exhale a breath of relief, I’ve seen too many dead deer when I drove to work on a weekly basis, I wasn’t about to increase that death count.

I’ve always said I wanted to come back to the park on a solo trip but I didn’t expect to be so soon but I was glad I did. When I got out of the car, it was a little past 9 AM, I was immediately hit with silence. There was no sound of incoming car, no birds chirping, no animal activity, nothing.

I stopped at my usual spots before continuing passing through the park. The farthest I’ve ever gotten in the park was Grand Wash, which is a dried up riverbed. I’ve never explored the other side of the park. After passing through most of the park, I decided to pull into a turnout and step out. The sun had finally came out behind the heavy cloud cover and suddenly, the landscapes began to glisten.

Eventually, highway 24 became highway 95 by which time, I was hour 5 into what has become a 8-hour trip. Thankfully, my rented car has an adaptive cruise control with steering capability, which means I have to hold onto the steering wheel and let it do its thing.

My next rest was a little longer. It was nearly 11 AM – hour 6 of the trip – and I was hungry after having just a slice of my homemade banana bread 6 hours before. I pulled into a turnout and got out of the car. There was a stream nearby and sound of the trickling water felt very soothing. Across the road was this rock that looked like a sitting dog or a bird’s head.

As I neared the final hour of the drive, I found myself on 3 miles of unpaved road along highway 261. I don’t know why it was unpaved and why it was that 3 miles. I found a spot to stop at the top before making my descent to complete the drive.

As I made the drive down, I wondered if I was looking at Monument Valley from the other side. Alas, I can’t really prove it because as I was 10 miles from the hotel, bad weather began to set in – heavy cloud covers and mist shrouded the landscape. Even stopping at Forest Gump hill, I couldn’t see much of my surroundings as it was covered by clouds. Immediately, I felt disappointed and wondered if I would see anything on the tour.

My tour was originally scheduled for the next morning but I decided to reschedule it due to bad weather. Though I still saw quite a bit of monuments on my tour like the East and West Mittens, I felt like I could’ve seen more on a sunny day.

Oh well, I guess it’s a call for a second visit on a sunnier day.