Three Places I’d Love to Visit Again...After Quarantine

Prior to COVID-19, I spent most of my time outside of work traveling. For example, one of my most proudest accomplishments is traveling to 17 different states in 2017 with my children. We journeyed across the United States in between work and school, while I blogged about the adventures and sharing tips along the way.

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While thinking about where I want to go after quarantine, I thought about many places but narrowed them down to five. So, below are three places I’d love to visit again, after quarantine. I’m also listing why and a few tips, just in case one of these places are on your travel bucket list in the future.

Seven Magic Mountains, Outside Las Vegas, Nevada

Seven Magic Mountains is comprised of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high right outside of Las Vegas. The exhibition opened May 11, 2016 and was originally scheduled to be on view for two years, but with such a large amount of interest, it ended up staying longer. There is no admission fee; it’s free and open to the public.

Prior to going, I searched blogs to find out any tips and tricks. After doing so, I must give thanks to all of the bloggers who provided great advice and tips within their posts. All of the tips and tricks came in handy as I planned my trip and I appreciate it!

For example, on one blog, I learned how to avoid the crowd by arriving early, as close to sunrise as possible. What an awesome tip! So, when I went, I set my alarm for 6 AM, waited for the sun to come up just a bit, got dressed, and hit my Lyft app for a ride.

There is no public transportation to get you to Seven Magic Mountains with the exception of using Lyft or Uber. The round trip ride is not cheap, but the outdoor art exhibit is worth it.

I would love to go again while driving so that I could be on my own time. I would have also taken more photos and wanted my children to see the outdoor exhibit, as well.

The Great Smoky Mountains

While my children didn’t go with me to Seven Magic Mountains, they did go to the Great Smoky Mountains. We had such a lovely time there, although there are a lot of things that I wish I would have known prior to going.

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Tourist Trap

Of all the research that I did, not once did I read that the Great Smoky Mountains was a tourist trap. Where did I miss the information? Had I known this I would have planned so much better. I would have included a least one fun touristy thing for us to do while there, especially since I had my boys with me.

Don’t get me wrong, we did do some cool things. However, I would have chosen other things for us to do instead. For example, I would have chosen for us to take a helicopter ride instead of getting suckered into several arcades. But then again, I have young boys and arcades make them happy.

How far is a mile?

Another thing that I wish I would have known is, “How far is a mile?” As you are traveling throughout the Smoky Mountains, it is important to understand what a mile is and is not.

For example, it is a “mile”. However, it is not your typical mile. Driving a mile in the Smoky Mountains can take what seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

You are driving through the mountains – up and down. There could be traffic and lots of it. People are pulled off to the side admiring its beauty, exploring, taking photos, etc.

So, it is important to keep in mind that this is not a fly by type of mile or miles. You will need to be patient and take your time.

It actually took us a few hours to make it from the Tennessee side of the mountain to the North Carolina side of the mountain – and back.

There should be a directional sign that says, “Warning: This journey could cause you to be a nervous wreck when done.”

Because that’s just what I was. I was a nervous wreck and so thankful when we were back down to solid ground and I could get back to our room and rest.

Weather Changes

Another thing to take into consideration is the weather. When we started out the weather was cold, but it was clear. As we got closer to the top, the weather began to change. It went from clear, to rainy, to complete snow. And, driving through the mountains – in snow – is just not my thing.

So, in the future, I would make plans to go during the summer months, when I know the weather would be sunny and clear.

Kanab, Utah

Another place we all went together was to Utah on a Dreamland Safari Tour which started with the Mystical Slot Canyon.

After a brief walk, we were greeted by the beautiful red and orange colored canyon, where we trekked through it taking the most amazing photographs. While the hiking difficulty is extremely low, there are plenty of opportunities to increase the difficulty of your hike, if you choose.

After reaching the end of the canyon, we turned around to head back to see the canyon from a different view. It was truly interesting because the way the canyon photographed going, photographed differently upon returning due to various shadows and sunlight.

During our tour, we learned so much about the land, wildlife, horticulture, ancient natives, and even spotted a few pictographs.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

As our Mystical Slot Canyon Tour ended, we headed towards the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. This made me completely happy because I didn’t know that it was a part of the tour and I had already made plans to venture this way after our tour was over. However, since it was included in the tour, there was no need to venture back.

After we learned about how the sand dunes change colors, smelled the wild sage, and learned about the various steps of the White Cliffs of Utah that could be seen from Coral Pink Sand Dunes, we headed towards the vast Jurassic Desert of Moccasin Mountain to become paleontologists for a while.

Dinosaur Tracksite Tour at Moccasin Mountain

As we arrived at Moccasin Mountain, we headed to the informational boards which gave interesting facts about ancient dinosaurs and the tracks that were discovered. Following this, we went to seek out as many tracks as we could.

Initially, I thought all of the dinosaur tracks would be huge, but boy was I wrong! Some of the dinosaur tracks are as small as little chicken feet, while others are huge enough to step inside.

The tour was absolutely perfect for my 11-year-old (at the time) as he was able to quickly spot the various dinosaur tracks.

As we ended the 4.5 hour adventure tour and headed back to our car, we learned other interesting facts about Kanab, such as learning about Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the White Cliffs of Utah, cattle herding, public land, and even seeing where many of the old western movies and episodes were filmed such as The Lone Ranger.

This was truly a family educational adventure that I would love to experience again post-COVID.

Final Thoughts

Post-COVID, I would love to return to the above three places with my family. If you have questions about any of these places, I may be able to provide a few tips in the comments.

#nbholidaycheer