Big Road Trip!

June is the hottest month of the year in Tucson. Last year we hit triple digits every day of the month of June and it was persistently sunny with blue skies. As Tom says, "They say it is a dry heat. So is an oven."  It helps that there is almost always a breeze, but that really just makes it a convection oven.  It gets pleasant after the sun goes down, but then you need a flashlight to make sure you don't step on a rattlesnake basking on the warmth of a sidewalk. Actually, I really love living in Tucson, and it is cooler where we are than it is in Tucson proper. However, Tom saw it hit 109 on the car thermometer today (in town), and we decided that June is a good month to do some traveling to cooler climes.

We leave Sunday to drive to Montana to visit my brother in Bozeman and my aunt in Arlee (north of Missoula). Due to our combined age of 134, we decided to limit the number of hours we drive each day, and there are many wonderful sights along the way, so we'll stop often. The trip is as much about the journey as about the destination, although it has been quite a few years since I've been in Montana, and it is always wonderful to visit Patrick and Mary. All of our non-Montana destinations are new to me, although I did fly into Salt Lake City last year and stayed at Sundance.

I'm thinking it will be fun to post about our adventures, so here is our itinerary:

• Two nights in Page, AZ, at the bottom of Lake Powell
• On to Bryce Canyon National Park for a night
• Then two nights at a friend's condo in Park City, Utah
• My first night ever in Idaho in Idaho Falls
• Then three nights with brother Patrick in Bozeman
• Three nights with my aunt Mary in Arlee
• Two nights in Sun Valley, with a visit to my friend, Susie's house to meet her family
• A night in Salt Lake City, right downtown
• Zion National Park
• A night at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, in the very funky lodge
• Followed by a night in Sedona
• From which we return home

If you have suggestions for places to eat or visit along the way, please comment to let us know. Maybe you have some great stories about places we'll be - please share!